By Rebecca Canan
As I’m getting more and more “Out of Office” auto-messages from CEC members away on their summer vacations, I started thinking about my own upcoming trips and what books to bring along with me. In the spirit of sharing, here are a few selections from my own summer reading list. Some are business-related; another is personal; one is borrowed from What Salespeople Should Read This Summer; none are from the Twilight series. 
Please help contribute to What Communicators Should Read this Summer—what’s missing from my list? Or does anyone have opinions on the books listed below?
(1) Strengths Finder 2.0—Wouldn’t you like a list of your customized strengths? And wouldn’t it be great to find opportunities to leverage those strengths more often? This book guides you through its philosophy that you should spend more time developing and enjoying what you’re good at—and less time “fixing” the things that are “wrong” with you. To help you diagnose your natural aptitudes, the book has a handy online assessment, which—if you’re like me—you’ll quickly skip to FIRST and THEN go back and read about the philosophy/implications. It could be helpful for Comms team members to each take the assessment and then reconvene to explore ways to animate different strengths across the team. It’s also helpful for some solo reflection time by the pool with a notebook in hand.
(2) Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion—This book is sitting on my bookshelf (note to CEC members: sadly, I do not yet know how to manipulate you). It is one of the best-known works examining how we make decisions and how we prioritize information. The author, Robert B. Cialdini, elaborates on six ethical methods of persuasion: reciprocation, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity. CEC members: you can see tangible examples of many of these principles in our 2010 study, “Influencing Stakeholders in a Networked Environment.”
(3) Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies—Books and articles about social media are a dime-a-dozen, but this one is revered by so many Communications and Marketing professionals that it’s worth reading and having as a reference guide. If you’re relatively well-versed in social media and its business implications, you may find parts of it rather yawn-inducing (case-in-point: it’s on my bedside table and, despite my best intentions, has served as an accidental pillow a few times). However, even for the “pro,” it likely covers at least a couple areas in which you’re not yet fluent, includes helpful illustrative case examples, and cohesively weaves together a lot of often dispersed information about social media. I recommend grabbing a copy.
(4) Anna Karenina: Since I said this was both a personal and a professional reading list, another one of my summer goals is to finish several classics that I just never picked up in high school or college. I just finished Lolita (yikes), next up is Anna Karenina (which I’m reading with my teammate, Lisa!), followed by The Count of Monte Cristo (how did I never read that?!?). Anyone else revisiting or newly discovering any older/classic books this summer?
So, I think that’s a heavy enough stack of books for me to bring on my next summer trip (sans Kindle). What would you add to the list?
on 7 July 2010
Respond
Something I recently enjoyed would be Riding the Waves of Culture by Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turn. This book tries to make apparent the implicit assumptions that cultures make in approaching managerial problems and offers insight into how different groups might react to different messages. If nothing else, it’s a fascinating compendium of information about cultures and some of the facts mentioned make for wonderful ice-breakers in of themselves. For example, did you know that the Swedes would be least likely to say that they’d be willing to paint their bosses house, if asked? (apparently 91% would refuse).
on 8 July 2010
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I will be reading John P. Kotter on What Leaders Really Do and 1001 Ways to Reward Employees by Bob Nelson for professional development. Personally, I just finished Cutting For Stone and it was fabulous. Next up is The Land of the Burnt Thighs since I will be taking a trip to South Dakota.
on 8 July 2010
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Anyone who hasn’t read Chris Anderson’s -Free- yet should do so. And somehow, I am also reading Tolstoy… gotta love Amazon popular classics.
on 13 July 2010
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The Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin had been on my reading list since 6th grade. Finally read it last year amd really appreciated it, probably due to the distance from American culture allowed by having lived outside the USA for more than 10 years. Eyewitness to history, classic small businessman and lifelong entrepreneur, Franklin created an instruction manual for living and working that was quintessentially American and came to define so many myths about ourselves that we still hold dear.
on 14 July 2010
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The best book ever: La Sombra del viento (Wind’s shadow or the shadow of the wind). The title might be a bit curny but is the best novel ever written.
By Carlos ruiz Safon from Barcelona, Spain
on 17 July 2010
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Hello CEC team!
For something I found interesting in work-life and real-life, try Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, by Daniel Pink. It gets to the science behind human motivational behavior. There is a section on motivating employees that really forces you to reconsider incentives, whether you’re a Communicator, manager, or team leader. ‘Drive’ definitely feeds the nerdy, psychology-loving mind.
If you’d rather watch than read, check out his video on ted.com: http://bit.ly/cKXvvZ
on 30 June 2011
Respond
One of the latest trends sweeping communication is data visualization. Watch the Ted video at:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/david_mccandless_the_beauty_of_data_visualization.html
The book to read is ‘The Visual Miscellaneum’ by David McCandless. The digital age’s information glut has led to the rise of infographics. We need to make sense of things. It’s hardwired into our nature. I found that this is one of the best ways to communicate complex issues and scenarios.
To get a taste, visit the website at http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/