Weekend Reading: January 2017

Weekend Reading: January 2017

Writing for the Harvard Business Review Amber Lee Williams addresses why it’s important to speak up when we witness instances of bias in the workplace: “Failure to acknowledge and address bias or offensive behavior validates the conduct and may create an impression that the behavior is acceptable, and even to be expected, in the workplace. Moreover, normalizing offensive conduct in this subtle manner tends to have a chilling effect on other potential dissenters, and communicates to those who are offended, regardless of whether they are targets of the behavior, that their perspectives and voices are not valued.”

Williams offers advice for how to speak up most effectively, and emphasizes that we should “create the opportunity for dialogue.” How do you foster dialogue at work?

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Surprising Ourselves and Others: A Conversation

Surprising Ourselves and Others: A Conversation

I recently had the opportunity to talk with Lela Hilton, Program Director of the Clemente Course in the Humanities, Inc., about the element of surprise in our respective programs. Founded by the late Earl Shorris, Clemente brings free humanities education to people living in economic distress. The foundational ideas for Clemente may be found in Shorris’ powerful 1997 article in Harper’s Magazine entitled “As A Weapon in the Hands of the Restless Poor (On the Uses of a Liberal Education).” I was fortunate to speak to Earl Shorris before he died about Books@Work. He inspired me deeply and supported my then-fledgling idea of partnering with employers to reach working adults. When Clemente and Books@Work became co-grantees in the Teagle Foundation’s special initiative, Liberal Arts Beyond the Academy, Lela and I were introduced. What follows is a snippet of our ongoing dialogue.

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Energy at Work: How Good Feelings Translate to Productivity

Energy at Work: How Good Feelings Translate to Productivity

How do we reenergize at work? And what does that energy do for us, as employees and colleagues? Researchers from Brigham Young University, California State University and the University of Michigan took on these questions in a recent article for the Journal of Applied Psychology. Their research shows that relational energy – the psychological resources we gain from our interactions with others – has the capacity to make us simultaneously more effective and satisfied in the workplace.

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“Learning to Respect One Another’s Point of View”: A Books@Work Participant Interview

“Learning to Respect One Another’s Point of View”: A Books@Work Participant Interview

Recently, I spoke with Gail Monahan, a Books@Work participant, about her experience in our programs. Gail is a Senior Applications Engineer at Fairbanks Morse Engine, an Enpro Industries company. Fairbanks Morse Engine has been a valued Books@Work partner since we first began offering seminars in their Beloit, Wisconsin facility in late 2013. In our discussion, Gail emphasized that Books@Work provides a valuable opportunity explore new subjects and cultures, to get to know your colleagues on a different level and to see things from their perspectives.

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New Connections: Books@Work in a Suburban Municipality

New Connections: Books@Work in a Suburban Municipality

Working in – or managing – a municipality has its own set of challenges. Local governments are made up of people from a variety of professions and backgrounds working together to maintain order and quality of life for the citizens of their city. They do so while working in separate departments at different locations, and with rarely any opportunity to meet face to face, much less hold an extended conversation.

For one municipality, Books@Work effectively helped city employees come together, providing opportunities to share perspectives and deeper communication – including listening.

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Practicing What We Preach: Books@Work for Books@Work

Practicing What We Preach: Books@Work for Books@Work

Books@Work participants tell us over and over that the sessions are a “great way to get to know your colleagues, your peers, on a totally different level” as well as “de-stress.” They highlight that the program “brings us all together in a different way.” Because I have such a varied work history – in food service, office jobs, caring for handicapped adults – I resonate with our participants when they tell us how valuable getting to know your colleagues is and how they look forward to moments of refreshment in the midst of a busy and demanding day.

Because of this, it has been a special pleasure to participate in Books@Work myself.

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Introducing Books@Work: The Movie

Introducing Books@Work: The Movie

We are delighted to unveil our newest project: a short film introducing Books@Work in multiple voices, especially those of our partners and participants. This video captures the enthusiasm we see every day, helping us to share the Books@Work model, why our company partners choose to work with us and the experience of Books@Work from a participant’s perspective.

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Weekend Reading: May 2016

Weekend Reading: May 2016

What are you reading this weekend? We’re thinking about the power of metaphor to shape our experience—and even the way we understand ourselves. We’re also enjoying some insightful author interviews; reading six of the best short stories published this year; reflecting on one man’s astonishing feat of memory; and worrying about the loss of humanity in the workplace.

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Just Listen: A Simple Tool for Minimizing Bias and Transforming Relationships

Just Listen: A Simple Tool for Minimizing Bias and Transforming Relationships

We’ve written a great deal about the power of conversations on this blog. Books@Work professors have considered how our seminars create space for hard conversations in the workplace and how they help us bridge differences and share ideas. When writing our reflections—our “Musings”—we continually refer back to our own conversations with participants. Conversations, we recognize time and again, open the door to empathy and understanding. They bring us closer to one another—especially when we take the time to share our stories and listen to those of others.

Recent research confirms our sense that conversation has the power to transform people and their relationships with others.

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A Year in Reflection: Looking Back at 2015

A Year in Reflection: Looking Back at 2015

At Books@Work, we recognize (and constantly emphasize) that the opportunity for reflection with others shapes our learning and our performance. We are always learning—about our participants, our company and community partners, about the books we use to spark reflective conversation and the benefits of reading and talking together. In this spirit of self-inquiry, we’d like to take moment ourselves to look back and reflect upon what we have observed in 2015.

Over the past year, Book@Work did not slow down. On every metric, we have grown, from the number of programs (50% growth from 2014) to the number of companies, participants, books and professors (and the colleges and universities in which they teach).

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