Books (and songs) of 2020

My favourite non-finance books this year:

Behave by Robert Sapolsky

A magisterial review of the science of human behaviour. Hard to say much more without saying far too much! It’s fantastic. 

The Civil War (3 vols) by Shelby Foote

This is such an interesting war and the Americans of the time, especially on the Union side, are so like us in their sensibilities. Foote is a wonderful storyteller. 

The Challenger Sale by Adamson and Dixon

This is all about sales as educating your client in a new way of seeing their problems, and lots of empirical research suggests that it works (in complex B2B sales). 

Reconsidering Change Management by ten Have et al. 

I love literature reviews. This has lots, each one on some common management maxim, with a focus on deciding whether they are true. 

The Science of Organisational Change by Paul Gibbons

Not as rigorous as the above, but full of good ideas about management and debunking of less-good ones. 

The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk

A book primarily about the author’s work as a specialist in psychological trauma, but also a new way of looking at the psychology of the unwell mind that challenges the existing DSM framework. Highly recommended. 

Freeing The Body, Freeing The Mind by Michael Stone (ed.)

Essays on the connections between yoga and Buddhist meditation. These things are closely related, both historically and psychologically. 

The Feeling Of What Happens by Prof Antonio Damasio

This is Damasio’s theory of consciousness as being built from different functions of the brain — “protoself”, “core consciousness” and “extended consciousness”, with ideas grounded in his clinical practice. 

Who: A Method for Hiring by Smart and Street

I have not been able to find any rigorous empirical work about how and whom to hire. However, this was widely recommended on the internet, is based on a significant collection of experience and has a compelling logic. 

YouTube Music has helpfully made a playlist of my favourite songs from 2020, so here is a bonus music list:

Le Premier Bonheur du Jour by Francoise Hardy: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=eCFjTVKQE1o&feature=share

I Got a Name by Jim Croce: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=EG6ZlCpfVvU&feature=share

Comment Te Dire Adieu by Francoise Hardy: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=tINyMbNZytI&feature=share

Little Boxes by Pete Seeger: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=5pIy5Fx1-w8&feature=share

Light My Fire by The Doors: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=cWVRzieqNKs&feature=share

Love Theme from Zeffirelli’s Romeo & Juliet by Nino Rota: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ysW3J3AYi90&feature=share

In The Ghetto by Elvis Presley: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=gisXtyyiNGw&feature=share

Moonlight Sonata — 3rd Movement by Beethoven: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=BV7RkEL6oRc&feature=share

The Gambler by Kenny Rogers: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=w4RvskuFnPY&feature=share

As Kenny says, “every hand’s a winner, and every hand’s a loser” — it’s how you play them.