In celebration of National Storytelling Week, Davies Learning Experiences have got together to share some of our favourite reads on Innovation. See our 3 recommended books below and why we liked them so much.

1. Play at Work by Adam L. Penenberg

What we liked about it

This book is great to dip in and out of because it’s broken down into chapters that take the form of new stories, you can start at the beginning, the middle, the end or wherever your interest takes you. The book explores different uses of gamification in organisations, the author explains how the art of play can stimulate creative thinking and spur innovative ideas.

Key insights

Just like children we learn through play, and learning sticks better when we’re engaged in the process. Applying game design methodology to the way we work encourages people to think differently, try new things and see different perspectives. This leads to diversity of thought and ultimately helps create a more productive, engaged, and high performing workforce.

2. Our Iceberg is melting by John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber

What we liked about it

Storytelling is a very effective learning strategy and the author portrays this really well using the analogy of penguins coping with a huge change in their lives; their iceberg starts melting (very relevant with global warming). Really interesting.

Key insights

It covers a variety of topics relating to change such as: the importance of effective communication, including listening actively and solving problems through collaborative thinking. They also look at how people react to change; advising on tactics to help yourself and your team get through it by supporting each other. Appreciating that we all move through change differently due to our perspective and experience. This book stresses how having someone taking the lead and driving change can make a huge difference as they can influence others to buy in to embrace the change.

3. Exponential Organizations by Salim Ismail

What we liked about it.

There are many business books which aim to tell you how to transform your organisations, but we liked this one as it gives a nice balance of creativity of ideas and pragmatism – to drive about sustainable change.

Key insights

Our biggest takeaway was based around MTP (Massive Transformative Purpose). Organisations can often be stuck in a cycle of failures and minor successes, breaking this loop takes bravery and thinking! Developing an MTP helps create a roadmap for turning a business into an Exponential Organisation. If you are looking for a book which helps you practically understand what it takes to grow an organisation – then look no further… Well worth a read.

Innovation is not just about the next big idea – it is giving people the freedom to imagine and test their ideas together. To find out more on how Davies Learning Experiences can help you drive innovation in your organisation, get in touch with one our consultants via learningexperiences@davies-group.com.

The Davies Learning Experiences Team
Davies
E. learningexperiences@davies-group.com