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    Reading list: all queued up

    Readings
    I had a wonderful Christmas Day yesterday with my family: giving and receiving gifts, eating together, telling stories and relaxing. This year, I was blessed to receive three books (I'd sent some signals), and no e-anything!  I have come to really enjoy reading for pleasure in recent years, as a diversion from the copious volume of journal articles and books that I have to deal with for my research. The books I received as gifts are:
    • Victorian City by Judith Flanders
    • One Summer by Bill Bryson
    • The Men who United the States by Simon Winchester

    I am seriously tempted to start reading these straight away, but two books currently on loan from the local library need to take priority:
    • Cronkite by Douglas Brinkley
    • History Lessons by Jonathan Gifford

    In case you are wondering whether I am a glutton for punishment, I also have two books on order from Amazon:
    • Strategy: a History by Lawrence Freedman
    • The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved by Mario Livio

    Given the rate at which I read, these books are likely to keep me gainfully occupied well into Autumn! Do you read? If so, what titles are you currently enjoying?
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    Signing off for 2013...

    Phd Research Societal Wellbeing
    Unless something compelling occurs in the next few days, this blog entry is likely to be my last for 2013. Christmas is upon us, so it is time to pause.

    Christmas can mean different things to different people. For some, the deep spiritual significance of remembering the birth of Jesus is almost palpable. For others, Christmas is an opportunity to buy and give gifts, to eat and to catch up with family and friends. Yet others enjoy Christmas because it is "time off"—a holiday. However you spend Christmas this year, may it be a joyful time for you.

    Overall, I've had a good year. The opportunity to travel (to speak in Australia, Asia and Europe), to meet some wonderful people, and to spend time pondering some pretty tough questions to do with my research, has been amazing. While there have been several times during the year when I've felt becalmed, it's not until I've stopped in the last few days and looked back that I've realised just how far I've travelled. I hope it's the same for you as you take stock this Christmas season. Thank you for your support and encouragement throughout the year, I appreciate it.
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    The troublesome march towards e-everything

    Societal Wellbeing
    In seven days' time, the mayhem so commonly associated with the lead-up to Christmas will be over for another twelve months—although the busyness of preparing for holidays, Boxing Day sales and other distractions will no doubt replace the void.

    This year, more than ever before, I feel under siege, by the marketers of technology. The march towards e-everything is becoming a little tedious, and it's starting to get in the way of meaningful interaction and learning. I'm no luddite—my iPhone and Macbook Air are useful productivity tools—but I draw the line at e-readers, Google Glass and other gizmos. 

    A couple of days ago I caught up with a friend over breakfast. We met each other 15 years or so ago, when we worked at the same company, and we've kept in touch periodically since. While standing at the counter to order, I noticed several groups of people sitting at tables. The scene looked a little odd, and then it dawned on me. In each case, every person was looking down, at an electronic device. Humans are social beings. What happened to the art of conversation? Are electronics actually getting in the way of progress in some cases?

    The reading of books, and pondering of events, situations and possibilities is a case in point. Rosemary McLeod sums it up so well. Books are for reading, and the experience of reading is as much tactile and sensory as it is a journey of discovery. I can relate to McLeod on this point, and hope that none of the gifts under the tree bearing my name contain e-anything. I'd rather pick up a book, feel the pages and devour the story. Simply it's more relaxing.
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    On shareholder primacy, groupthink and hubris

    Governance Leadership Management Performance Research Strategy
    I spent much of the day yesterday in the company of my doctoral supervisor, an outstanding Masters candidate and a very capable governance consultant. The purpose of the meeting was to tackle some interesting—and rather challenging—questions to do with the practices of governance, hubris and groupthink, collective decision-making and cognitive biases. In addition to being topical (read further down this blog), these topics seem to be important building blocks towards gaining a robust understanding of governance in practice. Others appear to be exploring similar topics as well.

    We made good progress, but a long list of questions and opportunities to dig deeper remain. While I'm not at liberty to discuss what emerged, several seemingly separate strands of thought, research and practice appear to be coalescing. Normally when I come away from such sessions, I listen to a podcast to clear my mind. However my mind was in overdrive yesterday as I drove home. Could a grand theory of governance, so long ruled out by many, be possible after all? 
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    Self-assured hubris in local government

    Governance Leadership Societal Wellbeing
    I have commented on the topic of governance in the local government sector several times in the past six months—because there have been many avoidable situations that merit closer scrutiny. Today, I want to provide a short comment on the responses of the mayors to the situations they have found themselves in, not the situations themselves. For example, the recent (mis)behaviours of Mayor Brown of Auckland and Mayor Ford of Toronto have been widely criticised, yet both mayors, somewhat defiantly, remain in office.

    When one knowingly breaks the rules of office once, some of the trust one has garnered to secure the office is eroded. When one knowingly does so a second or subsequent time, trust cannot survive. Actions have consequences. Sadly, this reality seems to have evaded the mayors in question. Their continued reluctance to be held accountable for their actions is staggering. Resignation is the only acceptable response. The people of Auckland and Toronto deserve better than to suffer through these continued displays of self-assured hubris (although the tide does appear to be turning in Auckland with plans of a no-confidence vote by a group of Councillors). When will the constituency or, more importantly, the mayors themselves, wake up and act?