Reading List: Books to read by Dr Lize Barclay

Dr Lize Barclay, senior lecturer in Futures Studies and Systems Thinking, shares her top three books for systems and creative thinking.

• Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella H. Meadows
• The Firth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization by Peter Senge
• Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All by David Kelly & Tom Kelly

Lize adds that the books of the author and academic Cal Newport are important to read by alumni and every person in the knowledge industry. She suggests the following:

• So Good They Can’t Ignore You – about the importance of deliberate practice and being really good at something, but it might not necessarily be your passing.
• Deep Work – about ensuring time for uninterrupted diligent thinking and working and why it is critically important for knowledge workers.
• Digital Minimalism – why it is essential to walk, think and curate our digital consumption, especially pertaining social media.
• A World Without Email – alternatives to dealing with the “hyperactive hive mind” that our environment has become.