CIOsâ Favorite Reads of 2020
Works on innovation, Covid-19 top the list
A ultraviolet sterilizing machine cleaning library books amid the coronavirus outbreak at a library in Tokyo. Photo: kim kyung-hoon/Reuters By Dec. 24, 2020 7:30 am ET
Bookshelves emerged as a breakout video-meeting background accessory in 2020. When technology leaders were asked by CIO Journal for the one or two books that deserved a prominent place in the background of their video feeds, a few, not surprisingly, suggested titles that dealt with the pandemicâs impact on business.
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But the technology chiefs who responded demonstrated they were thinking beyond the novel coronavirus, with selections that offered insight on key business topics, such as digital transformation and innovation, as well as some of the big issues of the day, including gender and race.
I just finished
“American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America” by Colin Woodard. It’s a 400-year look at the nations and cultures that shaped our continent, the migration of those cultural groups, and the resulting political and social outlooks that continue to affect our lives. For one thing, it reinforces the axiom that the personal is political. Well worth reading for anyone who aspires to run for office or help make decisions in our shared national life.
Nancy Taylor Robson
I was given
“Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm” by Isabella Tree, and finished the book in eight days. Intensive farming of its 3,500 acres was driving the family bankrupt, so in 2000 the land was handed back to nature. She explains how it was done – with the challenges as well as the successes – until there were nightingales and turtledoves nesting there. I found it fascinating.