Schleider, Jessica. (2023)  Little Treatments, Big Effects.  Great Britain: Robinson. This book was written about the lack of resources for mental health in the world.  The premise is if we […]

These are my notes from a book based on high quality restaurants that I think apply to schools and education.  Italicized portions are direct quotes from the book. Guidara, Will. […]

Heath, C. & Heath, D. (2007). Made to Stick. New York: Random House The book “Made to Stick” by Heath and Heath discusses the principles of making ideas memorable and […]

Saphier, Jon. (2024). Disrupting the Teacher Opportunity Gap.  Thousand Oaks, CA:  Corwin Press. After 60 years as an educator, 45 as a change agent in public schools, Jon Saphier has […]

Sheridan, Richard. (2018). Chief Joy Officer.  New York: Portfolio/Penguin Published in 2018, the book outlines Sheridan’s approach to leadership and organizational culture. Here’s a summary of the key ideas in […]

Milliken, Bill. (2022). The Last Dropout. – A Model for Creating Educational Equity. U.S.: Hay House. I remember my first teaching contract at South High School in Minneapolis.  It was […]

Briceño, Eduardo. (2023). The Performance PARADOX: Turning the Power of Mindset into Action. New York: Ballantine Books As I look back at decades of compliance, test scores, and high control […]

Sally Helgesen. (2023).  Rising Together – How we can Bridge Divides and create a More Inclusive Workplace. New York:  Hachette Sally has done it again.  Helgesen is an expert in […]

Barker, Eric. (2022). Plays Well with Others. New York:  HarperCollins. In a conversation with Richard Sheridan, CEO of Menlo Innovations, and author of two books, Joy, Inc., and Chief Joy […]

Frei, Frances & Morriss, Anne. (2020). Unleashed – The Unapologetic Leader’s.   Cambridge, MA:  Harvard Business Review. Short Version:  It’s not about you, it’s about them. A Guide to Empowering […]

Craig Dowden, PhD. (2022). A Time to Lead – Mastering Yourself so you can.             Master Your World. New York:  Simon & Shuster, Worth I trust Frank Wagner and when […]

See the Why (Learning), the HOW (7 strategies), and the WHAT (results) can help create a positive culture in education and business organizations. Leadership in organizations is going through unprecedented […]

McRaven, Admiral William H. The Wisdom of the Bullfrog – Leadership Made           Simple (But Not Easy). New York: Hachette. This book is about leadership and life.  I heard about […]

 Gabor Mate’ MD with Daniel Mate’. (2022). The Myth of Normal.  New York: Penguin Random House. I believe Gabor has identified a foundational cause of the dysfunction and negative malaise the […]

Schermerhorn, Lisa B. (2022). In Every Belief is a Lie. Kendallville, IN. As always there is more content and stories in the book than I present.  As a longtime educator, […]

Using Diverse Texts for Inclusion, Equity, and Justice “Children Need Models More Than Critics” French Proverb Allison Briceño and Claudia Rodriquez-Mojica have collected a wide variety of resources for educators.  […]

Kross, Ethan. (2021).  Chatter: the Voice in Our Head, Why it Matters. New York:  Crown The title gives you a heads up about the contents.  ‘The Voice in Our Heads.’  It […]

Goldsmith, Marshall. (2022). The Earned Life. New York: Penguin I have read many of Marshall’s books and learned something worthwhile in every one of them.  This latest book puts many […]

Ernest Shackleton was portrait of what courage is and can be.  We are facing so many challenges in education and society that we need to invite courageous people into and […]

Livesay, John. (2022). The Sale is in the Tale.  Los Angeles: Tradecraft Books. Words Matter. Emotion and connection matter more.  Indigenous cultures have been around for thousands of years.  None, […]

Paul, Andy. (2022). Sell without Selling Out.  New York:  MacMillan Publishers “Insist on Yourself: never imitate.” Ralph Waldo Emerson   If you are working in sales, and the sales managers […]

Heath, Chip.  Heath, Dan. (2010).  Switch:  how to change things when change is hard. New York:  Broadway Books Italicized portions are direct quotes.  Regular are my comments and additions. Three Surprises […]

Peck, M. Scott, M.D.  People of the Lie.  (1983).  New York:  Simon & Schuster, Inc. “This is a dangerous book.  I plead with you to handle it with care.  One […]

Keen, Sam.  Fire in the Belly.  New York:  Bantam, 1991. My recent work with the WHY Institute and Dan Dominguez reminded me that I read “Fire in the Belly” long […]

