What TNW is reading (week 12)

Ah, welcome welcome.

I see you enjoyed last week’s edition and are back for more. Well we won’t disappoint. For the uninitiated (go back and start at post one, please) the team at TNW has made a New Year’s Resolution to read a bit more. So every week, a select number of our team will share with you what’s currently living on their nightstand, or saved in Pocket, or is sitting in that browser tab begging to be read.

This week we have how to be a better manager (according to Google) the perils and pitfalls of a cashless society and the benefits of practicing yoga for reasons other than looking good in tight pants. Happy reading.

How to Have Great Ideas: A Guide to Creative Thinking –  John Ingledew

I found this book when visiting an exposition at the ‘Stedelijk Museum’ in Amsterdam, the museum for modern and contemporary art. I didn’t plan on buying anything in the bookshop at all, but I just couldn’t leave it there.

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Being a graduate student in graphic design, I am always trying to find a way to be more creative. This book is a guide for anyone in the creative industry looking for that ‘Eureka!’ moment.

With over different 50 ideas, there is always something that’ll work, whether it’s being playful, thinking in analogous ways or trying to find your ‘ingenius inner genius’. This is definitely a recommended book for everybody in the creative industry.

Iris van der Looij, Design & Illustration Intern

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga: A Practical Guide to Healing Body, Mind, and Spirit – Deepak Chopra and David Simon

If you are one of those spiritually curious, yoga curious, or a human that cares about a healthy holistic lifestyle then, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga, by Deepak Chopra and David Simon is a must read.

I’ve been practicing some form of yoga since age twelve. I’ve come to love it as a workout to balance other more strenuous workouts, but in the past few years, it’s become more than just a workout. I got curious as to what the capacity of yoga is in making me a better human, not just looking better in tight pants.

Moving beyond the poses, Chopra and Simon discuss what yoga does to our whole being, emphasizing the utility of yoga for all peoples, regardless of beliefs. It’s a way of connecting, meditating and exploring what matters, beyond daily activities. It can be a very heady read as it’s dense in wisdom, so give it time to digest. Like yoga, don’t rush it, enjoy the practice.

Dahlia Green, Director of Community & Events USA

Why we should fear a cashless world – The Guardian

This is a story of the (often untold) consequences of tech “disrupting” an established system. Even though new payment technologies tend to be really convenient and sometimes seem like they’ll render cash useless soon, we should step back before pushing forward that reality.

This article points out how the reasons we often hear to justify the unofficial “war on cash” are spurious to say the least. It also hints to some hidden agendas on behalf of those pushing for it – specially governments and fin-tech companies.

We should not overlook the consequences of a shift of power like this. Episodes like the one with Wikileaks and the US financial giants should give us a warning about what could come.

Julio Foulquie, Senior Back End Developer

Work Rules! Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead – Laszlo Bock

This book of Laszlo Bock, SVP People Operations at Google, has been on my wish list for a long time. Finally, I was able to read it and I am going to do the same thing as my friends: recommend it.

I have no background or experience from a HR or People Operations perspective, although I like to work with people, like so many of us. This book shows you how to work better and be a better leader for other people and for yourself, the Google-way.

Laszlo and Google prove with a lot of data and tests that you shouldn’t trust your gut instinct and shouldn’t use ‘obvious reasons’ when you work with people. Through many examples you get insights in to how Google is managed and why they do things the way they do it.

Learn, be inspired, and if you ever want to become a Googler yourself: read this ‘guide’ with 400 pages of insights and your chances of being accepted will increase. Hopefully.

Marvin Molijn, Business Development

This is a #TNWLife article, a look into the lives of those that work at The Next Web.