The Opposable Mind by Roger Martin

A fascinating metacognitive analysis of integrated thinking. I do it (integrated thinking) intuitively and recognized the process Martin described through his interview anecdotes and diagrams. For people looking to explore what creativity is and how to foster it in others, this is a must read. The quote at the start of chapter five was unfamiliar to me but one I won't forget now. "By three methods we may learn wisdom: first by reflection, which is the noblest; second by imitation, which is the easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest." ~ Confucius

Martin, Roger. The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win through Integrative Thinking. 2007. Harvard Business School Press.

Micro Trends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes by Mark J. Penn

This is a quick read - the chapters are short and formatted in a predictable pattern - but it is a big paradigm changer. Mark Penn is a sociologist/statistician/analyst whose ability to spot very small trends helped formulate campaign strategies for victorious candidates as in Bill Clinton in 1996. That was when he identified a group of under-recognized young mothers and labeled them "soccer moms" to recruit them to vote Democratic. The label served well enough for Republican vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, to adopt the moniker for herself in the 2008 campaign. Politics aside, Penn's book explains how the inter-connectivity of the world wide web makes it possible and profitable to market to a niche group of individuals once 100,000 of them can be located. Then he explores a plethora of micro trends spanning all aspects of our culture: religion, education, life style, family, work, fashion, leisure, and technology to name a few biggies. When relevant he also comments on the same micro trends in their global contexts. So, I recommend reading this book to take the pulse of American culture and to discover a different way of thinking about what our fellow citizens are doing and deciding.

Penn, Mark J. with E. Kinney Zalesne. Micro Trends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes. 2007. Twelve. New York

Cherokee Dragon by Robert J. Conley

Dragging Canoe, a Cherokee chief, grew up in the eighteenth century as more and more whites entered their ancestral lands forcing more and more concessions in return for less and less remuneration. His father, also a tribal elder, believed in negotiating with the white man- at least until he met Pontiac and learned of the animosity between the various American and European factions. Dragging Canoe watched as one agreement after another was violated and as more and more of his people were killed. He advocated an inter-tribal alliance and inspired Tecumseh. Neither approach ended up being successful and the Cherokee nation moved west in the Trail of Tears. Robert Conley has written an important piece of historical fiction that presents the native point of view well, adding the emotional dilemmas that come when traditional wisdom fails its people and when one generation's solutions clash with those preferred by the next.

Conley, Robert J., Cherokee Dragon. 2000. St. Martin's Press. New York.

Queen by Alex Haley and David Stevens

"A child of the plantation," Queen looked as white as her father but was "nigra." This piece of narrative historical not really fiction covers the period between around 1820 to the late nineteenth century while the fabric of Southern plantation society and its dependency on slavery unraveled. In the epic style of a Michener book, the authors assume various perspectives over the course of the book to demonstrate that at our core we need to be loved for who we are and not for what we might represent or possess or accomplish. Poignant in its ability to express the deepest emotions, the authors force us American readers to own our own prejudices. As the characters develop many of the white people lose touch with their original values becoming more entrenched by the drive to maintain and expand the land and the privileges they received by enslaving one population at the same time that they were expelling another. Like Pres. Obama, Queen was forced to struggle with her double heritage and found both groups unwilling to fully accept her. The book is a fascinating window on the socio-cultural history of race relations in our nation. It is difficult to read from an emotional point of view and compelling from beginning to end.

Haley, Alex, and David Stevens. Queen. 1993. William Morrow & Co. New York.

Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation by Mitch Horowitz

A terribly objective albeit friendly record of mysticism and its relationship to American political history, this book is disturbing and enlightening. Mitch Horowitz does not differentiate between mysticism that has its source in Christianity from mysticism that derives from other spiritual bases but he does show the synergy of ideas such as hyper-nationalism, prosperity, and positive thinking across the boundaries between church and society at large. He returns again and again to the theme of the commercialization and the popularization of spiritual ideas both within the Christian and what would traditionally be considered Occult traditions. He also reveals how secret mystic traditions that came from Europe and Asia became commonly known practices here. The key figures involved are named, the places where their influence was centered and to which it spread are clearly identified, and dates, other affiliations, and the presidents and other strongmen who fell under their sway are listed. Horowitz's narrative starts in Colonial New England and, while it peeks a bit into the 1960s, it really covers the period up until that decade began. It is extremely well written and does no more than provide an alternative window through which to view our history which, to many should be investigated and addressed courageously in the spirit of truth.

