This week, we are diving into a book by the Grandmother of Juneteenth, Opal Lee, and one from Thomas Crowther, a WEF recognized Young Global Leader who was the founding chair of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. We are also looking at Sebastian Wernicke's book on why data isn't entirely a technology problem, but an inherently human one, and the most comprehensive study of elite groups ever conducted by Ron Firedman.

All four titles are available online and on local bookshop shelves today. Interested in buying multiple copies for your team, book club, or employee resource group? Follow the links below or give us a call to purchase the books, or check out our services for bulk book buyers to learn more about how we can help.

Unless otherwise noted, all descriptions of the books below come from the publisher.

A Committee of One: How Faith + Action = A PurposeFULL Life by Opal Lee, published by Amistad

An inspirational memoir/self-help book from the Grandmother of Juneteenth that will be a testament to the transformative power of resilience, faith, and love.

In 2016, then-90-year-old Opal Lee began her Opal Walks 2 DC campaign where she endeavored to walk 1,400 miles from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington, DC to bring awareness to the cause of making Juneteenth a federally recognized holiday. She was convinced that the country needed and wanted the unity that celebrating the abolition of slavery can bring. That it was bigger than Texas. Thankfully, on June 17, 2021, President Joseph Biden passed the bill making Juneteenth a National holiday and Ms. Opal stood alongside the president during this historic occasion, receiving the pen he used to sign off on the law.

A Committee of One takes readers on a profound journey through Ms. Opal Lee's life by sharing stories that will reveal a life marked by resilience, faith, and unwavering determination. Drawing parallels to the beloved narrative style of Tuesdays with Morrie, A Committee of One will weave together personal anecdotes with timely wisdom and offer every reader inspiring nuggets for reflection.

From the opening chapters, her narrative unfolds with the kind of raw honesty Ms. Opal is known for. She shares the challenges she's experienced (including the destruction of her childhood home by a white mob when she was twelve and the failure of her first marriage) as well as how those devastations allowed her the room to grow and become the woman she is today. All these stories are a testament to the indomitable human spirit, the fearlessness of our fortitude. The bottom-line goal in every chapter is to impart one significant and invaluable lesson: Adversity, though inevitable, need not define one's destiny.

The heart of the story is Ms. Opal's steadfast commitment to hard work and perseverance. From balancing the demands of motherhood and education to securing career advancements to the activism that led her to be named “The Grandmother of Juneteenth,” she's always tried to embody the transformative power of being steadfast. Because of this, A Committee of One is a powerful reminder that success is not measured by the absence of trials but by the willingness to confront and overcome them.

Data Inspired: Building an Organizational Culture of Inquiry for Lasting Transformation by Sebastian Wernicke, published by Georgetown University Press

A roadmap for business leaders to unlock the full potential of data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.

Ninety-nine percent of businesses surveyed say that data and AI are a top priority—but two-thirds admit to feeling stuck. What most leaders miss is that to succeed at becoming a data-driven business requires developing a nuanced understanding of why data holds such transformative power, what a data-inspired culture looks like, and how to get there.

Data Inspired shows that the secret isn't to be more data-driven—it is to become data-inspired. This book reveals the crucial strategic distinction between using data to optimize existing operations and using them as a catalyst for deep transformation and innovation. Wernicke argues that success hinges less on technology and more on reshaping an organization's culture and decision-making habits. And with this book's proven principles, real-world examples, and comprehensive toolbox of methods for building a culture of evidence-based inquiry, readers will learn that success means far more than just adding more data to a business: it is about creating a thoroughly data-inspired organization with innovative work methods, new structures, and unmatched efficiency.

Data Inspired will help business leaders, managers, and data professionals move beyond incremental improvements to achieve lasting, powerful change.

Nature's Echo: Harnessing Ancient Feedback Loops to Heal a Changing Planet by Thomas Crowther, published by Harper Horizon

The scientific basis for environmental optimism.

From the birth of galaxies to the revival of forests, the greatest transformations in our universe have been driven by quiet, self-reinforcing processes known as feedback loops. These ancient forces created the universe, they allowed biodiversity to proliferate, they gave rise to climate change, and the idea that we are separate, isolated selves. However, if we can stop resisting them, and begin to work with them, these immense natural forces can become powerful engines for social and ecological regeneration. Nature's Echo reveals how the mechanisms that shaped our world can also be the ones to revive it.

Drawing on cutting-edge ecological science, ancient philosophy, and gripping personal narrative from the frontlines of global restoration, Nature's Echo presents the scientific basis for environmental optimism. You'll discover:

• How feedback loops drove everything from the explosion of life to our own inner suffering.
• Why the illusion of a separate "self" may be the root cause of our environmental crisis.
  
• How nature can rebound when we relieve the social inequality that degrades it.
  
• Why the knowledge that we can build a brighter future is a prerequisite for environmental success.
  

We are not passive witnesses to planetary collapse, but active participants in the greatest regenerative opportunity in Earth’s history. Discover how millions of rural communities are reviving local nature to improve their own livelihoods; how customers are choosing sustainable products that are tipping entire industries into new states; and how efforts to address poverty are driving ecological recovery at massive scales. But most importantly, gain the personal agency that comes from the realization that we are not doomed to a bleak environmental future. Through this journey across the scales of existence, you will discover that by tapping into ancient feedback loops, we have the power to drive the inner personal healing that can jumpstart massive environmental recovery.

For anyone who feels overwhelmed by the climate crisis and is searching for a path forward, this book replaces despair with grounded hope and conviction. 

Superteams: The Science and Secrets of High-Performing Teams by Ron Friedman, published by Simon & Schuster

The ultimate playbook for building high-performing teams, packed with counterintuitive insights, surprising science, and real-world lessons from the most comprehensive study of elite groups ever conducted.

What do the best teams do differently?

To find out, award-winning social psychologist Ron Friedman surveyed thousands of teams and pinpointed the precise habits that separate the best from the rest. The results upend everything we think we know about teamwork. It turns out that the most successful teams aren't the ones that collaborate most, get along best, or put in the longest hours. What really sets them apart is the way they manage their energy and attention, bring out the best in one another, and keep improving over time.

Blending eye-opening discoveries with unforgettable stories, Superteams takes you inside the writers' room of Succession and Bridgerton, the recording studio of ABBA and Fleetwood Mac, the kitchens of Michelin-starred restaurants, the laboratories of Nobel Prize–winning scientists, the locker rooms of NBA and NFL teams, and the boardrooms of the world's most innovative companies.

You will learn:

• A simple rule that instantly cuts meeting time in half
  
• How the best teams make focus easier, not harder
  
• The one question that makes team decisions up to 30% smarter
  
• The only office perk that improves performance (spoiler: it's not coffee)
  
• How personal productivity hacks make teamwork harder
  
• Why feeling like the smartest person in the room is a red flag
  
• Why top performers care more about disappointing their peers than their boss
  
• How the best teams avoid burnout without working fewer hours
  
• The science of truly restorative breaks, evenings, and vacations
  
• How to build a team that keeps getting better (even when you're not in charge)

Smart, insightful, and relentlessly practical, this is your science-backed guide to turning your team into a Superteam.