More than 11,000 business books are published every year—an overwhelming choice for busy professionals. Therefore, in partnership with getAbstract, Training brings you August’s top three business books recommended to our readers.
“Reinventing Organizations” by Frederic Laloux (Nelson Parker, 2014, 378 pages, ISBN: 9782960133509; $15.69)
Organizational life can be dispiriting for employees. Many people take little satisfaction in their jobs and managerial efforts to fix corporate culture often create problems. But companies can make life more gratifying for their people by reaching for a new developmental stage based on trust and collaboration. Organizational iconoclast Frederic Laloux explains how organizations evolved over time in line with seven historic stages of human development, expressed as color-tagged “paradigms.” He outlines two modern paradigms as models for creating a supportive corporate culture and earning solid profits as well. getAbstract recommends his unusual encyclopedic manual of organizational evolution as a menu of ideas for leaders seeking a collaborative path to profit.
Rating (out of 10): 7
Applicability: 7
Innovation: 8
Style: 7
“The Healthy Workplace: How to Improve the Well-Being of Your Employees—And Boost Your Company’s Bottom Line” by Leigh Stringer (AMACOM, 2016, 256 pages, ISBN: 9780814437438; $22.97)
Many top companies invest heavily in employee wellness programs that help workers stay healthy and can reduce corporate health insurance costs. Most firms with wellness programs discover that having healthier employees translates directly to having a healthier bottom line. Workplace sustainability expert Leigh Stringer explains why corporate wellness programs are good for companies and their employees and tells executives how to plan, organize, and implement a wellness program. Some managers may have second thoughts about a few of these suggestions; for instance, letting workers bring their pets to the office might work better for small firms than big corporations. Nonetheless, getAbstract recommends this authoritative guide to leaders studying the pros and cons of creating programs that foster a healthier workplace.
Rating (out of 10): 8
Applicability: 9
Innovation: 7
Style: 8
“The Power of Fifty Bits. The New Science of Turning Good Intentions into Positive Results” by Bob Nease (HarperBusiness, 2016, 224 pages, ISBN: 9780062407450; $20.25)
In this entertaining presentation, behavioral scientist Bob Nease describes six basic strategies plus one “overarching über strategy” for influencing your customers’ behavior. The human brain processes “10 million bits of information” each second, but the deliberate, decision-making part of the brain runs at only 50 bits per second. As a result, people’s brains are wired for inattention and inertia. Understanding how to address these twin cognitive challenges changes everything. Nease offers seven strategies for capturing your customers’ focus, explains how to apply his methods, and tells you why they work. His prose is accessible, but you can see his academic rigor in the endnotes, which detail his research and resources. getAbstract recommends Nease’s insights and pragmatic tactics to managers, salespeople, marketers, and HR and IT professionals.
Rating (out of 10): 8
Applicability: 9
Innovation: 8
Style: 8
For five-page summaries of these and more than 15,000 other titles, visit http://www.getabstract.com/affiliate/trainingmagazine
