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Reading List

I read a lot of books on the the topics of housing, environment, and education. And every now and then I stumble into a title that makes me think, “I wish I’d had the foresight to have written that!”. These are some of those titles.

If you do read one of these, drop me a line sometime to tell me what you think. I’d love to start a discussion.

Chris Dorsi

Some of these documents can be downloaded from this site. Others are books that you’ll have to order, and in those cases we’ve provided links to online retailers. If you attend one of our conferences, we’ll have copies available if you’d like to review them before buying.

Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era

Reinventing Fire

This timely treatise was produced by Amory Lovins and his colleagues at the Rocky Mountain Institute. It addresses the future of energy efficiency for business in all sectors. You may not see the topics covered in this book listed in the conference agenda, but you can be sure that the guidance offered by Lovins is relevant to our work, and that we’ll be talking about it in the hallways and over drinks.

The take-away: environmental constraints are causing global shifts in how business is conducted — and this creates great opportunities for those in the know.

Learn more or order Reinventing Fire at Amazon.com

Learn more or order Reinventing Fire at Alibris Books

Go to the website for the Rocky Mountain Institute

Building Expertise

Building Expertise This fabulous manual on training to the technical trades was written by Ruth Colvin Clarke. If you’re in the business of training on any technical subjects, or communicating with anyone, you should probably have this on your bookshelf.

The take-away: there is a lot of psychology and neurology involved in the process of language and communication, and you’ll be a more effective communicator if you learn how to work with these human traits.

Learn more or order Building Expertise at Amazon.com

Learn more or order Building Expertise at Alibris Books

The Federal Plain Language Guidelines

Don’t be put off by the stuffy-sounding title of this government publication. If we all wrote and spoke to our colleagues, co-workers, and students according to the guidelines in this 100-page pamphlet, the world would be a better place. The language within this document is so clear and unambiguous that you can even learn a few things by reading the Table of Contents.

The take-away: plain language does not have to be short on technical content — this stuff applies both to rocket scientists and kindergarten teachers.

Download a PDF file of The Federal Plain Language Guidelines

 

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