Ubuntu! (Stephen Lundin, Bob Nelson)

 

This reminds me of Steven R Covey....understanding how situations affect how people act....changing paradigms. This book teaches a concept through story and does so very powerfully.

Goodreads says:

A powerful story about the African philosophy of teamwork and collaboration that has the power to reshape our workplaces, our relationships with our coworkers, and our personal lives, written by the bestselling coauthor of Fish! and the bestselling author of 1001 Ways to Reward Employees.

John Peterson, a new manager in the credit department at a major big-box retailer, is struggling in his job. The people under him are not working as well or effectively as they need to, and his department is falling behind in meeting its goals. His only solution is to take on more work himself, burning the midnight oil and coming in most weekends to pick up the slack and keep his department above water.

When one of the employees stays behind to help him—a young man who came to America from a small village in Africa—he learns of the ancient wisdom and hidden power of the African philosophy of Ubuntu. Before long, it begins to change the way he thinks about the people he works with, about himself, and about how he runs his department and his life.

In an engaging and completely fresh narrative that holds a unique message for today’s business world, Ubuntu! shows us a way to overcome our fears, insecurities, and the “me-ism” that so often permeates our workplaces, and replace it with a culture of genuine respect and collaboration. It promises to take its place alongside Fish! and other business parables as the next bestselling classic in the business category.

Set Boundaries, Find Peace (Nedra Glover Tawwab)

 

I've always had the view that boundaries were about being tough and it wasn't something I really valued as part of my personality. I have to re-think that now after reading this book. The truth is, in many aspects of my life, I'm pretty good at boundaries. This book opened up some new categories I hadn't really put much thought into before. Some of it I didn't agree with but there was a lot of new perspectives I hadn't considered. I never thought about boundaries with myself...think self-development! I think this book would be a great one for all obligers to read....and truthfully, I think we all have a little bit of obliger in us. I also really liked her suggestions on boundaries for social media/smart phones:

Limit overconsumption of online content to protect mental health (public interviews and her Instagram guidance emphasize reducing overwhelm).

Be intentional about how often and why you use social platforms.

Mute, unfollow, or block accounts that cause stress, comparison, or emotional harm (a frequent theme in her Instagram Q&As).

Set time boundaries around device use to support rest, presence, and emotional regulation.

Understand that social media isn’t “real life,” and protect your energy accordingly.

Goodreads says:.
End the struggle, speak up for what you need, and experience the freedom of being truly yourself.

Healthy boundaries. We all know we should have them–in order to achieve work/life balance, cope with toxic people, and enjoy rewarding relationships with partners, friends, and family. But what do “healthy boundaries” really mean–and how can we successfully express our needs, say “no,” and be assertive without offending others?

Licensed counselor, sought-after relationship expert, and one of the most influential therapists on Instagram Nedra Glover Tawwab demystifies this complex topic for today’s world. In a relatable and inclusive tone, Set Boundaries, Find Peace presents simple-yet-powerful ways to establish healthy boundaries in all aspects of life. Rooted in the latest research and best practices used in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), these techniques help us identify and express our needs clearly and without apology–and unravel a root problem behind codependency, power struggles, anxiety, depression, burnout, and more.

Big Potential (Shawn Achor)

 

I've noticed Shawn Anchor mentioned a lot when it comes to talking about happiness. He hit the nail on the head with this book!  I can't remember what led me to this book, but I was I pleasantly surprised and the more I read the more I loved it. My word of the year is "swing". I wrote about it here. I was able to add a lot to my cache about the value of swing by reading this! 

My notes are below the Goodreads summary.


Goodreads says:

“With cutting-edge research, penetrating insights, and practical examples, Shawn Achor describes a new conception of ‘success,’ and in doing so, reveals exciting new strategies we can use to meet our highest potential.”—Gretchen Rubin, bestselling author of The Happiness Project

“A vibrant book on how to bring out the best in others—and how they can bring out the best in us.”—Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and host of the podcast WorkLife

In a world that thrives on competition and individual achievement, we’re measuring and pursuing potential incorrectly. Pursuing success in isolation—pushing others away as we push ourselves too hard—not only limits our potential but makes us more stressed and disconnected than ever.
 
Harvard-trained researcher Shawn Achor reveals a better approach. With exciting new research combining neuroscience and psychology with Big Data, Achor shows that our potential is not limited by what we alone can achieve. Instead, it is determined by how we complement, contribute to, and benefit from the abilities and achievements of people around us.
 
When we—as individuals, leaders, and parents—chase only individual achievement, we leave vast sources of potential untapped. But once we put “others” back into the equation, and work to make others better, we ignite a Virtuous Cycle of cascading successes that amplify our own.

