Future Here Now: Books for Future Ready thinkers and doers
This is a version of the newsletter that I produce 2-3 times a week to equip you with the knowledge and the skills you need to build healthy futures for the organizations and communities you care about. Only a few of those posts end up here. To see more, subscribe for the full experience at wiseeconomy.substack.com.
I wanted to let you know that I have compiled a collection of the books that have most influenced my own growth and development, and I’m delighted to be able to share these with you!
You can find the full list at wiseeconomy.com/booksandgoodstuff. The categories include economic development and urban planning, becoming an better ally to disadvantaged people, building future ready organizations to advancing your personal mindset and skills.
Here’s a few of the books from that page, along with my perspective on why each one is worth a read. I’m including one that I wrote, but any of these will make a big difference in your perception and your preparedness. If you prefer audiobooks, both Bookshop.org and Amazon will give you that option.
At the end of that web page you’ll also find a link to an artist who specializes in fun and beautiful drawings that show the unique character of some of your communities. SmallTower’s creator happens to be my brother, Barry Gott, who has been occasionally featured in my newsletters for many years. Once you see his architecture and city layout interpretations, you’ll never see the places you care about quite the same. Check it out!
Foxconned: Imaginary Jobs, Bulldozed Homes, and the Sacking of Local Government | Lawrence Tabak
The best-written and most compelling book you have ever read about local government, economic impact studies, local and state politics and bad decisions. Absolutely critical for every citizen of a place that does economic development, and required reading for anyone who works in local or state economic development… even though it will make you squirm more than once.
Buy on Bookshop.org Buy on Amazon
An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization | Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey
This book introduces you to a half dozen businesses that are completely thinking what it means to create a company that equips every member to make their highest possible contribution to the business and the world — one of the most crucial skills for Future Ready businesses to develop today. Compelling and incredibly detailed.
Buy on Bookshop.org Buy on Amazon
Everybody Innovates Here: Accelerating Innovation and Entrepreneurship Across Your Entire Community | Della Rucker
I wrote this book to counter the idea that “collisions” would magically create innovation, entrepreneurship and small business, which was the belief that has driven so much of our public and private investment in “ecosystems” across the country. I wanted to propose a model that was more intentional, less left to the whims of whoever wanted whatever new shiny thing, and that did a better job of actively including people who were being (often unintentionally) excluded from these opportunities. The first part of the book examines the roles that certain common types of organizations tend to play in an innovation or entrepreneurship ecosystem, and how the idea of an ecosystem often falls apart when you watch them in practice. The second part outlines the typical operations of a single player in that ecosystem, and how those practices could be changed to make them actually more inclusive, which would make them more innovative.
How We Can Win: Race, History and Changing the Money Game That’s Rigged, by Kimberly Jones
I don’t think anyone has made sense of the pocketbook, down-to-earth implications of structural racism and the legacy of oppression that has marked the Black experience in the United States the way Kimberly Jones did in this book. It’s a masterwork and a blueprint for buiding economic power that actually benefits the people who live in a community. Especially the ones that need that power the most.
Buy on Bookshop.org Buy on Amazon
This is a version of the newsletter that I produce 2-3 times a week to equip you with the knowledge and the skills you need to build healthy futures for the organizations and communities you care about. Only a few of those posts end up here. To see more, subscribe for the full experience at wiseeconomy.substack.com.