The ultimate reading list
We are curious and read widely. We collect different articles and research papers which relate to our work. Here are some of our favourites, that we share often:
Virtual teams
Why we do what we do stays the same, the how we do it changes in a virtual world.
Fast company: Stop presenting and start a dialogue. 10 tips to make virtual meetings more interactive.
inc.com: How to keep your culture alive when you go virtual.
Is Zoom fatigue setting in, our practical hints and tips to jazz up your Zoom meetings and create more energy.
A great article from the team at TED: Working from home and feel you are working all the time?, consistent advice.
Adapting your corporate culture to being virtual needs some adjustment. This article on adapting to a virtual culture has some good pointers. Be proactive, measure, but look for different examples.
Working when we are not together. GOOGLE blog and distributed work: GOOGLE Playbook. Also known as Project Aristotle on what makes high performing teams.
Mobile working as a core component: SIEMENS Press release on committing to remote working.
Cognitive Biases
Much of our insight comes from why we think the way we do and what we do about it, often known as our cognitive biases.
A good starting point is Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.
I find the research by Dan Ariely and his Centre for advanced hindsight really powerful, they bring our cognitive biases to life. We then apply them to a work setting. Dan has three books; Predictably Irrational, The upside of irrationality, and The (honest) truth about dishonesty.
When it comes to decision making, I also liked Decisive by Chip and Dan Heath and Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein.
If you would like to dig deeper into Cognitive Biases, then the Cognitive Bias Cheat Sheet by Buster Benson is one of the best resources around.
From the work that Buster did I was inspired to synthesize the cognitive biases that impact organizational change; Humans are predictable. These concepts sit at the heart of our main practice and what we teach leaders.
Small steps and habits
We believe in a small step approach to making changes. Our thinking came from working out how to bring about organizational change when an organization is in cognitive overload. For many years we have promoted evolution over revolution.
Similar concepts are borne out by the work from BJ Fogg on Tiny Habits
We also like The power of habit by Charles Duhigg, an NYT journalist who found his own way to creating rituals to nudge his own behaviors. His NYT article can be found here
If you are wondering about the benefits of exercise. This TED Talk by Wendy Suzuki on the brain chainging benefits might help
Positive Thinking
Then we looked into being positive. The source that really changed our thinking on the subject was not a book, but a Coursera course, one that I recommend time and time again. It is my go-to for positive thinking, the neuroscience behind our brains, sources of resilience, and how to be more inspiring.
The course is Inspiring Leadership through Emotional Intelligence, and can be taken for free. It is led by Richard Boyatzis, who has written many books, but I have not had the chance to read them.
Why our defensive wall is triggered, how to spot when it happens and what to do about it. Amygdala Hijack.
How smiling affects your brain. There is magic in your smile.
Barbara L Fredrickson on the value of positivity ratios. Updated thinking on positivity ratios.
Four things neuroscience teaches us will make us happy. 4 rituals that will make you happy from Eric Barker.
Tribes and Groups
Tribes (aka Teams or Groups) have their own dynamics and a natural competition.
Sapiens is a great introduction into why we have tribes and the moment when a small company has to shift from ‘trust the people’ to ‘trust the process’.
For intergroup conflict the Realistic Conflict Theory (RCT) and the Robbers Cave experiment. These play into our understanding of tribes (groups and/or teams).
How social relationships affect our physical and mental health. Social relationships and health helps us understand that the connections we have are important to us.
This TED talk reinforces the importance of finding common ground and how it can help in solving disagreements.
Why you need to invest in closer relationships and friendships and how to make them happen. This NYT article gives some practical hints and tips.
This is one of the MOST powerful videos you will watch about how to break down the barriers between tribes. Created by Heineken, it is one to return to. They use many of the techniques we adopt in Irrational Change.
Communicating Effectively
Communication is one of three tactics to make change. As a change agent you need to be a skilled communicator. Here are some of the papers and courses which have inspired us
Jonah Berger, the author of Contagious and the teacher of an awesome Coursera offering: Viral marketing and how to craft contagious content
This is a great article and research on how long words make you look less intelligent. A reminder to keep it simple.
We love this video from Dr Stephen R. Covey on task setting called ‘Green and Clean’
