Author: Kate Murphy 

“Listening is the neglected stepchild of communication.”

Have you ever been bored when someone is speaking to you and counted down the minutes until you could extract yourself? Turns out, part of the problem could be you, or at least your listening skills.

The author of this book, journalist Kate Murphy, shared many examples of how she, and others, have uncovered some wonderful stories or resolved issues that wouldn’t have happened if they hadn’t listened well. Murphy suggests we can uncover more interesting stories and information if we give the speaker time to talk, stay curious and ask them questions that delve further into what they’ve already shared.

Author: David Epstein

Reviewer: Kristine Chadwick

I am not sure if I was more excited about the kedgeree brunch at Ozone or the discussion of the book.  As a specialist generalist, I love the idea that I wasn’t alone and that there was evidence that being a generalist wasn’t a draw back in a world seemingly dominated by specialists.  

While we waited for our brunch to arrive, discussion ensued.  We agreed that one of the best things about being a generalist was it gave us the freedom to collaborate with other disciplines and we could easily communicate across silos. If you do the hard graft, learn all the disciplines, then you’re in a position to ask for what you want, whether it be a promotion or to work on a specific project.

Author: Daniel H. Pink

Reviewer: Libby Gordon

The secrets to perfect timing; a big claim! And as a time-poor London dweller this book appealed to me as I, along with the rest of book club, was keen to understand Daniel H Pinks theory on how timing might enable us to make the most of the hours in our day through his book “When”. As with all our books some people loved it more than others but the book itself was easy to read and gave the right mix of stories to illustrate points and practical takeaways. What did we each find interesting? Did we learn? And most importantly what changes had we, or did we want to make, as a result of reading this. 

Naps!
One idea that stood out to all of us unanimously, as we all sat around the table with coffee (or tea) in hand, was the idea of Nappachino. (Well we all thought that naps, whenever, were a good idea!) Nappachino: Drink coffee (or other caffeinated drink), nap for no more than thirty minutes, wake up, caffeine kicks in as your brain is refreshed from your nap, you are ready to take on the world. We were not sure how, however, we could integrate this into day to day working life but working from home days did allow for this!