Summer reading

We love books that bring new insights to how humans and machines can work together. This means we love books that bring new perspectives to how humans work: what makes us tick and how we can be better—with technology or without it.

There are some excellent new books out. Here are our favorites.

The Nexus: Augmented Thinking for a Complex World--The New Convergence of Art, Technology, and Science. Julio Mario Ottino, Bruce Mau.

A visually striking book that takes a radically different approach to problem solving by challenging us to think at the intersection of art, technology, and science. This is a book about convergence and how to become more creative and insightful to solve big problems. Stay tuned for our upcoming interview with Julio. Amazon.

Human-Centered AI. Ben Shneiderman.

This book takes a working methods approach to HCAI. It’s a practical guide to (what we now call) responsible AI and details many practical examples of how AI can help us in reliable, safe and trustworthy ways. Stay tuned for our upcoming interview with Ben. Amazon.

Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making. Tony Fadell.

Tony is famous for creating the iPod, iPhone and Nest. There’s no better book right now (in our opinion) that is as honest about tech development’s highs and lows. The book is described as “an advice encyclopedia, a mentor in a box”—and it succeeds in providing that for a wide audience. At the book’s conclusion, Tony says “In the end, there are two things that matter: products and people. What you build and who you build it with.” We’re lucky enough to have had some build time with Tony many moons ago—bonded by being the trouble-making contrarians at the back of the class (literally). We’re happy he took the time to document his advice—it’s worth plenty more than the cost of a book. Amazon.

Inspired: Understanding Creativity: A Journey Through Art, Science, and the Soul. Matt Richtel.

This book is important. In the age of machines, it’s vital to understand what you can do to be more creative. One big idea from this book is that creativity doesn’t come from necessity; it comes from authenticity—a personal drive for inspiration. Alone, with other people, and with machines. Richtel’s evidence-based discussion of the most recent science frees us to wander—mentally, emotionally, physically—in pursuit of insight. We use these ideas in our data-driven decision-making bootcamps because they work. Amazon.

Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention--and How to Think Deeply Again. Johann Hari.

This book is a must-read for anyone who can’t read more than a few pages at a time. It is fabulously written and personal. Hari brings together multiple diverse ideas under the umbrella of attention and makes the case for attention as something special, to be reclaimed, guarded, and respected. One big idea from this book is how our attention is not ours anymore. The attention economy is so ubiquitous and all-dominant that we can’t expect to solve our attention problem with willpower alone. We have been inspired by this book and the work of Clive Thompson, to double down on a summer of rewilding attention. Stay tuned for more—and on how to join us to rewild your own. Amazon.

Don't Trust Your Gut: Using Data to Get What You Really Want in Life. Seth Stephens-Davidowitz.

I read this book in a day and immediately sat down to redraft some key messages in our learning journeys. Seth does a terrific job at taking the reader through some data-driven decisions that matter in life—dating, marriage, parenting, happiness, success. One big idea from this book is how to think about counter counter-intuitions: the commonsense ideas that we’ve dismissed because a surprising or unusual (newsworthy) outlier makes a new norm. For example, we have been trained to think of successful entrepreneurs as being young, even though commonsense would tell us that having a lot of relevant experience matters to the success of a startup. But the data tells—in a counter counter-intuitive move—that experience matters after all. A 60 year old founder has 3 times higher chance of founding a successful business than a 30 year old. And, yes, even in tech. The average age of a successful tech founder is 42.3 years. This book is well-crafted and you’ll learn more about how to use modern data to your advantage. Amazon.

Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation. Ayelet Fishbach.

We use Ayelet’s scholarship in our learning journeys because her work seems to reveal more counterintuitive results and surprises than most! One big idea from this book is the importance of “staying out of the middle.” We can stick to our goals at the beginning and the end of the process but cut corners in the middle. We feel free to slack in the middle because it’s the beginning and ending achievements that are how we measure our true characters and what we remember. Make middles shorter! Rather than try to have more willpower, read this book and discover some short cuts and hacks for being more motivated and inspiring motivation in others. Amazon.

The Eye Test: A Case for Human Creativity in the Age of Analytics. Chris Jones.

OMG this book blew me (Helen) away. Maybe it was that it just spoke to all my worries and paranoias about over- and mis-use of analytics. One big idea from this book is that the conceit of the analytics movement has primed us to believe that there is only one optimized answer to any given question. But in reality, this can’t be true—the world is too complex, data too incomplete, and human creativity too robust for us to accept this premise. It’s a book for those who want their sense of creative agency re-inspired and reinvigorated in a world where analytics is the dominant paradigm for innovation. Amazon.

The Digital Mindset: What It Really Takes to Thrive in the Age of Data, Algorithms, and AI. Paul Leonardi and Tsedal Neeley.

I like this book for it’s clear focus on a few key ideas. One big idea from this book is the need to cultivate a different way of thinking: a digital mindset. In a world of AI, having a digital mindset matters more than technical prowess. A digital mindset means having a basic grasp of how machines learn, statistics, collaboration, and cybersecurity. A worthwhile read if you are intimidated by AI and don’t know where to start with thinking digital. Amazon.

Making Numbers Count: The Art and Science of Communicating Numbers. Chip Heath and Karla Starr.

This short book punches way above its weight as a useful book. If you want to know more about how to bring numbers to life—with emotion, context, and meaning—the tricks and insights in this book make it a must-read. Amazon.

Building For Everyone: Expand Your Market With Design Practices From Google's Product Inclusion Team. Annie Jean-Baptiste.

Not everyone’s a designer but this is a book for everyone. If you want to be really smart about why inclusion is a smart strategy and how to see inclusion as a core advantage, this book offers a comprehensive guide to why, how, what, and when of inclusivity. Amazon.

Happy reading!