Some of our favorite facilitators and social media pals shared what they were reading this summer. While most of these titles aren’t specifically about facilitation, they all contain essential elements to strengthen and supplement your facilitation practice. Check out these recommendations and consider adding a few to your Summer Reading List!
Raising Human Beings: Creating a Collaborative Partnership with Your Child by Ross W. Greene
Recommended by: Floyd Hinman (via FB) “It is a parenting book, but his philosophy definitely crosses over, and the script is great for helping people and groups identify problems and come up with collaborative solutions. I’m half way through. It is my jam!”
Summary: Explains how to cultivate a better parent-child relationship while also nurturing empathy, honesty, resilience, and independence. (via Goodreads)
Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Recommended by: Carrie Bennett (via Twitter @CBennettLearns)
Summary: Maps out a simple path for cultivating mindfulness in one’s own life. It speaks both to those coming to meditation for the first time and to longtime practitioners, anyone who cares deeply about reclaiming the richness of his or her moments. (via Goodreads)
Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading by Ronald A. Heifetz & Martin Linsky
Recommended by: Amy Climer (via Twitter @amyclimer)
Summary: To lead is to live dangerously. In Leadership on the Line, the authors show how it’s possible to make a difference without getting “taken out” or pushed aside. Everyday tools that give equal weight to the dangerous work of leading change and the critical importance of personal survival. (via Goodreads)
The Challenger Spirit: Organizations That Disturb The Status Quo by Khurshed Dehnugara & Claire Genkai Breeze
Recommended by: Facilitation Shindig (via Twitter @Shindiggery1) “Always worth reading this from dear friends & challengers”
Summary: Challenger organizations are those companies which are disrupting their market and taking serious market share from their more established competitors. This book analyses the practices and disciplines that underpin the successful challenger organization. (via Goodreads)
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Recommended by: Abi (via Twitter @AbiChapella)
Summary: A groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities—and also the faults and biases—of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior. (via Goodreads)
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Recommended by: Steve Dodd (via Facebook) “One of my favorites. A good reminder that people have different communication styles and that the traditional modes of teaching, conducting meetings, etc don’t necessarily bring forth everyone’s best.”
Summary: Passionately argued, impressively researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet shows how dramatically we undervalue introverts, and how much we lose in doing so. Cutting-edge research in psychology and neuroscience to reveal the surprising differences between extroverts and introverts. (via Goodreads)
The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance by Steven Kotler
Recommended by: Kristy Lewis (via Twitter @SOFacilitation) “What’s flow? How to create it and why it’s relevant…”
Summary: An exploration of how extreme athletes break the limits of ultimate human performance and what we can learn from their mastery of the state of consciousness known as “flow.” Drawing on over a decade of research and first-hand interviews with dozens of top action and adventure sports athletes…Kotler explores the frontier science of “flow,” an optimal state of consciousness where we perform and feel our best. (via Goodreads)
Living Nonviolent Communication: Practical Tools to Connect and Communicate Skillfully in Every Situation by Marshall B. Rosenberg
Recommended by: Barbara MacKay (via Twitter @BarbaraJMacKay) “Essential for process facilitators!”
Summary: You’re about to have an uncomfortable meeting with your boss. The principal just called about your middle-schooler. You had a fight with your partner and it’s an hour before bed. We all find ourselves in situations similar to these, and too often resort to the same old patterns of behavior…[b]ut there is another way. Living Nonviolent Communication gives readers practical training in applying Dr. Marshall Rosenberg’s renonwned process in the areas he has been most often asked for counsel. (via Goodreads)
An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization by Robert Kegan & Lisa Laskow Lahey, with Andy Fleming, Matthew Miller, & Deborah Helsing
Recommended by: Chad Littlefield (via Facebook)
Summary: Practical and tactical ideas to impact culture at work.
Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Timothy Ferriss
Recommended by: Sam Killermann: “Not written for facilitators, but there are tons of nuggets of insight that I’m using to improve my facilitation.”
Summary: ““For the last two years, I’ve interviewed more than 200 world-class performers for my podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. The guests range from super celebs (Jamie Foxx, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc.) and athletes (icons of powerlifting, gymnastics, surfing, etc.) to legendary Special Operations commanders and black-market biochemists. For most of my guests, it’s the first time they’ve agreed to a two-to-three-hour interview. This unusual depth has helped make The Tim Ferriss Show the first business/interview podcast to pass 100 million downloads.
“This book contains the distilled tools, tactics, and ‘inside baseball’ you won’t find anywhere else. It also includes new tips from past guests, and life lessons from new ‘guests’ you haven’t met.” (via Goodreads)
Have your own thoughts or recommendations about facilitation? We would love to partner with you! Learn more about how to contribute to the FacilitatingXYZ Community here: Contribute! You can also read more about what kinds of topics we’d love to add to our site: Record/Write/Contribute.
