David Burkus

Recent decades have witnessed the fields of neuroscience and psychology advance the insight that feeling a part of a vibrant community enhances a group’s success, however that is defined. This simple insight can be applied to many endeavors, ranging from civic organizations to businesses. When structured correctly, belonging can attract skilled employees while producing first-rate results. In this book, David Burkus seeks to instill readers with virtues that enhance a team’s well-being and success.

Burkus’ thesis is that common understanding, psychological safety, and prosocial purpose feed off of each other to produce both happier team members and high performance. He does bring out a few quantitative statistics to bolster his case, but he mostly inspires through well-researched stories. This book, in many ways, falls under the genre of inspiration for management, business, and leadership more than a carefully argued or reasoned case.

That leads me to the main drawback of this book. It is high on the pathos through inspirational stories; it’s also high on ethos through examples of well-known organizations; but it lacks logos via a methodical, research-driven case. It feels like church, only for teamwork. Now, I go to church, and I like teamwork. So there’s nothing wrong with these. Nonetheless, given this book’s subtitle touting “surprising science,” I just wanted more cognitive stimulation than I found. Indeed, the theme of the strong value of community can be found all over today’s business books. I wanted more originality.

Team and organizational leaders serve as an obvious audience for this book, but anyone who wants to work better with teammates can benefit. Books like this can get my eyes off of just fulfilling my desires and refocus my eyes onto helping those around me fulfill their challenges. Since reading this book, I’ve started to listen more deliberately and attentively to colleagues’ updates in meetings. And that’s all you can ask for a book like this: to gain a few nuggets to make your performance just a little better.… (más)

Debunking myths about creativity is like shooting fish in a barrel. There are so many of them and they are so patently false. However, some are a little more subtle and often not recognized. In this book, David Burkus addresses the obvious, the subtle, and many in between. The Eureka Myth, The Expert Myth, The Incentive Myth, The Mousetrap Myth – just a few of the myths he takes on (and, what a coincidence, some of the book’s chapters.) So, the first value of this book is that it brings together the most egregious and creativity-stopping of those myths all in one place.

Now discussing the myths and how they are incorrect would make for a perfectly fine book. However, Burkus has gone a step further – a step many authors overlook – and included some of the actual research showing these myths are patently false. Burkus brings these studies into the conversation in a way that proves his point while being eminently understandable. Anyone who has seen the way such research is normally shared knows how quickly the conclusions can get bogged down in in the details and statistics. And many authors have a hard time pulling the relevant information form the academic babble without sacrificing understanding, validity, or both. But Burkus’ approach supports the point that he is trying to prove while providing background that shows sufficient research was completed.

Of course, anyone can find research to support almost anything nowadays. But the information Burkus provides is convincing and researchable.

In most instances, Burkus has also provided real-world stories that are intended to support the “mythiness” of the belief. At times, there is a bit of a stretch between the story and the myth it is meant to debunk. And, of course, it is even easier to find stories that support an author’s thesis than it is to find research to back it. But whether the stories match perfectly or not, and whether they are the exception rather than the rule, doesn’t matter. Burkus has found good stories that support the need for and application of creativity. (I’m not sure I’ll ever look at guns on boats the same way. I just never thought about how hard it is to aim on a rolling ship.)

One of my success criteria for a book of this type is the “dog-eared” quotient. In other words, was it a book where I made a lot of notes and dog-eared a lot of pages. (Someday I’m going to have to actually establish a scale.) This one ranked very high. There were numerous instances where I was able to glean specific information that I will be using to move my creativity forward, as well as include as a part of presentations and training in the area.

This is a good book for anyone looking to help instill creativity within his or her department/business unit/organization/any entity not included in this list. It will help you keep from going down some false paths. And it may provide you inspiration for new ideas on how to get some or even more creativity going.… (más)