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DETAILS. BOOK REVIEWS
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Wall Street at War: The Secret Struggle of the Global Economy By Alexandra Ouroussoff
2 The Leaderful Fieldbook: Strategies and Activities for Developing Leadership in Everyone By Joseph A. Raelin The global economy – the flattened world – demands a new type of leadership, collective and collaborative, where the solutions and vision are co-created by the team. Yet the practical application of collective leadership remains a mystery to many practicing executives and managers. The Leaderful Fieldbook helps change agents – from managers and trainers to consultants and coaches – create the conditions for transitioning from conventional to more collaborative forms of practice. Everyone is capable of participating in leadership, and not just sequentially, but collectively and concurrently – that is, all together and at the same time. The Leaderful Fieldbook presents a fresh and successful approach to leadership development across organizations. FST SAYS: An essential guide for those looking to develop their leadership skills, whether they are just starting out in management or merely looking to finetune their personal performance.
The Financial Crisis: Who Is To Blame? By Howard Davis The cause of the financial crisis is still mysterious. Myriad suspects have been identified, from greedy investment bankers 3 to governments encouraging home ownership, through feckless borrowers, dilatory regulators and myopic central bankers to violent video games and high levels of testosterone on the trading floors.
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Many of the problems that lie at the heart of the current financial crisis stem from a significant but little-known conflict that began in the early 1980s: Western credit agencies acquired much greater power due to investors shifting priorities, and so controlled the ability of corporations to gain access to capital. Exploiting more than six years of fieldwork on Wall Street, this book describes, for the first time, the unspoken conflict between corporate executives and the credit agencies responsible for assessing the financial risk their investments posed. FST SAYS: An in-depth and fascinating look about how corporate greed and risky business strategies brought the financial industry to its knees.
Change: Bring it on! By Keely Nugent
Change is a tricky concept in business. It invariably happens and yet somehow, when it does, we are often reluctant to 4 get on board. Author and strategic thinker, Keely Nugent, has recognized the same resistance to change in international racing horses and in her book she applies the tried and test techniques of the equestrian world to business. Using a fictional company as an example, Change: Bring it on! clearly and concisely explains how to establish a winning team by managing change and the challenges it brings. FST SAYS: Simplicity is key with this book. Broken down into sections of no more than two pages, it’s manageable even for the busiest among us. A light and refreshing read while still insightful.
Seven Keys to Imagination: creating the future by imagining the unthinkable and delivering it By Piero Morosini Morosini’s book examines the power of the imagination as taught throughout history, and how that can be applied to generate a successful future. An intelligent and complex book, Seven Keys to Imagination unravels the various elements of an innovative and creative mind, and applies them to real world, industryleading examples. This book offers an alternative way of thinking about how to develop your own future; however, the parallels that Morosini draws between magic and business become somewhat gratuitous and irksome. FST SAYS: Lengthy and dense and most likely futile to anyone who currently holds a creative position. However those who do not consider themselves natural innovators would benefit from this book’s insight.
Howard Davies inspects the evidence for these arguments, inviting the reader to assess each, and the likely effectiveness of the proposed remedies. FST SAYS: An interesting look at the factors that might have been behind the global financial crisis. Hopefully lessons can be learnt for the future.
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