The Human Element: Overcoming the Resistance That Awaits New Ideas

Loran Nordgren and David Schonthal

Wiley, 256 pp., $27

The authors are two Kellogg School of Management professors who teamed together to pen research-based tactics on how to get buy-in for new and innovative ideas. In the book, they operationalize "frictions" as mental forces that resist change. They then spotlight four frictions that can make it a challenge for teams and organizations to move forward: inertia, effort, emotion, and reactance. They also offer strategies for how to combat the frictions, turn them into change agents, and ultimately get others on board with change and innovation.

Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less

Leidy Klotz

Flatiron Books, 304 pp., $28.99

When looking for solutions, is your first instinct to add a new layer to the process, or do you look for ways to cut back? In this book, Klotz posits that many solutions go undiscovered because people have an innate proclivity to add rather than subtract. Supported by some of his own research, he explains that cutting back demands more cognitive effort. Not only does Klotz share with readers how to establish a personal mindset of seeking solutions by subtraction, but he also explores strategies for scaling subtracting skills across a system or enterprise.