Working Wounded: Book Clubs at Work

— -- D E A R R E A D E R S: As you know, I occasionally interview someone breaking new ground in business. Charles Decker is the best-selling author of Beans: Four Principles for Running a Business in Good Times or Bad (Jossey-Bass, 2003).

He's also the leading advocate for book clubs in the workplace. He's just started a regular feature in Fast Company magazine where readers get to select their favorite books.

Want to start a reading group where you work? Check out: www.fastcompany.com/bookclub.

Reading on the Job

WW: Read books at work? Dream on, I barely have time to do my job.

CD: Boy, I know that feeling. But these days, with people being expected to do more than just their own job, you better be at least conversant on topics that are outside your area of expertise. Reading books is easily the most effective way to be "business literate."

WW: How can someone convince a company to do this?

CD: It's the change agents, the "intrapreneurs," if you will, who are going to have to be the advocates for a leading-edge concept like this. It's a great way for someone who doesn't mind doing a little extra to get some special notice, and meet some like-minded people in the process. The cost is a lot less than your average training program, that's for sure, and people generally read the books on their own time. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't want to tell that story to their management team.

WW: Is there anything that you can do if your company won't support workplace reading groups?

CD: Well, people can always read the books on their own, or even start a reading group in the community rather than in their own company. A lot of bookstores have cafes now that could serve as the meeting place, and they'll probably even help with ordering the books.

WW: What are your top five suggestions for a good book to start with?

CD: I thought Authentic Leadership earlier this year had some very original thinking in it, and your own book, Gray Matters: The Workplace Survival Guide, is Fast Company readers' book selection for the month of December. Good to Great (HarperCollins, 2001) is a perennial favorite of mine, and a new book called Love It, Don't Leave It (Berrett-Koehler Pub, 2003) has some great coping strategies for people who feel trapped in cubicle land. If I can be immodest for a minute, my co-author and I designed our own book, Beans, specifically with reading groups in mind. There are discussion questions right in the back that trainers have told me they love.