Kevin Duncan reckons that we could make life – and particularly our working life – so much simpler and easier if we just learned from children.  Children are constantly learning, naturally curious and always asking questions.  Yet as we grow older, we can become hesitant about asking questions, in some cases to the point of giving up altogether.  And asking fewer questions can condemn us to a working life of directionless drudgery.   So what?  provides a handy toolkit of questions to get us back in the habit.  Questions force people to stop and think, something we can all do a good deal more of. 

The sub-title to this book is ‘leadership lessons from the great Antarctic explorer’ – and they’re not kidding.  I’d preface the sub-title with ‘massively inspirational’.  This is first and foremost a ripping yarn, a stirring true story of determination, loyalty, teamwork and extraordinary human courage in enormous adversity.  Even better, the authors draw out the lessons we can learn today to be the best leaders we can be. 

According to Daniel Pink, carrot and stick methods of motivating people are soooo last century.  So now what are employers, leaders, managers (and for that matter parents) supposed to do? Make some radical changes, according to Pink, because as he says, “there’s a gap between what science says and business does.”  Only when we take heed of the science will we arrive at what he calls ‘Motivation 3.0’.

Ten pounds for a lot of life coaching is a pretty good bargain.  I tried it and it worked.  No hype, no hocus-pocus, no hare-brained woo woo nonsense.  This is a refreshingly down-to-earth book, based on sound psychology, made totally practical. If you work through the chapters and apply the tools, frameworks and exercises as you go (and keep going) you will coach yourself to change, in 12 chapters. How do they do it?

How can a book of less than fifty pages, published over sixty years ago, be relevant and useful to us now?  Let me count the ways.  This is a gem and deserves to be used (important point: not just read, but used) by anyone who wants to come up with more and better ideas, whether being creative is part of your job description, a hobby or simply an important part of how you live your life.  Mr Young writes knowledgeably and humorously, outlines a straightforward five-step process – then challenges us to follow it.