The dramatic shifts in how we approach work today demand an equally dramatic shift in our approach to success. In Big Potential, Achor draws on cutting-edge original research as well as his work with nearly half of the Fortune 100 and with places like NASA, the NFL and the NBA, and offers a new path to thriving in the modern world.

Notes

p. 1 When dusk slowly crept upon a mangrove forest lining a river deep in a jungle in Southeast Asia, a biologist far from his home in Washington State looked out over the lush, alien landscape lining the snake-infested waters. While drifting slowly in his boat, Professor Hugh Smith surely heard the calls of the nocturnal creatures uncoiling from their dens or taking flight from their nests and beginning their nightly hunts. I can envision how the water must have shimmered under the light from the stars, unspoiled by the light pollution that existed in the remote cities. What happened next on that humid day in 1935 is part of recorded academic history. Smith looked up at one of the mangrove trees, and suddenly the entire canopy glowed as if a lightning bolt had show out from the tree instead of striking it. Then it all went dark, leaving a burned image on his vision....once his capacity for mental reasoning returned, he realized that the trees were not, in fact, glowing; rather they were covered with a critical number of bioluminiescent lightning bugs, all illuminating at the exact same time. Upon returning home, Dr Smith wrote up a journal article on his discovery of the synchronous lightning bugs. It seemed too good to be true, like something out of a storybook. I'm sadly unsurprised by the next part of the story. He was not believed. Biologists ridiculed his account, even calling it fabricated. Why would make fireflies glow in unison, which would only decrease their chances of distinguishing themselves to potential mates? Mathematicians were equally skeptical. How could order come from chaos in nature without a leader to direct it? And entomologists asked how million of fireflies could see enough other fireflies to create the exact same pattern, given the limited visibility i the mangrove forest. It seemed physically, mathematically, and biologically impossible. 
Yet, it wasn't. And thanks to modern science, we know how and why. Turns out that this puzzling behavior actually serves an evolutionary purpose for the fireflies. As published in the prestigious journal Science, researchers Moiseff and Copeland found that when lightning bugs light up at randome times, the likelihood of a female responding to a male in the deep, dark recesses of a mangrove forest is 3 percent. But when the lightning bugs light up together, the likelihood of females responding is 82%! That's not a typo. The success rate increased by 79 percentage points when flashing as an interconnected community rather than as individuals.
The lightning bug researchers discovered than when fireflies were able to time their pulses with one another with astonishing accuracy (to the millisecond!), it allowed them to space themselves apart perfectly, thus eliminating the need to compete. ...Like the lightning bugs, once we learn to coordinate and collaborate with those around us, we all begin to shine brighter, both individually and as an ecosystem.

p. 23...almost every attribute of your potential - from intelligence ot creativity to leadership to personality and engagement - is interconnected with others. Thus, to truly thrive physically, emotionally, and spiritually, we need to change our pursuit of potential in the same way we need to change our pursuit of happiness. We need to stop trying to be faster alone, and start working to become stronger together.

p. 41 ...connecting with high-potential people dramatically increases your likelihood of high-potential outcomes. ...it turns out that not only do people around us powerfully shape  the type of person we'll become, but that their influence begins to take root at a very young age. For example, they found that when three- or four-year-old children were surrounded by peers who were hard-working or social, they too would begin to work harder and be more social. 
...Our finding, that personality traits are contagious among children, flies in the face of common assumptions that personality is ingrained and can't be changed.

p. 46 ...if animals don't care about a pecking order and they get along, that energy is transferred to production. In other words, when members of a group - be they human beings or chickens - focus only on competing their way to the top, they are likely to peck one another to death. They they work to lift one another up, however, everybody wins.

p. 51 A virtuous cycle (as opposed to a vicious cycle) is an upward spiral of potential whereby with each success, you garner more resources, which, in turn, allow you to achieve greater and greater successes.

p. 65 In basketball, for example, you would think that shooting percentage would best predict the outcome of a game, right? But in fact, a large BYU study found that the ratio of assists to turnovers is much more predictive of success. That's because lots of turnovers means players are hogging the ball so that they can score, whereas lots of assists means the players aren't trying to make individual shots; they are trying to get the collective win.

p. 117...praise is actually a renewable resource, Praise creates a Virtuous Cycle - the more you gibe, the more you enhance your own supply. When done right, praise primes the brain for higher performance, which means that the more we praise, the more success we create. And the more successes there are, the more there is to praise.

p. 119 By denying the light of praise, we extinguish it. By bending the light toward others, we magnify it.