Horowitz, Mitch. Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation. 2009. Bantam Books, New York.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor, by Thomas C. Foster

You have to like books to like this book but if you do, and if you've read fairly widely in the canon of English literature, this is a fabulous romp. Obviously the result of many lectures, this series of essays demystifies- should I venture to say deconstructs- the layers of symbols, cultural references, archetypes and other devices we authors utilize knowingly and unconsciously to hook and engage our reader audiences. He didn't include C. S. Lewis' opinion that descriptions of food in children's books are as erotic for those readers as graphic sex scenes might be for grown-ups but Foster's insights pack as much power.

Thomas C. Foster, How to Read Literature Like a Professor. c. 2003. HarperCollins

Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama

This is a coming of age account by a man who grew up between cultures and racial groups wondering how to understand himself. He just happens to be our president now but I don't believe that achieving that office was in his five year plan when the book went to print even though I think he did intend to advance politically through various elected offices. I'm a few years older than the president and I grew up in a WASP family in New York City very aware of the Civil Rights Movement, racial discord, riots, assassinations and flower power juxtaposing with black power but not having to deal with it directly. Like Obama, I lived and even briefly (for my senior year of high school) went to school abroad - not in a madrasa but in a British boarding school that served the children of politicians from all over the Commonwealth. My room-mate, from Nigeria, plied me with questions that I was unable to answer about the African American experience. Later, a college student in St. Louis, I lived in a blighted African American neighborhood within walking distance from the university because the rents were low. Years later still I taught in the St. Louis inner city public school system where I discovered the lack of parity that is so often defined as the achievement gap between black and white students in America. That was when I became the most engaged with the heart of the issues that Obama describes in his book - fear, anger, inequality, and in general a lack of hope that often masquerades as bravado. The book is written as well as the man speaks - it exposes his own journey with its discomforts probably made worse by the fact that so much of the truth was unexplained and interpreted within the framework of a child's, adolescent's, newly emerged adult's shifting perspectives. It echoes the struggle for a sense of personal-cultural identity that I have heard many missionary kids whose first encounter with their home culture starts when they are sent to college but who grew up fluent and friends in a very different cultural context. I find the book an authentic, honest attempt to narrate his experiences against America's racial backdrop. Interestingly, the person who insisted I read it isn't even an American.

Obama, Barack. Dreams From My Father. c. 1995. Three Rivers Press. NY

Horse Boy by Rupert Isaacson

Yesterday I listened to all nine CDs as author, Rupert Isaacson, read his own account of the search for healing for his autistic son, Rohan. The quest took them on horseback through Outer Mongolia to expose Rohan to powerful shamans. Last of all they visited Ghost, the shaman of the Reindeer People in Siberia. Rupert is transparently, painfully honest about his own fears, embarrassments, cynicism, exhaustion, disappointment, and passionate love for his son. Hearing him read is a treat because of his British accent and the way he is able to capture the intonations and timbre of his son's voice. A travel writer by trade, he has a fabulous ability to paint with his words so that we hear, taste, smell, touch and see the textures and vastness of the beauty of the steppes and the squalor of the broken down Soviet-built cities. He knows horses and indigenous culture too from growing up partly among the bushmen of South Africa and learning to ride and hunt foxes in England.

I've read a lot of books about autism but this one may be the first one written from the father's perspective. The narrative oozes with Rupert's love for Rohan. The perspective, incorporating American experts including Temple Grandin, along with the ancient wisdom of past cultures challenges our usual one to enlarge, consider spiritual causes and effects, and explore the hidden giftedness within autists.

From a spiritual perspective I was alternately fascinated and grieved. I understand how to function in the spirit and I know the High God and King of the Universe by name, personally. Unfortunately, few people on spiritual quests expect to find Him more powerful, and able to trump the gods of this world. This book is an indictment against the Judeo-Christian religious community through the ages for failing to take our God's name and reputation seriously.

