WE LOVE FRED.

Something a little different for this month’s book spotlight – and not just because it’s all we had on our shelves.

What do you get when you cram a spaceship full of different species, all with secrets to hide? An award-nominated book that tackles prejudice, chaos, and looks at what it means to be human.

For all the veneer of science fiction, at its core, it’s really a story about characters and connections, and the crew (tentacles and all) very quickly feel real and emotive.

If you’re looking for a pleasant book to while away the hours of lockdown part 2, this is one to pick up.

Coronavirus, Donald Trump, social media. You can hate them all you want but deep down you know they aren't going anywhere!

Built upon a decade of delivering social media training and consultancy to aspiring businesses big and small, Embrace The Space takes just about every platform available and breaks them down piece by piece. Letting you know exactly what it is, what it does, why it does it, and most importantly what you should do with it to see the best results for your company.

Filled to the rafters with sage advice, top tips, cheeky tricks, and questionable quips from Colin and Gary, the only better way to learn the ins and outs of the digital space is to attend one of their training workshops yourself! A comprehensive compendium, Embrace The Space is truly the encyclopedia of social media.

It seems like every day there is some new attribute we should take cognisance of and work tirelessly to improve within ourselves. Whether it's by being more 'body positive', 'resilient', or (dare we say it) 'woke' the list of must-have characteristics goes on and on. To this end, Manson offers one piece of advice: Don't bother.

These intangible and unrealistic goals of personal perfection are taking up too much of your time, too many of your F*cks and actually costing you your happiness. He posits that true happiness is found through caring more about less, rather than caring more about more and more.

In short, we all have a finite number of F*cks to give and we should be very picky about what we spend them on.

Communication isn't just a one-way street of fancy slogans and catchy taglines. Body language forms an integral part of not only how you get messages across but also determining how well those messages are received.

People's attention span for that which they find boring, irrelevant and useless is at an all-time low but somehow they still manage to wear a smile and nod through it regardless, leaving you to believe they really do give a shit.

This delightful little manual highlights some gestures and signals you should look out for at your next presentation.

With constant in-fighting between major shareholders and staff. Lies, deceit, revenge, nastiness, ugliness, and carelessness by the bucketload, The Twits is essentially a case study of what not to do in order to create and operate a successful upside down African monkey circus.

A toxic work environment with no business plan, no management structure, no health and safety policy, it lays out in graphic detail the devastating consequences of what can happen when your company is built solely on ugly thoughts and diabolical schemes.

10/10 Would recommend!

'A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly'

The thesis of Drive is a simple one: The key to human motivation is intrinsic rather than extrinsic. Written plainly, this may seem obvious. But as Pink says, the dominant approach in management is that the best 'way to get us moving in the right direction is by dangling a crunchier carrot or weilding a sharper stick.' He finds numerous fascinating studies to back up his arguments.

Throughout his book, Pink shows us companies that are bucking the trend. And seeing real results in the process - 'For too long there's been a mismatch between what science knows and what business does.'

His arguments for motivation based on the elements of autonomy, mastery and purpose are extremely convincing.

Some things I can’t stand about Christmas:

Festive bunnets in the office. The inevitable shortage of pigs-in-blankets at dinner. Don't even get me started about tinsel!

But every Christmas Eve since I was a baby skull I'd sit down and read this wonderful little poem. No more rushing, shopping, fretting, wrapping. All of a sudden, it's really Christmas!

If you haven’t picked it up in a while, feel you’ve outgrown it, or just somehow missed it, I recommend dusting off Twas The Night Before Christmas this year. Get some loved ones to gather around and let the excitement of the morrow take over.

'Merry Christmas to all…'

Circular is the annual journal of The Typographic Circle. A volunteer organisation bringing lovers of typography and design together. Their 20^th edition was kindly gifted to us by Paul from G.F Smith.

Circular is wonderful to look at. Large, experimental typefaces own the space and are as elaborate and elegant as the ideas they convey. This is not something to be read and have your brain take in the words, more so a treat for your (mind's) eye to savour and a demonstration of where you can go with 'just' letters on a page. It is no accident that the theme of No. 20 is ‘inspiration’ because if you can’t find any in here, then I worry where you think you will.

Starting from now Circular shall be replacing The Beano as our annual of choice. Read Fred's expanded review here.

‘To win hearts and minds you need to present clear information in such a visual way that it oozes creativity, conviction, and passion.’

Building on the principles established in the original (Visual Thinking - Book of the Month Feb 2019), Visual Doing is every bit a book in its own right. Packed full of creative gems like ‘breakfast furniture’ and 'thirty circles', not to mention the literally mind-blowing ‘UZMO’ light bulb method there is plenty here to keep you thinking and scribbling.

What sets this volume apart, however, is the application of these ideas. Breaking down exactly how to use simple but strong visuals individually in your own work, collaboratively in your team and widely across your entire organisation.

‘Stop thinking about how you are going to solve this problem and start thinking about how you’ll know it is solved’.

As anyone who watched the Game of Thrones finale will tell you, it's stories that matter. Here the authors present their problem-solving technique by way of a fable involving crystal balls, gold nuggets and porcine suplexes!

Bullet pointed summaries can be a little... Knowledge is porridge – 'think less about fixing deficits and more about redirecting energies' - for example, but for the most part, the method rings true and encourages you to reassess the (often falsely assumed) root causes of the problems you face and find an answer to the ‘Miracle Question’… What does good actually look like?

A collection of ethical and moral conundrums designed to spark debate, conversation, and inevitably judgment, amongst peers.

Some are tricky:

'If your child were to be boring, stupid or ugly, which one would you prefer?'

Some not so much:

‘If you could take a pill and eat food all day without absorbing calories or nutrition, would you?'

Ideal lunchtime water fountain fodder and guaranteed to get you thinking about who you are and what you stand for.

'Your brain only needs three dots to recognise a face.'

Without cliché about exactly how many words a picture might be worth, it's important to remember just how powerful simple imagery can be. Informative and practical, Visual Thinking functions as both a guide to the concepts behind the use of visuals and as a beginner’s handbook for the artistically impaired to create effortlessly engaging visuals on the fly.

Whether collaborating, problem-solving, studying, or just reorganising your DVDs there is plenty to learn here, as Fred can attest to. He’s been doodling all over the office for the past month.

'We harbour deep convictions that we learn better through single-minded focus and dogged repetition…'

Make it Stick challenges this attitude to learning and many other attitudes like it.

The book should appeal widely and is itself a fine example of the kinds of learning it encourages.

A great advert for a work-smarter-not-harder approach.

'And when a leader embraces their responsibility to care for people instead of caring for numbers, then people will follow, solve problems and see to it that that leader’s vision comes to life the right way, a stable way and not the expedient way.'