8 Words or Less

Introducing 8 Words or Less

8 words or less is a new series where, on each episode, James and Samie select a leadership or management book that has inspired them and, drawing on their own experience and insights, distil some key themes from the book into a central message of 8 words or less.

Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed

In this episode Samie and James talk about Matthew Syed's excellent book - Black Box Thinking. In this book Mathew compares the approach to failure in the airline industry with that of the healthcare industry and, through the use of well researched and fascinated examples, illustrates the surprising truth to failure and how crucial it is to ultimate success.Samie and James share some of their favourite anecdotes from the book, some insights and key takeaways and, of course, distil this into 8 words or less.

Who Do We Choose to Be by Margaret J. Wheatley

In this episode Samie and James talk about Margaret Wheatley's book - Who Do We Choose to Be? The themes running through the book - Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity - are very relevant for the challenges we see around us with the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode we discuss some of the key themes from the book, understand its relevance in the current climate and, of course, distil this into 8 words or less.

The Day After Tomorrow by Peter Hinssen

In this episode Samie and James talk about Peter Hinssen's book - The Day After Tomorrow. It is a title that probably resonates with a lot of us as we look through the challenging times to hopefully a more positive 'day after tomorrow'. A serial entrepreneur and one of the most sought-after thought leaders on radical innovation, Peter's book provides an interesting insight into how companies can react to the exponential world we are living in, how culture impacts innovation and how to reach the 'day after tomorrow'.

Great by Choice by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen

In this episode Samie tells us his central message from 'Great by Choice' written by the bestselling author Jim Collins.Samie reflects on how it is important sometimes to 'go slow to go fast' and shares some insights around the need for discipline and vigilance as well as discussing the relative benefits of being 'one fad behind'.Essentially this book asks the question of why some organisations survive in periods of chaos while others don't - a very valid question for our current times.