A Little Holiday Reading

You'd think with the tremendous amount of reading we do in grad school, the last thing I'd want to see while on Winter Break was another book! Yet, 1,500+ pages later, here is what learned over Break (yeah, yeah, don't judge me, I've always been a bookworm - but don't worry, I got in plenty of hiking, theater-going, Krav Maga, film editing and family and friends time during the 6 week break!):

The Theme: Ultimately these books are how-to's on competing in the global market - and like it or not, we're ALL competing in the global market.

A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink

Pink was preaching to the choir with me on this one! He tells us that to be effective in the Conceptual Age (vs. the now withering Information Age) we must use the gifts of BOTH sides of our brain. While he argues that the MFA is the new MBA, I however have to say he isn't considering the Digital MBA because the dMBA offers a more holistic and current approach to business.

The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century by Thomas Friedman

OK, this was the 3rd edition, you know, the one with nearly 700 hundred pages! Happy Winter Break to me! But so worth it - I had been wanting to read it forever. Even at 700 hundred pages, this book concisely gives context to our current global environment. From the fall of the Berlin Wall to the rise of wireless devices... it all makes sense now!

Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself by Daniel Pink

Whereas Friedman explains that we have shifted from a world of globalized nations, to globalized companies, to globalized individuals, Pink gives us the lowdown on the quintessential globalized individual - the Free Agent. A good bit has changed in the way people work since this book came out in 2001 (no kidding), but that perhaps only underscores the necessity to meet the challenges of a constantly changing market.

OK, Baker, Winter Break is over, get back to work!