Contributors to the February 2023 issue of TD magazine offer their book recommendations.

Patti P. Phillips

Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less

by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz

How well we communicate is not defined by the number of words we use but by what words we use and how we use them. This book is an excellent guide for effective communication. It is simple to read and easy to apply. As an author, I am always looking for ways to better say what I mean in the fewest words possible.

Paul H. Elliott

Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space on the Organization Chart, 3rd Ed.,

by Geary A. Rummler and Alan P. Brache

This is recognized as the book that launched the process improvement revolution. It was the first such approach to bridge the gap between organizational strategy and the individual performer. In this revised edition, the authors reflect on the key needs of organizations facing today's challenge of managing change in a far more complex world. The book shows how to apply the three levels of performance and link performance to strategy, move from annual programs to sustained performance improvement, and redesign processes.

Frank Nguyen

Behavioral Science in the Wild

by Nina Mažar and Dilip Soman

Though we typically rely on traditional learning interventions to develop our talent, behavioral nudging can be a powerful tool to integrate learning into the workflow, particularly to provide support for tasks or behaviors that may not be anchored in a process or software tool.

Jen Yaros

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration

By Ed Catmull

This book has a little bit of everything. From the creator of Pixar, you learn what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to promoting a creative idea to getting your teams to think outside the box to solve problems. It also includes a lot of interesting stories about Pixar and the movies we all love.

Jeremy Roberts

Grasp: The Science Transforming How We Learn

By Sanjay Sarma and Luke Yoquinto

This book is about as comprehensive as it gets when it comes to examining the history of our views on education and learning, both from the inside out and from the outside in. It is certain to challenge some assumptions you have about how your learners learn.

Jessica Kriegel

Change the Culture, Change the Game: The Breakthrough Strategy for Energizing Your Organization and Creating Accountability for Results

By Roger Connors and Tom Smith

This book gives leaders a simple and effective approach to culture transformation. Rather than treating it as a touchy-feely concept, it is put into action with numerous case studies and a simple model.

Al Folsom

The Eden Conspiracy

By Joe Harless

Joe Harless, master practitioner in the field of organizational performance improvement and learning, brings 30 years of pioneering experience to the challenge of improving our schools. His accomplishment-based curriculum development approach advocates designing curriculum that enables students to achieve specific accomplishments needed for successful personal life and top-paying employment. He advocates a conspiracy among all the stakeholders in a community and the school system to define what their educational programs need to produce. The new edition of this book includes a summary of what has occurred since the first printing in 1998: a showcase program in Coweta County, Georgia, replicated in 36 other locations, exported to other nations, and enabling students to achieve nearly twice the average salary range for American workers upon graduation while drawing tens of millions of dollars of investment to communities where schools prepare their students for 21st century jobs and 21st century citizenship.

Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance

By Thomas Gilbert

This book stands out as a seminal work in the field of human performance technology and the first to introduce the idea of worthy accomplishments and costly behaviors. It includes a wealth of ideas, techniques, and tools: the ACORN troubleshooting test, the Behavior Engineering Model, and levels of alignment. A must read even today!