Isaacson, Rupert, Horse Boy

Simple Church by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger

Rainer and Geiger value simplicity as a means towards achieving mission. Their book, Simple Church, was written for church leaders about managing churches. However, its advice can be extrapolated for any individual or organization. Four words summarize the message: "Clarity, Movement, Alignment, Focus." By clarity, they mean a simple design that implies a process. By movement, they mean a sequence of steps through which the members can progress towards more meaningful participation. Alignment speaks of programs or activities that must all serve the process. Because of the commitment to focus, anything that does not align with the process does not happen, on purpose. The book is a very fast read - if you've read a lot of leadership books it is skimmable, but it is challenging, makes the reader think, and for me, at least, may just cause a realignment of my patchwork of routine projects and activities.

Rainer, Thom S., Eric Geiger. Simple Church. c. 2006. B & H Publishing. Nashville, TN

Persona Non Grata, by Ruth Downie

Here is a murder mystery set in the ancient Roman empire that brings Gaius home from his post as a physician with the army in Britain where he lives with the barbarian, Tilla. He bought Tilla as a slave but twice asks her to marry him. At first she refused. Then she accompanies him to his villa in Italy after he has been summoned home by an urgent letter purporting to come from his younger brother. All the difficulties of any cross-cultural romance come up in this story. His family doesn't know about Tilla until she arrives. The gift she worked so hard on for them is culturally repulsive. Fortunately, she figured that out before she gave it. The new Christian cult has everyone concerned and confused but Tilla begins to experiment with prayer to the new god you address as father and who does not expect sacrifices. I found her mixed up application of what she deduced from one Christian meeting amusing and totally believable. Downie does a great job layering multiple intersecting plot lines that resolve satisfactorily at the end. The story engaged me from beginning to end. I picked the book up for fun and found it touches many of the same themes I work with in my own writing. The research she did about medical practices, poisons, and the life behind the scenes of a gladiator is impressive. She wove it into the story so that the whole piece was both believable and fascinating.





Downie, Ruth. Persona Non Grata. c. 2009. Bloomsbury

Eye Contact, by Cammie McGovern

I was given this book two Christmases ago but because the write up on the back cover made it sound terrifying, I did not read it until this past Sunday when I began reading in the morning and finished the book in the early evening. A young girl who is on the Autism spectrum gets murdered in the woods that connect to the school playground during recess. Two other special education students, both also on the Autism spectrum, witness the crime but are unable to communicate what they saw. At least, they can't answer the police investigators questions in typical ways. Eye Contact is a murder mystery that can only be solved when the adults penetrate the children's unusual logic. Carefully constructed from layers of plot and an assortment of back-story relationships between the adult characters, McGovern has created a sensitive story filled with good information about the Autism spectrum and the many therapeutic approaches that parents of children on the spectrum use. It is a compelling read but not scary which is why I really enjoyed it.

Cammie McGovern, Eye Contact. 2006. Penguin Books

Ahab's Wife or The Star-Gazer by Sena Jeter Naslund

The first sentence of this novel hooked me even though Ahab wasn't mentioned again for many pages, indeed: "Captain Ahab was neither my first husband nor my last." It is the story of Una, plopped into the cast of characters living in the middle of the nineteenth century in Nantucket, Kentucky, and aboard the Pequod among other whaling ships. The plot was entirely predictable but I think that both the plot and the protagonist were excuses in which Naslund hid a Dickensian social commentary on the period roles of women, African Americans, homosexuals, and other marginalized groups in pre-Civil War America like dwarves and mentally handicapped individuals. Sprinkled through the pages are tensions caused when the someone doesn't fit or actually acts contrary to the status quo. The book is full of unresolved moral, religious, and ethical dilemmas. Girl babies named Liberty die twice and a boy baby named Justice lives although fatherless and not quite legitimate. The writing is quite good- the book made the New York Times Best Seller List. However, it seems overly long but then, perhaps because of its length and the time it affords for reflection along the way, it is provocative. It is also filled with surprising historical details like the basket of ceramic dildos offered to Una when, newly "married" to Captain Ahab she was left alone at home when the Pequod sailed away for a three year long voyage. I'm not sure why Ahab's Wife was subtitled the Star Gazer, though. That role belonged to another melancholy woman in Nantucket....

