The public servant holiday reading list

2020 is drawing to a close, and what better way to celebrate than by immersing yourself in a good book? We asked members of Apolitical to share their essential reads — fiction and non-fiction — for public servants in 2020. Here are their recommendations, edited lightly for clarity.

1. It's OK Not to Be OK: Good Advice and Kind Words for Positive Mental Well-Being

This clear and comforting guide helped me understand the mental health issues that affect me. Touching on a range of topics, including anxiety, depression, loneliness, stress and self-esteem, this is a book for anyone and everyone who needs good advice, fresh ideas and kind words. In this dark time, we need to ensure that mental health is a high priority especially amongst us men. — Brian Day, attendance and well-being champion at UK’s HMRC

2. Know Your Price

This book by Andre Perry of the Brookings Institute is an engaging look at the root causes of the economic disparity found in poor urban communities of colour. Perry showcases the problems of inequality in the valuation of homes and businesses, family structures, and the neighbourhoods themselves.

Unlike other books on the same topic, Know Your Price provides a foundation and means for delivering future prosperity for black-majority cities, the tools to develop real solutions built around black communities, and their personal strengths. Of interest is Perry’s emphasis on the unique black family structure and the importance of the strong black woman at its centrepiece. It is a fantastic read in a time when urban policy-makers and cities are reviewing and developing new ideas that will reshape the way we resolve the systemic problems of the past. — Yoshi Manale, chief of staff at the City of Trenton, New Jersey

3. Unleashed

This book by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss has changed my life, personally and professionally. If I could have highlighted every single word of this book I would — it’s an epic take on modern leadership using both really human and personal insight and concepts that will smash the boardroom. Painfully honest, hilarious, and providing the opportunity to really look at yourself, your interactions and your impact in the world. — Victoria Camp, Welsh local government transformation manager. Twitter, LinkedIn

4. How to be an Antiracist

This book by Ibram X. Kendi Is the best I’ve read this year. During the past year, the issue of race in the US has once again entered into the national dialogue, which spurred my desire to become more informed about racist attitudes and behaviours. How to be an Antiracist fulfilled this need.

Kendi mixes his personal story of becoming an antiracist with a sound analysis of the foundations of racism. His approach to studying and talking about this important topic is fresh, provocative and also inspiring. Kendi describes how the distorted thinking that underlies racism extends to how people consider different sexes, ethnicities, gender, body types and also socio-class. And he provides practical methods for combating racism in ourselves and society at large.

In the public service, we work with diverse communities on a daily basis. To properly perform our duties and responsibilities we need to be aware of how our implicit biases and attitudes influence our perspectives and decisions. How to be an Antiracist provides both timely and sound information for public officials, or anyone for that matter, who strive to serve diverse communities and workplaces with equality, fairness and compassion. — [John Duffy](mailto: jduffy@alaska.edu), adjunct professor at the University of Alaska and former public servant

5. What Tech Calls Thinking: An Inquiry into the Intellectual Bedrock of Silicon Valley

I found this book by Adrian Daub extremely illuminating — and much more enjoyable than I’d been expecting. Big Tech has played an ever-larger role in the cultural imagination over the last decade — most recently, in Whitehall, at the heart of the UK government — to the point that it’s become an ideology in its own right. As such, it’s spawned both adulation and polemic: coding visionaries will free us from the past’s dead weight or the tech bros will enslave us with their algorithms, depending on the script you’re following.

Daub’s genius is to see Big Tech not as a monolith, but as the product of a particular culture — and to make the limitations of that culture clear. His book is really a kind of field manual: the species Technophilus frater, observed in its natural Stanford-campus habitat. Daub’s no great admirer of that culture. But he does humanise it, in ways that can only benefit how we talk about tech and its underlying assumptions in future. It’s worth adding that Daub is funny: it’s a measure of his skill as a writer that even a chapter on Ayn Rand has its laugh-out-loud moments. — Tim Hill, data standards and technical lead at the Open Data Institute

6. When We Say Black Lives Matter

I have read a number of books in 2020. Some were about my personal development and managing my digital life more effectively — The Bullet Journal Method, Digital Minimalism and Atomic Habits were all excellent. In a world dominated by online meetings, they are all important insights into switching off and managing new technologies more effectively.

I re-read Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe, an amazing and essential insight into the complex societies and practices of First Nations on the Australian continent.

But my favourite read of 2020 is an illustrated children’s book — “When We Say Black Lives Matter” by Maxine Beneba Clarke. Powerful, important and hopeful —  I have appreciated and been challenged by the contents even more than my kids. Whatever we read should challenge our thinking and ways of working to ensure better solutions for the communities we serve. — Aleem Ali, CEO of Welcoming Australia, an organisation that works with government to promote inclusion of all backgrounds and cultures in society

7. Radical Help

This book by Hillary Cottam is a fascinating read for anyone interested in better understanding the failures of our welfare systems. Grounded in the history and theory of the welfare state, the book illustrates why and how many of our institutions are incapable of solving the issues they are tasked to solve.

