15 March 2010
By Nathan Ryder
Hi! This is my first time posting on the Research Staff Blog.
I'm a freelance skills trainer and PhD graduate based in the North West; a lot of the work that I do is with PGRs, and consequently I'm always looking to upskill in any way that I can to meet their needs.
It's around this time each year that I look to decrease my forthcoming tax bill by buying books for my professional development! Last year I focused quite a lot on Creativity, and got books on how to have creative ideas, as well as Edward de Bono's "Six Thinking Hats".
I know that there is only so far that you can go by reading a book - it wasn't until my fiancee and I started using "Six Thinking Hats" for our wedding theme discussions that I realised just how clever it was - but I was wondering what books would people recommend that have helped them in their professional development? Is there an absolutely essential tome that every person involved in PGR training should have on their bookshelf?
So far my shopping list includes books by Tony Buzan and Sir Ken Robinson: what else should be on there?
Nathan
Tennie Videler17 March 2010 at 10:30 AM
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Hi Nathan, I'm not familiar with de Bono although I have heard people referring to his hats. I've been really enthusiastic about ideas that I've encountered a few times to the extend of reading books about them. Myers Briggs type indicator was a revalation to me, but the books I've read on it a bit of a disappointment. Ditto with Transactional analysis. But I've loved 'Here comes everyone' by Clay Shirky. It might be a bit outside your enquiry remit?
Nathan Ryder17 March 2010 at 11:29 AM
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Hi Tennie, I know bits and pieces about MBTI, and have read the backs of lots of books - but haven't known which ones to go for. Will have a look for "transactional analysis", not a term I've come across before. I've not read any books by Clay Shirky, but have seen his TED Talk, and read a few pieces he's put online, so will have to look up "Here Comes Everyone". It might be suitable for what I was thinking - if it has good ideas, then I'm sure it is!
Sarah Davies17 March 2010 at 04:08 PM
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I haven't read much professional development literature so can't speak with much authority on what's good (though when has that ever stopped an academic?). But I was told early on in my career that I needed to know how to write, and pointed to Strunk and White's 'The Elements of Style' - a great basic guide to tricky questions like when to use 'that' and 'which'. I also love fictional accounts of the academy, particularly AS Byatt. 'A Whistling Woman' has a great account of a new university in the 1960s, including a hilarious send up of earnest sociologists (of which I guess I'm one). I'm not sure you could count it as training, but it's fascinating to see one version of where universities were a few decades ago...
Chris Thomson17 March 2010 at 05:05 PM
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The absolute best non-fiction book I have read recently is JavaScript the Good Parts By Douglas Crockford http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596517748 Its not going to help with professional development in general, but if you want to learn JavaScript and already know a bit about programming it is spot on.
Matthew Salois17 March 2010 at 08:08 PM
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Hi Nathan, Nice website by the way. I am curious given your graduate degree in mathematics how you stumbled upon professional development. I bet that is an interesting story. In regards to book ideas, I am afraid (like Sarah) that I am not well read on the career and professional development literature. Though, I am a big fan of John Henry Newman's 1854 classic, "The Idea of a University." I think given the newfound context of the financial crises, for-profit universities, and the ever growing need for research grants to survive as an academic, the book has much to say.
Nathan Ryder18 March 2010 at 08:47 AM
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Thanks everyone for all of your suggestions so far, keep them coming, it's really interesting for me. When I posted the article I ordered several books by Edward de Bono, and a couple by Tony Buzan on Mind Maps. Am looking up the others to see what they're like. Matthew - during my PhD I was asked to act as an administrator on several residential Career Skills Workshops by the Graduate School Skills Team (University of Liverpool), and my interest started there really. When I finished my PhD I made travel plans for the following summer, and decided to try being self-employed in an area that interested me a lot... And here I am!
Hannah Dee18 March 2010 at 10:58 AM
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Probably not the kind of thing you're after, but... All the Mathematics You Missed (But Need to Know for Graduate School) ... has been a very useful book for me!
Sarah Davies18 March 2010 at 05:37 PM
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...and I've just remembered that a (natural scientist) collegue raved about Randy Olsen's 'Don't be such a scientist' to me. I've not read it, but it seems to be an engaging text about (public) communication.