Mackesy, Charlie. (2019). The Boy, the mole, the fox, and the horse. New York: HarperCollins I only recently heard about his book.  It is a story of conversations between four […]

Zurchin, Cindy, Ballard, James, & Lacinak, Thad.  (2012). Whale Done! School. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse The book is based upon the book by Ken Blanchard, Whale Done! The Power of Positive Relationships […]

Sinek, Simon. (2009). Start with Why.  New York:  Penguin. The following stanza sets the tone for the book.  The WHY.os Institute is promoting understanding your own WHY to make a […]

Goldrich, Jordan. (2019). Workplace Warrior: People Skills for the Bullshit Executive. Austin, TX: Greenleaf Note: Many passages are direct quotes. Most are in italics. Jordan Goldrich shares what he has […]

Willemsen, Anne-Johan. 2021. From Poor Coach to Rich Coach. The Netherlands: www.TopMind.com In the opening of this book Willemsen quotes Marshall Goldsmith: “Coaching is a wonderful profession and a very […]

Grant, Adam. (2021). Think Again. New York: Penguin I am huge a fan of Adam Grant, his publications, and his thinking. His past books, Give and Take and Originals are […]

Janove, Jathan. (2008). The Star Profile. Mountain View, CA: Davies-Black Publishing This is another of Janove’s practical strategies which make conversations more focused and more productive. See my previous post […]

Janove, Jathan. (2017), Hard-Won Wisdom.  New York: AMACOM Publishing Janove has written a book full of true-life professional examples, wisdom learned from his own experiences, and specific suggestions for dealing […]

Miller, Lawrence M.  Barbarians to Bureaucrats.  New York:  Fawcett, 1989. In the early 90s I attended a workshop with Bob Hallett. He introduced a model of organizational development that predicted […]

Barry Johnson. (2020). And: Making a Difference by Leveraging Polarity, Paradox or Dilemma. Volume One.  Sacramento, CA:  Polarity Partnerships. I will admit upfront that this summary does not do justice […]

Miller, Matt. (2009). The Tyranny of Dead Ideas. New York: Times Books Thinking about the challenges of today, and the future that lies ahead, I remembered reading this book by […]

Joy of Heights and Distances Previously Unimaginable This is a PDF written by Richard Sheridan

Dear Friends & Colleagues Do you think conflict in the workplace will be going down any time soon?  I don’t. With this in mind I wrote Responding to Resistance:  30 […]

Johnson, Stefanie. (2020).  Inclusify.  New York:  HarperCollins. Inclusify has strategies on how to include people and their ideas to make better decisions for your organization. These strategies can be used […]

Sherwood, Ben. (2009). The Survivors Club.  New York: Grand Central Publishing. The whole field of studying survival is called “human factors in survival.”  The question researchers are trying to answer […]

White Fragility.  What this means to me, an old white guy, who has been a principal for over thirty years?  My experience in urban and suburban schools is the same.  […]

Kendi, Ibram X. (2019). How to be an Antiracist.   New York:  Penguin. The following quote is from the jacket of the book. “THE ONLY WAY TO UNDO RACISM IS TO […]

Heath, Dan. (2020). Upstream.  New York:  Avid Reader Press The Opening Parable: You and a friend are having a picnic by the side of a river. Suddenly you hear a […]

Boyes, Karen Tui. (2019). Project Genius: Big Learning for Young Geniuses.  Lower Hutt, NZ: Spectrum Education LTD. Karen is a fantastic presenter, committed to making learning better for students, and […]

Coyle, Daniel. (2018). The Culture Code. New York: Bantam Books One of the reasons I recommend this book is that it includes many other sources, about learning cultures, e.g. Pixar, […]

Wagner, Frank. (2015). The Power of Total Commitment.  SCC Marshall Goldsmith I write this on New Year’s Eve.  A time of reflection for me. I remember a quote from Ron […]

Boaler, Jo.(2019).  Limitless Mind. New York: HarperCollins This book dispels myths about learning that many people still hold to be true. Boaler synthesizes research from Dweck on Mindset, Duckworth on […]

Towery, Twyman. (1995) The Wisdom of Wolves. Franklin, TN: Wessex House I think the following credo could work for our school cultures.  Read it and see what you think. WOLF […]

Edmondson, Amy. (2019). The Fearless Organization. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons The main point of this book is psychological safety is critical for learning. If the culture is not […]

Arrien, Angeles. The Four-Fold Way: Walking Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer, and Visionary. New York: HarperCollins, 1993. Being in education, summer tends to be the time for reflection (an […]

