Recommended Reading (4)

New Releases

O'Connor, Joseph. (2000). Extraordinary Solutions for Everyday Problems: Simple Strategies that Work. London, UK: Thorsons.

120 pages. A book which offers simple, practical ways of dealing with everyday frustrations such as worry and time pressure, unresourceful moods, our "inner bully" and how to learn from our mistakes and appreciate the details of our experience.

De Bono, Edward. (1999). New Thinking for a New Millennium. London, UK: Viking.

289 pages. De Bono observes that thinking in the last millennium has been concerned with "what is," focussing on analysis, criticism and argument. He suggests that in the new millennium, we need to develop thinking which is concerned with "what can be," thinking which is creative, constructive, seeks to solve conflicts and problems by designing a way forward. It emphasizes design, not judgment. In this book he shows how and why we should adopt this new thinking as the only way to move forward.

Healy, Jane. (1998). Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children's Minds – for Better and Worse. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

350 pages. In this book, Healy links children's technology use to new findings about stages of child development and brain maturation. She examines the advantages and drawbacks of computer use for kids at home and school, exploring its effects on children's health, creativity, brain development and social and emotional growth.

Kohn, Alfie. (1993). Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.

398 pages. In this provocative book, Kohn agues that while manipulating people with incentives seems to work in the short term, this strategy ultimately fails and does lasting harm. He suggests that rewards and punishments are two sides to the same coin. He offers parents, teachers and managers practical strategies and alternatives to both ways of controlling.

Updated: May 5, 2000.