Knowledge is Power

If you're going to be successful professionally and personally, you're going to need to read a lot of books. But which books?

To help us get through (multiple) lockdowns, we asked the members of the GovX Digital community to share their book recommendations with us - and the suggestions do not disappoint. Beyond the practical benefits of these recommended reads - we also think they're a fascinating collective insight into what the public sector is thinking about. We're encouraged by what we see.

If you've got a book or podcast recommendation of your own, please fill out the form at the bottom of the page, and we'll add it to the reading list in future.

Lynda Rawsthorne

Director of Prison Infrastructure

Ministry of Justice

My role is about building prisons, it's too easy to get just into the project and what you are building rather than understanding what it's like to live in the prisons. He wrote three diaries from Category B, Category C and a Category D Open prisons - and what's been different for me is really to see the prison experience from his perspective.

Miranda Sharp

Board Member

Smart London Board, Mayor of London

As a self-confessed data geek I highly recommend this as an exploration of algorithmic transparency (and it’s also beautifully portrayed visually in Hannah Fry’s Royal Institution Christmas Lectures).

Sally Meecham

CEO

Centre of Public Digital Services Wales

I was lucky enough to win a big pile of books in an online auction from Swansea Asylum Seekers Support, and they were all books about refugees in Wales and their experience of how Wales has welcomed them, how they've started to adjust to living in Wales, but also their backgrounds. So interesting and enriching and also quite devastating, yet obviously hopeful and quite powerful.

Matt Stevens

Chrome Enterprise Lead

Google

It's a great sideways look at the often unintended economic impact of change - particularly when it comes to technology - on the modern world. There were a couple of books originally which are good, and now it has morphed into a podcast which I really enjoy.

James Smith

Content Director

GovX Digital

Denmark has the best digital government in the world, according to the 2020 UN E-Government Survey - and Christian has been enabling the Danish public sector to innovate for the past decade. An essential read to understand the building blocks of Denmark's success.

Bernadette Thompson

Deputy Director for Inclusion, Wellbeing & Employee Engagement

Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government

Cherron outlines the incredible power of employee network groups and the value they bring to an organisation, and also reminds employers that to gain the benefits, they need to support and resource the staff that work on the groups’ executive committees.

Liz McKeown

Lecturer, Digital Academy

Canada School of Public Service

Cathy O’Neil is so good at telling the stories of evaluating our data: understanding the biases in data and algorithms and their impact.

Elizabeth Rhodenizer

Chief Information Officer

Public Service Commission of Canada

Whether you’re looking to hone your business skills or in a more technical role this explains how to approach negotiation, beecause whatever our roles, we negotiate every day.

Tim Coulthard

Community Director

GovX Digital

How would you build your organisation today if you were doing it from scratch? Understanding how to take the existential leap needed to shed the old ways and embrace a digital future isn’t easy, but Tom Goodwin offers stark, impactful examples we can all learn from.

Miranda Sharp

Board Member

Smart London Board, Mayor of London

I'm in the middle of this book which is about the unseen impact of public policy made on seemingly gender neutral dasta - where overall the entire population may have benefited from a decision but it seems that men are a much easier audience segment to serve, and therefore women are underserved. A salutary read for anybody working in public service.

David Wilde

General Manager for Government

GovX Digital

Although it was written more than 10 years ago, this really helps you to understand how some organisations become more than just companies. It’s about culture and brand and how they take their place in society. Why do some companies become Google, while others become Netscape?

Bethany Davage

Marketing Manager

GovX Digital

Dale Carnegie offers ground-breaking and actionable advise for improving both your professional and personal life. From evaluating sales effort required vs the value of outcome - to concepts such as 'what's the worst that can happen - and what would I do if it happened?' deciding an answer can set you free from most worries.