My top three non-fiction reads of 2022.

In January this year, I took Cal Newport’s Analog January challenge and left all social media for a month. With the scrolling-time regained, I did as Cal suggested and picked up a book instead. Surprise, surprise, you get through more books if you do that! I enjoyed reading (and being mostly social-media free) so much, that I’ve kept up the habit for most of the year. 

Here are three non-fiction books I read this year that changed my perspective on things. 

1. Beyond Command and Control, John Seddon et al 

This provocative, pokey and down-right hilarious-at-times-with-cynicism book argues that the problem with command and control wasn’t the command bit (‘sometimes bosses need to be bossy’ as Seddon tells us) but the controls bit – and that most organisations are measuring and controlling the wrong things and perpetually failing their customers and users (known as ‘failure demand’ in this book) . Whilst the basic premise of structuring around flow of value to customers and users isn’t new, the provocations Seddon makes against how illogical most workflows seem is fresh and made me laugh out loud on several occasions – particularly some of the disparaging views on how agility and digitisation is often misused! 

Perhaps the most wonderful thought in this book is that all of those hideous old management styles were created by human beings, so we, as ingenious, capable, insightful humans, are completely capable of inventing new leadership structures that help our colleagues do excellent work, and our customers and users get what they really want and need. That’s reassuring and hopeful. 

2. Essentialism, Greg McKeown

The main tenet for this book is built around a mantra I’ve had on my wall for many years: Dieter Rams (influential industrial designer) principle of ‘Less, but better’. McKeown applies this principle to our lives – offering us the opportunity to step away from being ‘all things to all people’ (who McKeown calls Nonessentialists) who feel like they have to do everything, perpetually pursuing more, and ultimately living an unsatisfactory existence – to one of ‘less but better’ (an Essentialist) that trades-off things, discerns what’s really important, and lives a life that truly matters. 

I have the model stuck up on my wall and often look to it for guidance how to handle all the many things I’d like to do with my time. The stand out thought of this book for me being that we HAVE options and we MAKE choices. This, I feel, puts the power back in our hands as the human agents of our own destiny – making proactive choices from the many options we have available. 

3. The Promise that Changes Everything: I won’t interrupt you, Nancy Kline 

I have chosen this book not so much because of the content, but what it provoked. I’d been a fan of the Thinking Environment since reading Time to Think a few years ago. This latest offering builds on the work in that book, covering some of the same ground, and also bringing some fresh insights on the damage that interruption can do to the quality of our thinking (did you know that being interrupted sets off the same bits of the brain as a physical assault?). The reason I chose this book is that it finally gave me the push to do some Time to Think training which I’d been meaning to do. The Foundations course I’ve already raved about on LinkedIn was the most wonderful couple of days that has enlightened me to this fantastic way of helping others to think well. I’m looking forward to doing the Facilitator Course, hopefully in 2023. 

Honourable mentions for:

• Finite and Infinite Games, James P. Carse – an utterly brilliant vision for a life of possibility and play. It should probably be in my top three… it takes some unpacking as every sentence is filled with consideration, but once digested, it’s a wonderful, wonderful book I’ll re-read next year. 
• A World Without Email, Cal Newport – I’m always talking about Cal Newport, and this latest addition is a great vision for the workplace with practical tactics and strategies to employ to help us all work deeper and without distraction. 
• Quiet, Susan Cain – helped me to embrace and understand my introversion (yes, I’m an introvert at heart…I play a good extravert when I need to, but I need time alone to recharge). 
• The End of Average, Todd Rose – helped me to reject some of the damaging notions I held about being average. 

What have been your top books this year?