p. 121 The easiest way to stop comparison praise is simply to eliminate superlatives from our vocabulary - "the best," "the fastest", "the smartest", "the prettiest". All of these undercut others instead of telling people they are great in their own right. Instead, follow what I consider an inviolable law of praise for leaders and parents: Do not compliment at the expense of others. ....the best praise is by actions changed.

p. 127...if we want to encourage excellence, we need a daily practice to shine attention on instances of excellence. The most powerful one in my life, and the one I suggest in every talk, is to take to minutes (maximum) each morning to simply write and send a text message or email praising or thanking someone in your life. Of all the positive habits I have, this is the most powerful one for multiple reasons. First, you have just scanned your relationships for something positive to spotlight, helping you see more positives, which, in turn, gives you more to spotlight. When I suggest this at companies, managers say that that simple email in the morning causes them to look for and see more things to praise and recognize on their teams the rest of the day.

p. 151 He had some strategies on defense against the dark arts of the world:

1. Build a moat (ie no social media or news in the first or last hour of the day.....not a new concept! I really should consciously do it! On p. 153 he said individuals who watched just three minutes of negative news in the morning were 27% more likely to report their day as unhappy six to eight hours later - it was like taking a poison pill each morning that made all of your efforts, energies, and interactions throughout the day more toxic)
2. Built a mental stronghold. This means to develop habits routines to remain calm, on task and hopeful in the face of immeasurable stress and sadness. (this was in reference to hospital teams who deal with big tragic events best)
3. Learn the art of Mental Aikido - look at stress positively. Accept it and work with it. Reframe failure as a learning opportunity.
4. Take a vacation from your problem - taking time away from your problems may actually help you reap one of the greatest competitive advantages that exist today....maintain a positive and engaged brain. Plan time away on a regular basis.
5. Pick your battles.

p. 182 How to channel collective energy
1. General more positive energy by creating Tours of Meaning (look for the beautiful in your every day life)
2. Use vivid direction to generate a path for that energy to flow
3. Accelerate the momentum you have created through the power of celebration. When you celebrate the good the negative seems to take care of itself.

p. 212 Realize that change is not a one time event. You will have to keep working on this for a lifetime! 

You can't exercise today hoping to never need to exercise again. In truth, we exercise today so we can move our body again tomorrow. We must always be on guard and repairing what breaks down over time.

Dream Teams (Shane Snow)

 

My word of the year this year is swing. I thought this might be a good book to add to my knowledge on how to develop good swing....however, it didn't quite work for me. I found myself disinterested in many of the stories. They were long and it seemed like it took a long time to get to the point. After about 150 pages I considered abandoning it, but instead, I skipped a bunch of stories and tried to look for some nuggets. I was also irritated by the multitude of footnotes. Just put it in the paragraph if it really matters! I was touched by the author's vulnerable story at the end. He looks way to young in his picture to have gone through financial disaster, homelessness and divorce already!

Goodreads says:

Award-winning entrepreneur and journalist Shane Snow reveals the counterintuitive reasons why so many partnerships and groups break down--and why some break through.

The best teams are more than the sum of their parts, but why does collaboration so often fail to fulfill this promise? In  Dream Teams , Snow takes us on an adventure through history, neuroscience, psychology, and business, exploring what separates groups that simply get by together from those that get better together.

You'll
   *   How ragtag teams--from soccer clubs to startups to gangs of pirates--beat the odds throughout history.
   *   Why DaimlerChrysler flopped while the Wu-Tang Clan succeeded, and the surprising factor behind most failed mergers, marriages, and partnerships.
   *   What the Wright Brothers' daily arguments can teach us about group problem solving.
   *   Pioneering women in law enforcement, unlikely civil rights collaborators, and underdog armies that did the incredible together.
   *   The team players behind great social movements in history, and the science of becoming open-minded.

Provocative and entertaining,  Dream Teams  is a landmark work that will change the way we think about people, progress, and collaboration.

The Boys in the Boat (Daniel James Brown)

 

Wow. Was this read ever good for my soul. These days, in the middle of the pandemic, as we head into the darkness of the second wave, to read about people who work together for something good was really good for my soul. In the end, when they were at the Olympics with Hitler looking on and the Germans chanting, to have won that race was something else. I can understand the jubilation everyone felt (well, everyone except Hitler). This is a great story! 

I mistakenly put a hold on the book for young readers. Unfortunately, it isn't young enough for the crowd I teach. I will definitely read the full story when my hold comes in at the library. 

I suggested this book to kick off a family book club. There was a underwhelming lack of enthusiasm for the idea. It is kind of ironic that this is the book I had suggested. I think there's a lesson in that somewhere.

