As a new company in the workplace learning category we’ve been inspired by some incredible thinkers, writers and researchers. As the year comes to a close we asked our two co-founders to share their top ten (five each) go-to books.  

Linda’s Top Five

1. Digital Habitats: Stewarding Technology for Communities – a seminally influential book that shaped Linda’s approach to understanding how people adopt new technologies and the importance of promoting ‘technology stewards’ in organisations.
2. The Fearless Organization: Amy C. Edmondson’s magnificent book on the critical role that psychological safety plays in the modern workplace and how to design for trust and belonging.
3. The Culture Code: Daniel Coyle’s groundbreaking book, a must read for anyone who needs to understand the critical role that culture plays in the workplace. Full of case studies and evidence-based insights.
4. Workplace Learning by one of our go-to experts when it comes to navigating the intersection of culture, learning and employee engagement. Few people know this topic better than Nigel Paine.
5. How People Learn by Nick Shackleton Jones has been on Linda’s side locker right through the journey to build Slick+, one of the most authoritative works about how to foster a culture of continuous learning at work.

Paul’s Top Five

1. Marketing Rebellion: The Most Human Company Wins – one of Paul’s favourite marketeers because the focus is so much on people, community and connection rather than automated noise.
2. AI 2041: a wonderful perspective on the AI revolution that is fresh and visionary (and a  brilliant read!).
3. The Partnership Economy: partnerships are a no-brainer but do we really understand how critical they are in a fully digital economy? This book will remain relevant for us long into our journey as we scale and grow.
4. No Rules Rules: A manifesto about how to run a company in a world where change and innovation are inevitable and essential. If only most companies incorporated these principles which essentially boil down to ‘build trust and have fun’.
5. Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion probably one of the most important books ever written about marketing!

Are there books that you can’t put down on your journey to create more human-centric workplace cultures? We’d love to hear your recommendations. Happy Reading, researching and innovating everyone.