It also advocates for a transformative approach, that moves away from fixing failures to focus on investing in peoples´ capabilities. The book does not stop at the diagnostic. Cottam uses examples of experiments she has been involved in to begin outlining an alternative path towards making her radical vision a reality. — Fernando Monge, adjunct professor of urban innovation at the IE School of Global and Public Affairs. Twitter

8. Think like a Monk

I highly recommend this book by Jay Shetty. Jay walks us through different practices and strategies to master the mind, and explains how doing so can benefit not only ourselves but also those around us. The book addresses topics like fear, negativity, gratitude, purpose, meditation and service to others among other topics.

Jay — whose motto is “making wisdom go viral" — shares his personal experiences of spending years living with monks in India, and how he brought their wisdom back to the “real word”. He also has a health podcast called "On Purpose", which I would encourage everyone to listen to. — Akash Gangodin, audit project leader at the Office of The Auditor General of Canada

9. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

This book by Robert Pirsig was my favourite this past year. Born out of the New Age culture of 1970s America, this book raises fundamental questions about how we relate to technology and, by extension, ourselves. Dismissing the anti-technology romanticism of many of his contemporaries, Pirsig locates the destructive aspects of technology in our tendency to treat reason as abstracted out of a holistic experience of the world and other people.

As AI, big data, and blockchain technology continue to capture the imaginations of policy-makers, Pirsig offers an enjoyable and touching reminder that technical solutions are at their best when they allow us to be more human to one another. — Benjamin Miller, law and policy officer at the Charities Directorate, Canada Revenue Agency

10. A Mind Spread Out On The Ground

I loved this essay collection by Alicia Elliott, a Mohawk writer covering feminism, colonialism, social exclusion, mental illness, and much else besides. That might all sound a bit heavy, but these are brilliant, compelling pieces that gave me pause for thought, and have stayed with me. “Dark Matters” was one of the most powerful commentaries on racism I read this year.

You might agree with her perspective in this and other essays, you might not, but nothing else I have read this year has taken me so far out of my comfort zone and really made me ask some hard questions. — Andy Helliwell, operations director, Covid-19 Task Force at UK’s Cabinet Office

11. Visual Collaboration: A Powerful Toolkit for Improving Meetings, Projects, and Processes

This book by Loa Baastrup and Ole Qvist has been a great introduction to leading meetings in a more engaging way. It sets out really useful and easy to use tools. — Teresa King, service designer at CorrectionsNZ

12. Charles Booth’s London Poverty Maps

This book by Mary S. Morgan et al. at the London School of Economics was published in October 2019, and tells the story of the first modern social research project done in the UK, entirely funded by Charles Booth, a 19th-century entrepreneur and philanthropist.

The London poverty maps represent one of the earliest examples of modern infographics in social history, and can be freely consulted on the LSE Website here, where through an interactive system, the old maps were placed over the modern streets of London. "Strolling" through the maps of a forgotten 19th century’s London, it is amusing to see how areas now consider hip and affluent, were once depicted as "Lowest class. Vicious, semi-criminal," especially East London and the area around Waterloo Bridge.

I believe every public servant should read it because Booth's research helped shape the rise of the public sector and the creation of modern social welfare. The book is printed in large hardcover format, the so-called "coffee table" size, showing all Booth’s maps in their large original size, which makes it great as a Christmas gift!

Disclaimer: I am a bit biased toward this book because I assisted Professor Morgan with his research while writing it, but nonetheless I think it a great book and an interesting reading for all public servants. — Francesco Giacomini, Assistant Economist, UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

13. From What Is to What If

My favourite read this year has been “From What Is to What If” by Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition Towns movement. This book is about supporting big imaginations to tackle the biggest problems we face in society. He opens on a sobering note, reminding us that the future doesn't look bright — what with the climate emergency, the rise of extremist politics and a crisis of mental health and loneliness (and this was before Covid-19).

But it's easy to forget that these aren't foregone conclusions — we have the power to change the world, if we want to. Rob shows us how we might go about doing this. The answer lies in a simple question: "what if?" He provides reams of evidence as encouragement and proposes practical strategies for incremental change, drawing on his own experience of transforming his hometown of Totnes in rural Devon in the UK. Among the doom and gloom, civil servants could all use a bit of inspiration once in a while. Rob's book is not just a wonderful motivator — it's a clarion call for action, and a necessary read for a troubling age. — Sean Peacock, PhD researcher at Newcastle University and former Policy Intern at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Special thanks to all members of Apolitical who contributed to this article.

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