Great quotes:

....trying to find the right crew of rowers to take it to the Olympics:

p. 22 ...they would need something else as well. Something even more important. To be part of that kind of crew - a gold medal crew - each young man would also have to be able to put aside his own personal ambitions. He'd have to throw his ego over the side of the boat, to leave it swirling in the wake of his shell. He'd need to pull, not just for himself, not just for glory, but for the other boys in the boat.

....on when your family abandons you and you're alone:

p. 52 He made some oatmeal and sat back down to think some more. His father had always taught him that there was a solution to every problem. But he had always said that sometimes the solution wasn't where people would ordinarily expect it to be. You might have to look in unexpected places and think in new and creative ways. He could survive on his own, he figured, if he just kept his eyes open for opportunities.

....on unity

p. 67 One of the fundamental challenges in rowing is that when any one member of a crew goes into a slump, the entire crew goes with him. Each of the rowers has a slightly different role, depending on his position in the boat, and each of these roles is critical....When working well, the entire boat operates like a well-lubricated machine, with every rower serving as a vital link in a chain that powers it forward. 

This machine can break down easily. A lack of concentration on one person's part can impact the performance of the whole boat. To keep themselves focused, the freshman crew in Joe's boat had come up with a mantra that their coxswain, George Morry, chanted as they rowed. Morry shouted, "M-I-B, M-I-B, M-I-B!" over and over to the rhythm of their stroke. The letters stood for "mind in boat". The chant was meant as a reminder that from the time an oarsman steps into a racing shell until the moment the boat crosses the finish line, he must keep his mind focused on what is happening inside the boat. His whole world must shrink down to that one small space.

...on holding your tongue

p. 91 As they drove away, Joyce fumed. Over the years she had been slowly learning more about Joe's life, about what happened at the Gold and Ruby mine, and in Sequim. She could not understand ow Thula had been so cold, how his Father had been so weak, and why Joe himself seemed to show so little anger about it all. Finally, as Joe pulled over to the curb to drop her off at the Judge's home, Joyce erupted. Why did he go on pretending that they hadn't done him any harm?  What kind of woman would leave a boy alone in the world? What kind of father would let her do that? She was nearly sobbing by the time she finished. 

She glanced across the seat at Joe, and saw at once, through a blur of tears, that his eyes were full of hurt too. But his jaw was set, and he stared ahead over the steering wheel rather than turning to looka t her. 
"You don't understand," he murmured. "They didn't have any choice. There were just too many mouths to feed."
Joyce that about that for a moment, then said, "I just don't understand why you don't get angry."
Joe continued to stare ahead through the windshield.
"It takes energy to get angry. It eats you up inside. I can't waste my energy like that and expect to get ahead. When they left, it took everything I had in me just to survive. Now I have to stay focused. I've just gotta take care of things myself."

....on winning despite your background 

p. 112 As they sat at the starting line, in the City of Seattle, rolling with the choppy waves, waiting for the crack in the starting gun, with rainwater running down their necks and backs and dripping from their noses, the question wasn't whether they were strong or skilled enough. The real question was whether they had the maturity and discipline to keep their minds in the boat. Could they focus? Or would their anger and fear and uncertainty unhinge them? 
(spoiler: they won)

....on 1+1 being much more than 2

p. 140 There was a straightforward reason for what was happening. The boys in the Husky Clipper were all tough, they were all skilled, they were all fiercely determined, but they were also all good-hearted. Every one of them had come from humble originas or had been humbled by the hard demands of rowing. Life, and the challenges they had faced togehter, had also taught them humility - that there were limits to their individual powers. They had learned that there were things they could od far better together than alone. They were starting to row, now for one another, not just for themselves, and it made all the difference.

Dare to Lead (Brené Brown)

There is a lot to think about and to go back and re-read in this book. I am going to put it on my books to re-read annually.

Goodreads says:

In her #1 NYT bestsellers, Brené Brown taught us what it means to dare greatly, rise strong and brave the wilderness. Now, based on new research conducted with leaders, change makers and culture shifters, she’s showing us how to put those ideas into practice so we can step up and lead.

Leadership is not about titles, status and power over people. Leaders are people who hold themselves accountable for recognising the potential in people and ideas, and developing that potential. This is a book for everyone who is ready to choose courage over comfort, make a difference and lead.

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 and work to align authority and accountability. We don't avoid difficult conversations and situations; we lean into the vulnerability that’s necessary to do good work.

But daring leadership in a culture that's defined by scarcity, fear and uncertainty requires building courage skills, which are uniquely human. The irony is that we're choosing not to invest in developing the hearts and minds of leaders at the same time we're scrambling to figure out what we have to offer that machines can't do better and faster. What can we do better? Empathy, connection and courage to start.