Why this book? Recently, in one of my New Rules: Leaders, You Go first, I referenced this book and mentioned I would do a summary. Sinek starts with a story […]

As I mentioned in the New Rule: Leaders, You Go First, here are a few quotes and excerpts from Margaret Wheatley’s book. If they strike you, as they did me, […]

Why this book? As public schools have declined and the number of private, charter, and homeschooling continues to increase, the lack of confidence seems to be increasing in school cultures. […]

Ackerman, R.H. & Maslin-Ostrowski, P. (2002) The Wounded Leader. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass At this time of year, as the school year ends, most educators are licking their wounds from the […]

Hargreaves, Andy & O’Connor, Michael. (2018). Collaborative Professionalism. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press I admit up front that I have been a fan of Andy Hargreaves, his writing and thinking for […]

David, Susan. (2016). Emotional Agility. New York: Penguin As an educator for a long time and the continued acceleration of change, it occurs to me that we need a higher […]

Ericsson, Anders & Pool, Robert. (2016). Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Over the years I have seen references to K. Anders Ericsson and […]

Baumeister, Roy & Tierney, John. (2011). Willpower. New York: Penguin I have heard about Baumeister’s research for years. I am glad I finally read his book. Many of us have […]

Marshall Goldsmith. (2007), What got you here won’t get you there. New York: Hyperion Full Disclosure:  I am a Stakeholder Centered Coach, certified by Marshall Goldsmith’s organization. Because of my experience coaching […]

Schein, E. & Schein, P. (2018), Humble Leadership. Oakland, CA: Berrett-Kohler. NOTE:  When Edgar and Peter Schein use a term personization, personalizing, etc.  These are not typos. When serving on […]

Duhigg, Charles. (2016). Smarter Faster Better. New York: Random House. Why this book? Charles Duhigg’s last book was titled “The Power of Habit.”  He defined how habits were formed and how […]

Scott, Kim. (2017). Radical Candor.  New York: St. Martin’s Press. I am always looking for new coaching models and ways to apply coaching, as a helpful tool for leaders who […]

Edgar Schein has been a giant in the field of OD for decades.  Instead of writing a separate summary of his last three books, I decided to combine them into […]

Lotto, Beau. (2017). Deviate.  New York: Hachette. I like books that extend my thinking and invite me to reflect.  My dissertation was on reflective thinking which undergirds much of the […]

Heath, C. & Heath, D. (2017). The Power of Moments.  New York:  Simon & Schuster The Heath Bros have published several books and I think I have read all of […]

Dintersmith, Ted. (2018). What School Could Be.  Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. BUY THIS BOOK.  I have referenced this book in a couple in ‘New Rules’ previously. Ted co-authored with […]

Reynolds, Glenn Harlan. (2014). The New School.  New York:  Encounter Books As we think of the future of schools in America, there is good news and bad news.  It seems […]

Arbinger, Institute. (2000). Leadership and self-deception. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Maybe it is the time of the season for reflection, or the state of our country, or the desire for silver […]

Harvey, Eric., Cottrell, David, and Lucia, Al. (2003), Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus. Dallas:  Walk the Talk Company. I read this book years ago.  I, like many others, are looking […]

Sheridan, Richard. (2013).  Joy, Inc.  New York:  Penguin NOTE:  There are many more examples and procedures that are applicable to education than I have identified in this summary. Menlo Innovations […]

Helgeson, Sally & Goldsmith, Marshall.  (2018).  How Women Rise. New York:  Hachette Books. As before, words in italics are directly from the book. As a white male, I know, based […]

Phelan, Karen (2013), I’m Sorry I Broke Your Company. San Francisco:  Berrett-Koehler Karen Phelan’s premise is that consultants and consultant companies use strategies and tools that have worked in the past.  Her […]

Gawande, Atul. (2009). The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. New York: Metropolitan Books. Dr. Gawande states that, even with the best intentions, mistakes can and will happen. He […]

Kouzes, James & Posner, Barry. (2016). Learning Leadership. San Francisco:  Wiley & Sons Kouzes & Posner focus on leadership and how important it is to the personal and organizational learning.  They […]

Glaser, Judith. (2014). Conversational Intelligence. Brookline, MA:  Bibliomotion Why This Book? Conversations with others, individually and groups, make a difference.  The question is ‘which conversations are growth producing and problem-solving; […]

Pfeffer, J. & Sutton, R.  (2000).  The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action.  Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Why this book? Pfeffer and Sutton outline five […]

Grant, Adam. (2016). Originals: How Non-Conformist Move the World. New York:  Viking. Why this book? This book offers examples of why the outlier contributor and the ones we might listen to the […]