Money Ball by Michael Lewis

I wouldn't even know about Money Ball by Michael Lewis if my son, Colin, was not majoring in sports management at college. He is the person whose passion for baseball pushed me to learn how to watch and understand the game. Unfortunately, being a single mother is not the best set-up for even a very talented ball player because the schmoozing that goes on at the dug-out and over the beers afterward is a fathers' prerogative. So, when I started reading Lewis' description of how the traditional scouts thought and how that approach led to a disappointing major league career by Billy Beane, I found it fascinating. It was the back-story that cause his "Aha!" moment when he encountered the statistician's perspective on what measurable factors predict major league success. This triggered how he was able to make the Oakland A's become a winning team on a shoe-string budget - at least in comparison with other major league franchises. While I got bogged down a bit in the middle of the book, not knowing all the names and situations because I am not a consummate baseball fan like my son, I think this is an important book for anyone involved in organizational change to read. Personally, I do not think that paradigm shifts happen without the Billy Beane synergy in which some personal dynamic combines with a revolutionary approach.

The Art of Funding Your Film by Carole Lee Dean

I read this book to check my intuition about how a grant proposal to fund a documentary film would be constructed since I have never written such a proposal and I have a prospective client who wants me to try. Mostly this type of proposal follows the same pattern as every other grant request according to Carole Lee Dean who is a grantmaker for documentary films. Her book is full of really good tips that could be applied, almost without any revisions, to any new, small, or transitioning nonprofit organization - the niche I target to serve as a consultant who helps with strategic planning, grantsmanship, development, and fund-raising. The most important idea that I will take away from Dean's book is the word "urgency." Not only does she encourage filmmakers who are seeking funding to demonstrate their passion and creativity as they approach prospective funders, she pushes for them to identify what makes their project urgently important. The question of "Why now?" will forever be added to my arsenal of must-identifies that will become a prerequisite before I write grants for a new client. In addition to just plain good fundraising advice, Dean presents really helpful information about how to approach corporations as well as links to specific resources online including film funders who have a proven track record. She also makes great points about the legal issues that result when an organization recruits investors which can be avoided by recruiting donors. Besides sharing her own generous tips, the book includes detailed interviews that add other perspectives. This should be a much more widely known and consulted resource for any nonprofit organization. I highly recommend it.

Dean, Carole Lee. The Art of Funding Your Film: Alternative Financing Concepts. c. 2003. Dean Publishing. Oxnard CA.

The Great Awakening by Jim Wallis

Jim Wallis wrote this book in 2007 to articulate a prophetic call to Christians in America to become more nuanced and intentional about issues that touch everyone alive today. He challenges the one-issue politics that characterize the religious right's typical stances. He talks about Kingdom values. Quoting Brian McLaren, Wallis defines kingdom values as community, fellowship, and mission. I like that. He reflects on the controversy that ensued after he wrote: "The United States of America was established as a white society, founded upon the genocide of another race and then the enslavement of yet another." Perhaps I noticed this poignant observation more because I'm getting ready to go to Haiti to teach at a pastor's conference there. The same statement applies to that nation, albeit with a twist due to the successful slave uprising there at the end of the 18th century. Wallis becomes provocative when he juxtaposes the phrases "authentic faith" (my heart's cry) against "aggressive religion" (what I eschew). He comments on scandals in the church and in politics - when I saw this morning's conversation between NBC's Matt Lauer and former New York governor, Eliot Spitzer it reminded me of Wallis' grieving comments about Ted Haggard's recent moral demise. In conclusion he encourages leaders this way: "Anyone who wants to be a leader in the twenty-first century needs to sustain values, nurture community, and clarify our common mission...In the end, leaders lead by behavior and not just by skill." Amen to that. Finally, his aim is to issue a strong prophetic imperative: "It is absolutely vital to make the connection between spirituality and social justice. In affluent societies, the quest for spirituality can easily lead to narcissism, with spiritual well-being just another commodity to consume...That's why I believe the path to genuine spirituality, especially in wealthy nations, must be disciplined by the struggle for justice." I like the verb, "disciplined" in that statement. I also know what he means by the word "narcissism". The point is that right now when the global economy is being shaken and even today, when 65 miles away from Rome towns have crumbled due to a massive earthquake, those of us who claim citizenship in God's Kingdom must be alert to the cultural, economic, and governmental transitions that must come before the whole earth can be filled with His Glory. Wallis could have posed the question in New Testament terms this way: "What is the Spirit of God speaking to the churches?" The key to hearing is to "open" our ears to what He is saying.

