by Dr. James Pingel
I prefer non-fiction over fiction, but this is a provocative novel on race, equity, faith, judgment, and so much more—all which takes places in a school setting. The main characters are a wife of an executive, mother of three long-standing PTA chairwoman and champion fundraiser for the school; a career nurse mother who has an adopted child of color; and a rookie African-American teacher serving in a primarily white-populated school. You see where this is going? You might think you do, but there are enough surprises to keep this novel a page-turner. I certainly didn’t agree with everything the novel tries to insinuate or purport, but you’ll be thinking about the issues and situations long after you read it. Furthermore, one of the strengths of Ganshert’s novel is that it reminds the reader that everyone is facing their own challenges and hardships and that we often rush to judgment. Written by an award-winning Christian author, No One Ever Asked provides a soft and safe context (it’s fiction, right? or is it?) for you and your colleagues to engage on the hard discussions of race relations, biases, and institutional blinds spots. This would make a good faculty book club and discussion.
A splendid and favorite read of my faculty this past year, Think Like a Rocket Scientist: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life is a book full of research and practical ways to enhance your leadership performance. From dealing with uncertainty, getting back to first principles, nurturing curiosity, embracing occasional boredom, knowing when to take moonshots, questioning the question, using data properly, knowing the difference between learning fast and failing slow, focusing on inputs rather than outputs (haven’t heard that in a while I bet, in this outcome-driven education world), deploying pre-mortems, and so many other crucial aspects of leading an organization today, this book will equip you with a toolbox of powerful ideas and instruments to make a difference in your daily leadership walk. In addition, for those who purchase the book, you gain access to a digital workbook, which not only provides a guide for discussion questions and ways to implement these research-based, best practices effectively in your organization.
At first glance, this book title might only seem to appeal to those who love history, literature, and “old books.” Alas, this splendid little work delivers in a big way for those interested in dealing with such contemporary social challenges which cover the whole spectrum of things like the “cancel culture,” “wokism,” social injustice, racism, “social acceleration,” the “pressure for foresight,” and the plethora of choices and options which we all leaders face in the information and internet age. Jacobs argues that if you obey the impulses of the moment, you will never have a tranquil mind—a worthy goal in his own mind. By engaging richly and deeply of minds of the past, we will grow our own “personal density” as he labels it, and become more empathetic, wise, and prudent decision-makers in our own time. If we don’t “break bread with the dead,” Jacobs argues, we will remain in a “frenetic standstill,” feeling inadequate and too overwhelmed to lead effectively in our time and in our organizations. In the same manner, Jacobs insists that by reading about the contexts and characters of other times—and seeing the complexities of the beliefs they had and the decisions they had to make—will help us in our own decision-making. Finally, during a time when there is so much division in our nation, I found his work to be unifying in spirit. He quotes Maya Angelou to make his point:
“I note the obvious differences
Between each sort and type,
But we are more alike, my friends,
Than we are unalike.”
Jacobs makes the case that breaking bread with the dead can help reassert this hope.