Adventures in Reading

Before I forget, a few weeks ago I spent the afternoon with a friend who knows I love to read and that I’ve been reading lots of business books recently and she recommended the Fish! series of books by Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, John Christensen and Philip Strand.

Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results - this is a management parable that draws its lesson from the fun-loving fishmongers at Seattle’s Pike Place Market. It’s supposed to be like Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life by Spencer Johnson and Kenneth Blanchard. The Fish! philosophy is based on these four principles: Choose Your Attitude, Play, Make Their Day, and Be Present.

Fish! Tales: Real-Life Stories to Help You Transform Your Workplace and Your Life - stories of how real life people and companies have applied the Fish! philosophy to improve their workplaces

Fish! for Life: A Remarkable Way to Achieve Your Dreams - Using the Fish! philosophy this book has advice on life issues such as weight loss, personal finance, and relationships and promises to be a road map for achieving personal happiness and well-being in all areas of life.

Fish! Sticks: A Remarkable Way to Adapt to Changing Times and Keep Your Work Fresh - this is another management parable, this time with a fictional sushi bar that is always two steps ahead of the competition

Schools of Fish! - this one is for educators and recommends using the Fish! four simple principles — Be There, Play, Make Their Day, and Choose Your Attitude — to build more effective, fulfilling relationships that lead to better learning.

I usually don’t like these management parable books so I’m skeptical of these books. Still I’m sure they’ll be easy reads so I’ll at least give the original Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results a shot.

PINK magazine is my new favorite magazine. PINK exists to promote a new generation of ambitious, compassionate, resilient, powerful and passionate women who are making a significant impact on the world through their work and their lives-while being true to themselves. Each issue has great articles about work-life balance, finance, career development, networking, and issues facing women in business.

They often have good business book suggestions and this is the one from the current issue (May/June 2008) that looks the best to me:

Through the Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders by Alice H. Eagly and Linda L. Carli - Eagly and Carli are professors at Harvard Business School and wrote an article in this issue of PINK magazine titled “Welcome to the Labyrinth.” The HBS Press online store lists this description of this book:

Despite real progress, women remain rare enough in elite positions of power that their presence still evokes a sense of wonder. In “Through the Labyrinth,” Alice Eagly and Linda Carli examine why women’s paths to power remain difficult to traverse. First, Eagly and Carli prove that the glass ceiling is no longer a useful metaphor and offer seven reasons why. They propose the labyrinth as a better image and explain how to navigate through it. This important and practical book addresses such critical questions as: How far have women actually come as leaders? Do stereotypes and prejudices still limit women’s opportunities? Do people resist women’s leadership more than men’s? And, do organizations create obstacles to women who would be leaders? This book’s rich analysis is founded on scientific research from psychology, economics, sociology, political science, and management. The authors ground their conclusions in that research and invoke a wealth of engaging anecdotes and personal accounts to illustrate the practical principles that emerge. With excellent leadership in short supply, no group, organization, or nation can afford to restrict women’s access to leadership roles. This book evaluates whether such restrictions are present and, when they are, what we can do to eliminate them.