Goldsmith, Marshall. (2007). What got you here won’t get you there. New York: Hyperion Why this book? Stakeholder Centered Coaching is about improvement. As the environment and world changes, our knowledge, […]

Bryant, Adam. (2011). Corner Office.  New York:  Time Books. Why this book? Serendipity and Synchronicity.  While sitting in the airport one early morning I picked up the business section of […]

You May Need a Slap in the Face – Two Summaries A couple of years ago, our Learning Omnivores group, spent time with Stan Slap, the author of Bury My […]

Saphier, Jon, Haley-Speca, Mary Ann, & Gower, Robert.  (2018). The Skillful Teacher (7th ed). Acton, MA: Research for Better Teaching. Why I like this book. Over the years I have always […]

Slap, Stan. (2015). Under the Hood.  New York:  Penguin. “Your great ideas? Your grand theories? Those are parlor furniture. Come with me…  I’m going to take you down to the […]

Slap, Stan. (2010).  Bury My Heart at Conference Room B.  New York:  Penguin. Why this book?        You May Need a Slap in the Face A year ago, our Learning Omnivores […]

Nine Professional Conversations to Change our Schools: A Dashboard of Options By William Sommers, Ph.D. & Diane P. Zimmerman, Ph.D.  As authors, when we first started having these kinds of conversations almost […]

Why this book? I like books that extend my thinking and invite me to reflect.  My dissertation was on reflective thinking which undergirds much of the coaching I do with […]

Why this book? I am always looking for new coaching models and ways to apply coaching, as a helpful tool for leaders who want to make things better for themselves, […]

Why this book? The Heath Bros have published several books and I think I have read all of them.  Made to Stick had great ideas for making things memorable in […]

Barker, Eric. (2017). Barking Up the Wrong Tree. New York: HarperCollins I have been a subscriber to Eric’s blog called ‘Barking Up the Wrong Tree’ for a couple of years.  […]

Why this book? Charles Duhigg’s last book was titled “The Power of Habit.”  He defined how habits were formed and how our responses get programmed into our behavior.  Duhigg provides […]

Saphier, Jon. (2017). High Expectations Teaching. Thousand Oaks, CA:  Corwin Press The premise of this book is that educators should convince students that “smart is something you can get.”  He […]

Why this book? Kouzes & Posner focus on leadership and the importance personal and organizational learning.  They present ways for leaders to learn as a person and in their leadership […]

Schein, Edgar. (2016). Humble Consulting. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler. Process Consultation emphasizes the need to involve the client in the process of figuring out what is wrong and what can be […]

Schein, Edgar. (2013). Humble Inquiry. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler. Most of us do not like conversations or meetings that spend time telling us what we already know.  Summary of the history […]

Why these books? Edgar Schein has been a giant in the field of OD for years.  Instead of writing a summary of three books, I decided to combine three of […]

I’m Sorry I broke Your Company Phelan, Karen (2013), San Francisco:  Berrett-Koehler Why this book? Karen Phelan’s premise is that consultants and consultant companies use strategies and tools that have […]

The new IQ: forward by Marshall Goldsmith The knowledge workers: manage people who know more about what they are doing than their bosses to. We need to ask, listen, and […]

Why this book? Stakeholder Centered Coaching is about improvement. As the environment and world changes, our knowledge, skills, and applications will have to keep pace. This book identifies some reasons […]

Grant, Adam. (2016). Originals: How Non-Conformist Move the World. New York: Viking. In some circles there is a belief that non-conformists can be hazardous to the organization. In the area […]

Pfeffer, J. & Sutton, R.  (2000).  The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action.  Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. The term GAP is used to indicate many […]

Pfeffer, Jeffrey. (2015). Leadership BS. New York: Harper Business As you might have guessed from the title, this book is not for everyone. While it should be, it is not. […]

Glaser, Judith. (2014). Conversational Intelligence. Brookline, MA: Bibliomotion, Inc.   An opening quote, Buckminster Fuller, in the introduction sets the tone for this book. “You never change things by fighting […]

Rookies Smarts By Liz Wiseman My first reaction is buy this book.  Ms. Wiseman’s previous book, Multipliers (2010), was full of anecdotes and research on why some leaders get better […]

Goldsmith, Marshall. (2015). Triggers. New York: Crown If you haven’t read What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful (2007) and Mojo: How […]

Here are some of Deresiewicz’s key points in his words and ours (summary). The book contains much more than we report here and deserves to be read (maybe even with […]