Wallis, Jim. The Great Awakening: Seven Ways to Change the World - Reviving Faith & Politics. Harper One. 2007

Street Gang by Michael Davis

This tell-all retrospective about the individuals who were responsible to give us Sesame Street is a wonderful treat to read. From the perspective of nonprofit innovational entrepreneurship it is a window on the whole process from concept to planning and funding. Then it gives details about the execution of the plan all in the context of the individual temperaments, failures, and the racial, gender, and cultural upheavals of the 1960s. Besides reminding us of the path-less wilderness that was children's television in its infancy, this book stirs up all sorts of memories for those of us old enough to remember the Captain, and even Howdy Dowdy, - all of us good do-bees now grown up and trying to be do-gooders who may someday get recognized in some magic mirror. For the nonprofit fund-raiser, Street Gang reminds us of the power of relationship to open big doors for otherwise under-known people as well as the protocol that even the biggest philanthropic board members must follow. It also connects us with our heart, smitten with Mr. Hooper, crying from the couch while Big Bird tries to get his big beak around the meaning of his death while the little kids watch without giving too many clues about their reactions. So, inspiration, recollection, reflection, and hind-sight combine to give insightful readers much to consider as we move towards a new season, new breakthrough technologies and their new implications for the future of our culture.



Davis, Michael. Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street. c. 2008. Viking. NY

Winning At Retail by Willard Ander and Neil Stern

The subtitle for this book is "Developing a Sustained Model for Retail Success". The ideas are straight forward. Don't try to be all things to all people. Be the best at one thing: price, fashion, selection, speed, or service. In fact, the authors challenge retailers to become "EST" at something and make that a core strategy and value around which all the decisions are made. The book has lots of annecdotes about major American retailers like WalMart and others. It is a simple goal with very far-reaching consequences for management and goal setting and it could be applied to any kind of organization. Nonprofits, for example, have a great deal of difficulty crystalizing their mission into a short statement but if they were to adopt an "est" i.e. "we are the best at doing ____________ (providing short-term housing, preventing high school students from dropping out of school, etc.) for __________ (these people), they would have a hook on which to hang their fundraising and program planning.

This is a fairly fast read and it challenges creative thinking throughout by posing the alternative to articulating the "est" strategy for your business as falling into the "black hole" of mediocrity- good is the enemy of the best, right? Or, as Simon Crowell is fond of saying, "It was a good enough performance, but frankly, you're forgettable..."

Ander, Willard N. and Stern, Neil Z. Winning At Retail. c. 2004. John Wiley & Sons Inc. New Jersey.

Won't Let You Go Unless You Bless Me by Andree Seu

Wisdom packed into four page chunks viewed through the prism of a widow's everyday activities and melancholy reflections - this is what Andree Seu has created in her book of short essays. They pierce the veil of religiosity by juxtaposing a world-view based in a literal grasp of the Bible with the ups and downs of authentic honest emotional instincts that don't always fit in the prescribed theological boxes - in my experience, hardly anything authentically faith-based fits snuggly into any earthly container. The book was a gift from a dear friend which I started yesterday morning and finished in the afternoon, sated, somehow, with the knowledge that I am not alone in my struggles and paradoxes. The essays feel like prose poems as image leads to image in surprising - even startling - streams of consciousness transitions. I highly recommend reading them.

Seu, Andree. Won't Let You Go Unless You Bless Me. 2006. Word & Life Books. Ashville NC.