Brené Brown spent the past two decades researching the emotions that give meaning to our lives. Over the past seven years, she found that leaders in organisations ranging from small entrepreneurial start-ups and family-owned businesses to non-profits, civic organisations and Fortune 50 companies, are asking the same questions:

How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders? And, how do you embed the value of courage in your culture?

Dare to Lead answers these questions and gives us actionable strategies and real examples from her new research-based, courage-building programme.

Brené writes, ‘One of the most important findings of my career is that courage can be taught, developed and measured. Courage is a collection of four skill sets supported by twenty-eight behaviours. All it requires is a commitment to doing bold work, having tough conversations and showing up with our whole hearts. Easy? No. Choosing courage over comfort is not easy. Worth it? Always. We want to be brave with our lives and work. It's why we're here.’

Backcourt Battle (Rich Wallace)

Now that we are no longer at school, reading with my students, especially my struggling readers is a struggle. I've adapted by having a "Morning Warm up" activity each day where I ask them a simple questions or two or have them write something. I always ask the question, "What are you reading today?". I vary the questions:

What are you reading?
What page are you on?
What last happened in your book?
When do you think you'll finish this book?
What do you plan to read next?

I ask those questions because my training has told me that those are the things people who love to read know....they read every day, they can tell you what's happening in their book and they have a rough idea of how long it'll be before they're finished and what they're going to move on to next. 

I had a student who would tell me each and every day that he didn't like to read and didn't have a book and wasn't planning to read a book. After a few weeks of that, I told him that was no longer okay and that I expected him to read (you can do that when you teach 8 year olds....I don't recommend it for older kids LOL). I asked him to pick a book from Epic, a platform that we all have access to while schools are shut down. He picked this book. Each day we each read a chapter independently and would talk about it on Google Meet the next day. The first day he couldn't really tell me anything that happened in the first chapter and my attempt at a conversation went nowhere. We re-read the first chapter together and it was interesting the see the concepts he didn't understand about basketball. He likes to play basketball in the courtyard at recess - but that doesn't mean he knows about shot clocks and 3 point lines and more. We discussed some of those things. After that, he started to take it a little more seriously and we had some good discussions each day! 

This story has a good character lesson and is fun because you get to pick the ending. We had a good debate about which would be the best ending. I think a book like this would also be a good way to talk to students about revising that authors do with their stories. 

Goodreads says:

After the starting point guard sprains his ankle during a game, Jamere steps in until his rival teammate returns for the championship. But with both boys expecting to start in the final game, their coach asks Jamere to decide who will play. The ending is Up2U.

Stone Fox (John Reynolds Gardiner)

A few ELL students I have known have read this book as a novel study. I can see why. It's pretty short so it's a quick read but the story is great. It would make a great read-aloud. The story is similar to Iron Will. Willy saves Grandpa's farm, and Searchlight gives his life. Heartbreaking story!

Goodreads says:

John Reynolds Gardiner's classic action-packed adventure story about a thrilling dogsled race has captivated readers for more than thirty years.

Based on a Rocky Mountain legend, Stone Fox tells the story of Little Willy, who lives with his grandfather in Wyoming. When Grandfather falls ill, he is no longer able to work the farm, which is in danger of foreclosure. Little Willy is determined to win the National Dogsled Race—the prize money would save the farm and his grandfather. But he isn't the only one who desperately wants to win. Willy and his brave dog Searchlight must face off against experienced racers, including a Native American man named Stone Fox, who has never lost a race.

Exciting and heartwarming, this novel has sold millions of copies and was named a New York Times Outstanding Children's Book.

Mitchell Goes Bowling (Hallie Durand)

Topics:
Persistence
Learning

There are great illustrations this book. The illustrator captured bowling and its ups and downs perfectly.


Battle on! Head to the lanes for another hilarious, high-energy story as four-year-old Mitchell and his obliging dad strike a winning deal.

Mitchell liked to knock things down.
That’s just how he rolled.

One Saturday, when Mitchell almost knocks down his dad, his dad catches him and puts him in the car. And when they step into the bowling alley, Mitchell feels right at home. Pizza! Giant crashing noises! Special shoes! But as Mitchell picks up the biggest ball and quickly learns the word gutter, and when Dad does a little kick with his leg and earns a big X on the scoreboard, Mitchell starts to get peevish. How can Mitchell get a chance to do a steamin’-hot-potato-dance too? With wit, warmth, and comedic charm, Hallie Durand and Tony Fucile roll another strike with this tale of a lovably rambunctious child and his doting dad.