Auberon Alexander Waugh was certainly the most offensive, and probably the most industrious, journalist of "Modern Times". In private he was of a kindly and benevolent disposition, and possessed beautiful manners, but he rarely allowed these aspects of himself to become known to his readers. He [Philip Hope-Wallace] was a big man, well over six feet, heavy, with a splendid Roman head. He drank a great deal. A friend once came across him in a lavatory at Broadcasting House finishing off a quarter-bottle of Gordon's gin. Though a good broadcaster, he was a nervous one. 'When you reach my age,' he said, 'you will be doing the same.' He could be also be very rude indeed. Tony Benn once publicly announced that he was concerned to lose the stigma of the intellectual. [Anthony] Crosland replied that, in order to lose a stigma, it was first necessary to acquire one. This lack of recognition would not have mattered if [William] Robson had not minded about it. But he did mind: he was hurt and felt excluded. He was not like his former colleague R. H. Tawney, who, on being offered a peerage by Ramsay MacDonald, asked what harm he had ever done the Labour Party. First published nearly a quarter of a century ago, this newly updated edition of Alan Watkins' "Brief Lives" remains an exceptional work of biography. Eclectic, humane, smart and affectionate, Watkins' prose crackles with wit and fierce observation. Writing in the tradition of Aubrey and Churchill, Alan Watkins celebrates the lives and achievements of his many contemporaries. There are journalists, Paul Johnson and John Junor, Malcolm Muggeridge and Richard Ingrams, Auberon Waugh and Peregrine Worsthorne; politicians, Roy Jenkins and Michael Foot, David Steel and Ian Gilmour, Iain Macleod and Norman St John-Stevas; writers, Anthony Powell, Simon Raven, Kingsley Amis and AJP Taylor; and mavericks, Lord Beaverbrook, GE Moore, Tom Driberg and William Robson. Finally, there is a vivid portrait of Watkins's father. "Brief Lives" is a series of brilliant essays which capture the essence of twenty-nine men whose combined achievements helped define Britain during the last century. It's a classic.

Brief Lives

Watkins, Alan

Biographies & Memoirs

Hamish Hamilton

Many observers have suggested that capitalism is fast destroying our planet, concentrating power in a few big companies. Excessive short-termism, leveraged debt, digitisation, and disruption are the new normal. We stand at a critical juncture where the two paths ahead could lead to very different futures. One route could take us back to the harshest days of the early Industrial Revolution and the Great Depression. The other could lead to a world of abundance, equality, inclusivity, and prosperity for all. Which future awaits us will largely be determined by business, and HR (Human Resources) in particular. Books on HR tend to focus on HR practices and potential interventions, but they rarely look at the profession, how it evolved, and how and why those people practices were created. The HR (R)Evolution: Change the Workplace, Change the World describes the "Seven Great Waves" of change and explains how each wave impacted business. It explains how some companies are stuck in the past and how HR can break the deadlock if it understands what the future holds. This book is meant for senior business leaders or anyone currently working in HR who are grappling with the paradoxes of business today. It’s for leaders who recognise that people issues are the central challenge of our time. Whether we embrace the waves yet to come will determine whether we survive or regress, whether we flourish or flounder. The future is in our hands.

The HR (R)Evolution

Business & Money

Dalton, Nick

Biography & History

Routledge

Businesses spend billions on innovation with very little to show for their investment or effort. This book challenges some of the ‘ingrained truths’ of innovation and suggests a different approach. 
Innovation is not the creation of a novel idea. It is the successful commercialisation of that novel idea. Rather than starting with a costly, time-consuming problem assessment that seeks to push potential solutions through an innovation funnel, an ‘impeller approach’ starts with possible solutions and gets the market to pull the best ones forward so they can fail fast or flourish fast. This approach is made possible by the addition of a ‘bee’ – a new type of integrative thinker who can harvest the existing knowledge from the ‘meadow of experts’. Completely reversing the innovation process means organisations are much better placed to win in the market rather than focusing on finding theoretical solutions or clearing innovation stage gates. In addition, this approach also recognises that the people who shepherd the solution through the ideation and testing stage are not the same people who must then take that solution to market for successful commercialisation. 
Given the current innovation failure rate, coupled with the fact that society is beset with multiple wicked problems, it’s time to think differently and innovate innovation itself. This book is essential reading for Heads of Innovation and Commercialisation, Directors of Marketing, Heads of New Product Development and New Service Development, Strategy Directors, Chief Technology Officers, Government advisers and policy makers.

Innovation Sucks!: Time to Think Differently

May, Simon

Economics

Innovation Sucks!

Step Change: The Leader’s Journey

Step Change

Business Culture

No one likes change. Too often it’s viewed as something that must be endured; something to ‘get through’ as fast as possible so that everything can ‘return to normal'. We need to change our view of change and see it for the opportunity it really is. Step Change: The Leader’s Journey helps leaders to become gifted and skilful at moving through the change process gracefully and productively. 
Based on Joseph Campbell’s 'hero’s journey', Step Change: The Leader’s Journey offers a universal road map of change from step-1 (comfort zone) through to step-12 (post-delivery inspiration). The journey travels through four distinct phases of ‘discover’, ‘decide’, ‘develop’ and ‘deliver’. Step Change provides a proven formula for change, both personal and organisational, which allows us to know where we are on the Change Wheel and what to expect from each step, including what it looks and feels like at each step. By identifying what causes change to fail at each step as well as tools to navigate past the pitfalls and dead ends that leave us stuck at a particular step or retreating to the comfort zone, the change cycle can be understood and mastered. 
The book provides the ideal structure for senior managers, human resource managers, coaches and business leaders to follow in order to embed change across their teams and organisation.

Alan Watkins has spent over 40 years in journalism and has written columns for "The Sunday Express", "The Spectator", "The New Statesman", "The Sunday Mirror", "The Observer" and "The Independent on Sunday". In this book he draws upon his wealth of experience in politics and journalism to write about many characters, including Anthony Crosland, Tom Driberg, Barbara Castle, Hugh Cudlipp and Malcolm Muggeridge. But the hero of the book, brought back to life within these pages, is Old Fleet Street itself, which lasted until the 1980s and is now, as Watkins puts it, as remote as the Byzantine Empire.

A short walk down Fleet Street: From Beaverbrook to Boycott

Professionals & Academics

Duckworth

'Fleet Street', shorthand for the British national newspaper industry, was the hub of the industry where most newspapers had not only their offices, but their printing presses as well. In the 1980s, with deregulation of the industry and the waning of the power of the print unions, this state of affairs collapsed and the national newspaper offices scattered. Yet to most people, Fleet Street will forever be identified with the newspaper industry. In over forty years of journalism, Alan Watkins has written political columns for many of Britain’s key newspapers. His proprietors have included some of the most legendary names in the field including Lord Beaverbrook and Tony O'Reilly. He has known most Prime Ministers from Harold Macmillan to Tony Blair. In A Short Walk Down Fleet Street he draws upon his great wealth of experience of politics and journalism to write in his own inimitable style about these and many other characters. But the true hero of the book, brought vividly back to life within these pages, is Old Fleet Street itself, which lasted until the 1980s and is now, as he puts it, as remote as the Byzantine Empire.

A Short Walk Down Fleet Street: From Beaverbrook to Boycott

Arts & Literature

International Publishers Marketing

Lie-Ability

Jones, Simon

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