Favourite Books

Perhaps you have had an idea in the past that won't go away.  Perhaps the idea sits in the back of your mind niggling away at you.  It feels like it could be a great idea but you aren't sure - it's a bit unusual.  You see a connection between two or more areas that no one else has seen before and you wonder...are you onto something?

The Medici Effect is a book for those ideas.  Referring to 'the intersection' of different fields by the author, Frans Johansson clearly explains and provides the research for those connections that we make from seemingly totally random, even disparate ideas. Many of the world's greatest inventions have come from people who saw a relationship between two vastly different fields, technologies or disciplines and acted upon it.

Easy to read, full of examples with a clear methodology to help you develop your own intersections, The Medici Effect will leave you racing to your notebook to start work on that long-delayed idea!

Re-imagine! by Tom Peters is a classic book on reinvention.  If it's projects you want to reinvent, there are plenty of ideas here to whet your appetite.  If you are involved in marketing, branding or design, this book will throw ideas at you.  Art is no longer restricted to galleries and Old Master paintings.  Think art and think new ways of working; new ways of designing organisations and new ways to define value in our jaded consumerist world.  This is a book for dipping in and out of when you feel most lost.  It will give you an insight into what is possible..and what should no longer see the light of day.

'The Experience Economy: Work is Theatre & Every Business a Stage' by B. Joseph Pine 11 & James H. Gilmore is a book that translates across every sphere of work that Office Class is involved in.

It explains how experiences are forming the basis for future economies, where people will pay a premium to participate in something extraordinary.  This book has lessons for those doing projects, for training and education and event management in theming, escapism, art and performance.  A must read!

New Girl on the Job: Advice from the Trenches by Hannah Seligson, 2007 Citadel Press, New York.

It is no coincidence that I chose Hannah Seligson's book New Girl on the Job as my first book review. This book echoes our theme for this month: doing things for the first time. Being the new girl in the office may be the beginning of an exciting new career but can feel like you are an explorer in a strange new land. You wish you had a guide and handbook to help you navigate your way around.  New Girl on the Job could be the handbook that you are looking for.