Books Recommended by Denise Morris Kipnis

Most recently, I was working in a climate I found personally challenging. There was bad behavior, excessive secrecy and politics, dishonesty…And the impact of all this was that the very loyal corps of employees were increasingly demoralized and fearful, which in turn negatively affected innovation and productivity. As I was interviewing one of the employees, trying to put them at ease but also surface important data, I asked ‘what’s your ideal vision for what happens next? What’s your dream?’ And that triggered me to pull Appreciative Inquiry by from the shelf. Although I’m a natural born problem solver, using positive psychology with this client system gave us all the room to discuss the undiscussable, without devolving into more bad behavior or getting mired in negativity.

My undergraduate studies focused was on English literature and Communication. I developed an affinity for 18th Century literature, can’t really say why…This book struck me because of the strong female lead. In an era where there were few options for women, the lead character puts her independence above all else, uncompromisingly. I reread it when I need reminding that feminism means being able to make choices, especially unconventional ones.

This book really put into relief the options we have for how we help organizations. Whose needs are we really working? Are we consulting for ourselves, for them, or a combination? Are we creating codependency or building capacity? I first read this book in graduate school, and whether intentional or not, it served as a great counterpoint to Peter Block’s Flawless Consulting. While Block presents a practical (bordering on mechanical) approach to consulting, Schein throws you right into the complexity inherent in human dynamics. It can get messy, and we need to not shy away from that.

I was serving on the board of a prestigious and exclusive school when I first read this. As part of the school’s commitment to inclusion, every group, including the board, went through diversity training. Our consultant, Glenn Singleton of Pacific Education Group, never let us forget why we were there: that improving outcomes for all our students was a business imperative. As a result of this experience, I blended organizational development and diversity and inclusion for my graduate thesis, and this is still the bedrock of my consulting practice.

I’ve just finished Y is for Yesterday, by Sue Grafton. I’m bereft because of her passing, and because her Alphabet Mysteries series is unfinished. I was expecting, and I got, the satisfaction and comfort of visiting a past and parallel version of a place I know well (Santa Barbara, CA), and connecting with a beloved character who is doing a job the old-fashioned way. Kinsey Millhone is a private eye in the 80’s-her process is stripped down, no fancy technology, no Internet—just brain power. It’s a reminder for me that I am not the tools I use, and neither are the people in the client systems I work with. We’re all fallible and powerful in our own way, the way we connect the dots can be nerve-rackingly slow or lightning fast. And that’s exactly how change happens.