Ex Libris: From the G&G team's bookshelves

This month in our special feature Ex Libris, Latin for from the books, we once again peek into the bookshelves of the G&G team. This month, Greg and Aun share their recommendations:






On Strategy

What Every CEO Needs to Know About Nonmarket Strategy by David Bach & David Bruce Allen.  

I enjoyed reading this paper because the concept of nonmarket strategy extends the concept of Porter's Five Forces and says that leaders should take into consideration the political, social, and policy environments and create opportunities in them.  One of my favorite examples of non market

strategy is Toyota's steps to influence policy around the use of hybrid cars. They successfully lobbied for the passing of a law in California to allow hybrid cars to use the carpool lane even with only the driver in it. By looking at and shaping their nonmarket, Toyota was able to create an environment that boosted sales of the Prius. What nonmarket forces impact the competitive advantage of your enterprise? 

- Greg

On History 

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson 

A fascinating look, through the lens of history, at the modern house and all the things we seem to fill them with. Bill Bryson books are a must for those who love to find out random facts about everything 

- Aun

Happy Reading!

Ex Libris

Reading is a Pleasure

In a brief but not so unrelated departure from fair trade and the work we do at Gifts and Graces, (I'll manage to tie it all together in the end, I promise) let's celebrate one of the greatest pleasures of life - reading. We write this blog post in celebration of the Philippine Book Development Month this November.

There's nothing like curling up with a good book: there's nothing quite as satisfying as being transported to a different time and place, empathizing with and relating to characters - caring what happens to them, and living an adventure, romance, sci-fi, fantasy, or thriller. Really good books make you laugh out loud, make you upset, make your heart beat faster and keep you up at night, keeping you from sleep as you turn page after page after page.

This November, the National Book Development Board has lined up several activities to promote reading. They all look exciting and two in particular caught our eye - The Great Philippine Book Cafe! 2nd Manila International Literary Festival November 16 - 18 (thanks Zee Perez for the link!)

and 

Venus in Orbit, a night of spoken word poetry and music by women presented by The NBDB Book Club and Bigkas Pilipinas. On November 13, 9PM at Bacci Ristorante in Makati City. (entrance is free!)

The pleasure of reading isn't limited to reading fiction. I came to discover graphic novels in college and to this day I love me my Sandman. Of course there are also magazines, trade books, and even the labels of shampoo bottles haha.

In the spirit of reading, we have come up with our own reading list based on what's on our own book shelves - books that have made an impact on us professionally and personally that are related to what we do at G&G. In time we'd like to make it a recurring feature in our newsletters. We'll be talking about books, articles, even blog posts on development, community building, poverty reduction, design, and marketing to name a few. Here are two books to start with: (also to be featured in our October newsletter)

On Poverty and Development

The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities of Our Time by Jeffrey Sachs

When I read this book I was blown away by the "simple" steps required to bring people out of extreme poverty. Jeffrey Sachs supports his assertions with real cases. The idea of getting people on the first rung of the ladder of economic development and increasing per capita income per family has remained with me.   -Greg

On Design

A Whack on the Side of the Head: How you can be more Creative by Roger van Oech

As a designer, reading what this book says is an affirmation of how random and whacky the inspirations for the process of creativity are. One of the things pointed out in this book is that from childhood we are taught to find the "right answers" such that our minds eventually become cluttered with ready made answers that we lose the opportunity to ask questions that lead to new directions.   - Marge

Happy reading and happy book month everyone!