A Summer Reading List Provided by Design Industry Leaders
Summer in Michigan means many things: vacations are on the calendar, boats are on the water, and everybody’s outside. For many, it also means a time to read great books. But with hundreds of great book recommendations—from literature to self-help and beyond—how do you know where to begin? Thankfully, leaders in the architecture and interior design industry have weighed in with their own lists of recently read books, giving us a tried and tested place to start. As you retreat to your favorite warm weather spots over the next few months, bring this diverse reading list with you.
Bryan Koehn, Director of Design, Progressive AE: Right now I’m reading The Method Method: Seven Obsessions That Helped Our Scrappy Start-Up Turn An Industry Upside Down by Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry. I respect their company and product, and wanted a deeper understanding of why they exist. A couple of items from the book that I appreciated: “When it comes to innovation, culture wins over process.” Most leaders underestimate the power of culture. I also appreciated the term “kick a** fast.” Use small size to your advantage by bringing innovations to the market faster than bureaucratic rivals and you can always stay one step ahead. The authors also emphasized fostering deeper relationships with fewer but more loyal customers—that’s something we could all learn from.
I also just finished Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull, president of Pixar. I read this book because Pixar maintained creativity as they were growing, and wanted to know how might this influence our design group and organizational leadership make-up. My takeaways: “Making the process better, easier and cheaper is an important aspiration, something we continually work on—but it is not the goal. Making something great is the goal.” This idea aligns with our design approach and internal conversations. Experience and product greatness is our goal. Ed also reinforced culture and chemistry, which aligns with the previous book I mentioned. In our leadership training we talk hiring through the lens of culture, chemistry, character, and competency.
Kelly Teegardin, Representative, Designtex: As a woman in business, I just read and appreciated Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay. I’ve never labeled myself as a feminist, both because I don’t like to label myself and because that word can often have a bad connotation. However, this book was written in a way that was accessible to all women – it wasn’t heavy-handed or preachy, but exploratory. The author is a young college professor who covers gender, race, pop culture, sex, body image and more. For example, the book discusses topics such as the gender pay gap, sexual harassment, and how women are portrayed in our culture, from books to reality television. All of this was incredibly eye opening to me, because we often don’t notice or feel bothered by what we experience because we are simply used to it. I read this book with a group of 15 women, some of whom work full time, others part time, and others who stay at home with their kids- and each one of us related to it, and felt empowered by Roxanne’s words. I think it is a relevant book for any woman living in our society. Roxanne explores the many facets of the female experience, with honesty and humor…all while being unabashedly herself. It is raw. It is real. And you may think differently about the word feminism and how it relates to you after reading.
Bill LaDitka, Principal, Architect, Placemaker, Intersect Studio: I am passionate about urban design and the power of design and place to enhance people’s daily life. The online journal I love is Public Square. This is a publication of the Congress for the New Urbanism. Great resources, best practices and compelling stories can be discovered weekly to help everyone find ways to improve their community. As an urban designer, I enjoy continually learning ways to inspire people to come together and do more than they thought possible. Public Square is a great ally to support our common Community Building Challenge.
Gregg Richardson, Chief Operating and Financial Officer, Custer: The book I’m reading is called The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More and Change the Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier. This book is about being more effective as a leader of people. The profound learning is to resist the urge to fix or take ownership of an issue that an employee brings to me. Rather, I can better serve the employee by asking him/her some good questions that help the person solve the issue on his/her own. By doing so, the employee learns and grows (and my workload is greatly reduced!). If I just fix the problem, I am limiting the employee’s opportunity to learn and grow. I can’t be afraid of an employee making a mistake. Mistakes are great opportunities to learn and grow.
When people discover answers and solve problems on their own, they gain confidence, feel empowered, and are ready for more. This methodology focuses on developing and coaching the person versus coaching on a specific issue.
Mary Dixon, IIDA, Interior Designer, Dixon Interior Design: Three of my recent book club selections were great reads! All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr is a wonderful historical fiction told through the eyes of a child, and is very heartwarming and thought-provoking. Endurance by Alfred Lansing was a difficult read about great trials and perseverance, but I recommend you stay with it to the end; I figured if they can live it, I can read it! Lastly, The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion is a fun love story and character study. This book gives insight into unique personalities and the true meaning of love.
For inspirational listening, I plug into Moody Radio 89.3. If you’re tired of the same old music and banter on the radio, Moody has wonderful speakers and interviews on topics that shape our lives. For business reading, I keep up with local businesses and the interior design industry with the Grand Rapids Business Journal, Interiors Magazine, Elle Decor, and Traditional Home.
Ryan Archer, AIA, LEED AP, Senior Design Architect, TowerPinkster: I’ve recently finished reading Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. It’s a fictional account of the end of the world and how humanity might live on in near-Earth orbit. I really appreciated Stephenson’s thoughts on exploring the politics of confined spaces, and how economic and ethical values change when there is not a currency-based economy.
I’ve also just started The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni. I haven’t gotten very far, but the set up has certainly been interesting. It’s focused on being “humble, hungry and smart.” This is one that TowerPinkster is having team members read and discuss over the coming few weeks. That is part of the firm’s continuing team training and leadership training, so it’s been fun to look at the practice through that lens.
As far as websites go, I usually swing by the following: Rapid Growth Media, the Grand Rapids Business Journal, but the most frequent would be ArchDaily — it’s a great way to quickly see a broad range of architectural projects to keep inspired and current!
There you have it! Which of these recommendations from our interior design and architecture industry experts will you be reading? Share with us in the comments below!
