Things that interest Paul

Here's my library of things that have interested me in recent times

Things of interest

'The Ascent of Money' written by economic and financial historian Niall Fergusson (Harvard Professor, born and bred in Glasgow).  Absolutely brilliant, and incredibly enlightening for putting the current financial crisis in perspective.  Thanks to the Air New Zealand in-flight entertainment system – The Ascent of Money can be seen in a six-part series of one-hour documentaries (I got through 5, and had to resort to using the sick-bags as note paper!). 

I'm re-reading "Confidence – Leadership and the psychology of turnarounds”, by Rosabeth Moss-Kanter.  Given the ‘cycle’ is so influenced by group psychology, there are some real nuggets in here that can be applied to organisational leadership.

Riding the Grief Curve – Based on Jes’ original idea of applying the personal Grief Curve (Elizabeth Kubler-Ross) at an organisational level, this is proving to be a powerful (and empowering) tool in discussion with executives and leaders.  So where are you? 

The ‘doyen’ of Australian Economics – We heard Dr Don Stammer speak at the dinner of the recent the Superpartners leadership event in Melbourne. He’s been around a long time, has great wisdom and knows how to qualify his position on financial markets.  So, where does he think we are in the cycle? “We cannot yet say that the ‘bear’ is dead, but we can be sure that it is tiring!!!" Actually, that’s a pretty safe bet. After all, global equity markets have fallen by over 50% since peaking in October 2007, so by definition we must be more than half way to the bottom!  Of course, we only ever know where the bottom is once we have passed it.  (And note that the financial markets always lead the ‘real’ economy).