Here at smartdept. inc. our internal Smarties love to learn and grow both personally and professionally through reading. In the spirit of the always popular, “book club” we put together a quick list of our current (or favorite) reads.
So, have a look and share your book! Or, just let us know if you prefer to come to the book club prepared or are you just in it for the snacks!
MINDY MARVIN – National Director of Sales and Strategy
The Way of the HR Warrior by Monica Frede & Keri Ohlrich, PhD.
Human Resources has immense power to affect an organization’s bottom line as well as its culture, but it gets a bad rap. The Way of the HR Warrior is a guide for HR professionals who really care to demonstrate the true power of the HR department to influence business strategy and the bottom line, especially in the changing landscape of business with a multi-generational and global workforce, the gig economy, the knowledge economy, the rise of conscious consumerism, and increasing regulations.
Why I chose this book – Being in the staffing industry, I was automatically drawn to the subject matter. And I hate the eye roll that often accompanies a conversation about HR. I like the straight forward, honest and conversational tone of the book, and am excited to put the authors’ advice in to practice.
ANDI PAFFORD – Senior Creative Account Manager
Mismatch – How Inclusion Shapes Design By Kat Holmes
Sometimes designed objects reject their users: a computer mouse that doesn’t work for left-handed people, for example, or a touchscreen payment system that only works for people who read English phrases, have 20/20 vision, and use a credit card. Something as simple as color choices can render a product unusable for millions. These mismatches are the building blocks of exclusion. In Mismatch, Kat Holmes describes how design can lead to exclusion, and how design can also remedy exclusion. Inclusive design methods―designing objects with rather than for excluded users―can create elegant solutions that work well and benefit all.
Why I chose this book – Having experience as both a personal who is both a creative professional and a creative recruiter, I was inspired by the subject matter and look forward to sharing it with the creative professionals I connect with every day.
MELISSA IMBROGNO – Creative Account Manager
The Art Of Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland
“This is a book about making art. Ordinary art. Ordinary art means something like: all art not made by Mozart. After all, art is rarely made by Mozart-like people; essentially—statistically speaking—there aren’t any people like that. Geniuses get made once-a-century or so, yet good art gets made all the time, so to equate the making of art with the workings of genius removes this intimately human activity to a strangely unreachable and unknowable place. For all practical purposes making art can be examined in great detail without ever getting entangled in the very remote problems of genius.”
Why I chose this book – Art is in the eye of the beholder. This book addresses coping with insecurities commonly felt by creative people and made me feel like all people should explore (and be proud of) their creativity.
ANNA LARSON – Creative Account Manager
What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith
America’s most sought-after executive coach shows how to climb the last few rungs of the ladder.
The corporate world is filled with executives, men and women who have worked hard for years to reach the upper levels of management. They’re intelligent, skilled, and even charismatic. But only a handful of them will ever reach the pinnacle — and as executive coach Marshall Goldsmith shows in this book, subtle nuances make all the difference. These are small “transactional flaws” performed by one person against another (as simple as not saying thank you enough), which lead to negative perceptions that can hold any executive back. Using Goldsmith’s straightforward, jargon-free advice, it’s amazingly easy behavior to change.
Why I chose this book – This book reminded me of the importance of self-reflection and how making time for it can lead to personal growth.
ERIC PAIRITZ – Principal
Moneyball by Michael Lewis
Moneyball is a quest for the secret of success in baseball. In a narrative full of fabulous characters and brilliant excursions into the unexpected, Michael Lewis follows the low-budget Oakland A’s, visionary general manager Billy Beane, and the strange brotherhood of amateur baseball theorists. They are all in search of new baseball knowledge—insights that will give the little guy who is willing to discard old wisdom the edge over big money.
Why I chose this book – Of course, I love this book because it’s about baseball. But more importantly, it proves that, if you take the correct approach, an underdog operating on a small budget can out preform its most powerful competitors.
MICHELLE PAIRITZ – Principal
Dare to Lead by Brené Brow
Leadership is not about titles, status, and wielding power. A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and ideas, and has the courage to develop that potential.
When we dare to lead, we don’t pretend to have the right answers; we stay curious and ask the right questions. We don’t see power as finite and hoard it; we know that power becomes infinite when we share it with others. We don’t avoid difficult conversations and situations; we lean into vulnerability when it’s necessary to do good work.
Why I chose this book – I like all of her books. This particular book helped me put being a leader into a proper prospective and challenged me to re-examine my approach to being a leader in my own organization.
APRIL LEVINS – Accounting and Operations Manager
Bored and Brilliant by Manoush Zomorodi
In 2015 Manoush Zomorodi, creator of WNYC’s popular podcast and radio show Note to Self, led tens of thousands of listeners through an experiment to help them unplug from their devices, get bored, jump-start their creativity, and change their lives. Bored and Brilliant builds on that experiment to show us how to rethink our gadget use to live better and smarter in this new digital ecosystem. Manoush explains the connection between boredom and original thinking, exploring how we can harness boredom’s hidden benefits to become our most productive and creative selves without totally abandoning our gadgets in the process. Grounding the book in the neuroscience and cognitive psychology of “mind wandering” what our brains do when we’re doing nothing at all―Manoush includes practical steps you can take to ease the nonstop busyness and enhance your ability to dream, wonder, and gain clarity in your work and life. The outcome is mind-blowing.
Why I chose this book – The subject spoke to the operations side of my work here at smartdept. inc. And, the author sounded smart on NPR.
COLLEEN FUELLING – Creative Account Manager
The 7 Critical Principles Of Digital Marketing by Kasim Aslam
The 7 Critical Principles of Effective Digital Marketing is an attempt at establishing a baseline for one of the most tumultuous and change-ridden industries in existence. It takes a step back from the strategies and tactics that most digital marketing approaches start with and, instead, establishes a core and foundational structure from which all digital marketing initiatives can and should operate. The 7 Principles are simple without being simplistic and help to align digital marketers with a set of axiomatic, unchanging and foundational beliefs. In fact, these 7 principles may be the only thing about digital marketing that won’t change.
Why I chose this book – I’m interested in the marketing aspect of my job and love researching new ways to improve our marketing.
Book images via Amazon.