Where Have All The Leaders Gone? by Lee Iacocca

Age permits a wide-view so that what seems like Iacocca's eclectic who's who name-dropping rant is really permeated with a wisdom that reminds me of Ecclesiastes. He wrote this to call the nation to apply a leadership test to the candidates that would eventually feature in the 2008 presidential election. It measures a prospective leader according to nine words all beginning with "c": curiosity, creative, communicate, character, courage, conviction, charisma, competent, common sense. Then he adds a tenth, crisis. Each point is illustrated anecdotally like a contemporary version of Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends & Influence People. The book is autobiographical, reflective, provocative, and confrontational and well worth reading even (perhaps especially) after the election is past.

Iacocca, Lee. Where Have All The Leaders Gone? 2007. Scribner. New York.

The Time of The French in the Heart of North America, by Charles J. Balesi

Here's a book that connects the dots of our French Colonial history between 1673-1818. I was amazed to see how key the doings in Illinois were to both the French Canadian scene and to that of Louisiana. In fact, I did not know that once Illinois was part of Louisiana when its capital was Mobile. Anyway, Charles Balesi has done a great job of assembling and connecting information based on primary sources about this people and this period which is of great interest to me, personally. It is even readable, for the most part, and gives rich detail about the various tribal interactions among the Native Americans of the time.

Balesi, Charles J. The Time of the French in the Heart of North America: 1673-1818. 1992. Alliance Francaise. Chicago. Illinois.

The Bishop At The Lake, by Andrew M. Greeley

I've discovered a new author that I like a lot. His topics are the ones that make up my books - authentic faith, abusive clergy, real life stories complicated by the church. His books are fiction - murder mystery genre, almost- because people don't always actually die. The protagonist is an Irish-American Chicago bishop who goes by the nickname, Blackie. The author, Greeley, is a Roman Catholic priest whose website is pastoral as much as it is promotional. So far I've read two of his books: The Bishop at the Lake, and The Bishop in the Old Neighborhood. I'll read the rest soon.

The Bishop's Daughter, by Tiffany L. Warren

When Darren decided to investigate a mega-church in Atlanta in an attempt to discredit its bishop, he finds himself having to re-evaluate everything he has come to believe. The characters in Tiffany Warren's book are vivid - the reader sees them, hears their intonation patterns, easily recognizes each one as a caricature of someone in real life. She confronts issues of race, sexuality, ethics, family, and money using believable situations. I love the blogger brotha. Despite her delightful characters and their authentic struggles and her very readable prose that moves fast, the characters' life-changing decisions: to get baptized, not to abort a pregnancy, and for a committed virgin to seduce a fast player happen too fast, too easily, and always resolve into a church-approved choice in too pat a manner for me. Darren and the bishop are the most consistent of all the characters and both of them struggle (for the most part) in an authentic internal debate to reconcile their identities and emotions. So, my conclusion is that The Bishop's Daughter has a lot done really well but it stands as a cozy church morality play that is enjoyable and very much the kind of novel grandmothers might give their teenage grand-daughters for Christmas.

Tiffany L. Warren. The Bishop's Daughter. 2009. Hachette Book Group. New York

The First Billion Is the Hardest by T. Boone Pickens

Here's the reflective autobiography of the most recent years lived by T. Boone Pickens. He's the natural gas and alternative energy advocate/trader whose television commercials promote his passion to make the US energy independent. I have to admit that the title is what amused me enough to check the book out of the library and the endearing but usually verging on crude down-home Texan proverbs kept me reading. This man doesn't do anything on a small scale but he relies on "accurate analysis, the nerve to take risks, and the ability to act" along with a core team of trusted advisors to set his course. Even when he turned to philanthropy, he acted magnanimously but very strategically. Using creative non-traditional fundraising tactics, competition, Pickens takes charge. "We like results", he explained...We know where we want to make a difference. We find people that have the leadership skills and the capacity to make a differenece, and we fund them..." The 80+ year old still works out every day, runs a big business, and sets new bars for his colleagues, adversaries, and beneficiaries at a pace that doesn't stop. His tempered wisdom moves fast but it is carefully layered in the words of this very honest reflection so that every reader who takes his advice will gain ground.

T. Boone Pickens, The First Billion Is the Hardest, c. 2008, Crown Publishing, NY