Vertex11

Join us for another installment of our Summer Book Series, where we look outside our industry for inspiration to solve common challenges. Last year our focus was on leadership, and this year we are taking a different approach by concentrating on personal growth and making change. If this is your first time participating, I will give you a little background. 

Why a book series?

Summer has historically been a great time to read by the pool, take a book on vacation, or while relaxing at home. Now you can do this with whichever the bestsellers are, or you could maybe pick up a few tips on making a change in your professional or even personal life. 

Why books outside the security and risk industries?

I get asked this all the time, and my answer continues to be the same. Professionals in security and risk have been trying to solve the same challenges for decades with very little success. It is critical to take a step out of the bubble to try and discover a new perspective. Vertex11 will give you our take on why the book is relevant to our industry, and we encourage you to join the conversation with your point of view. 

Why is this year’s focus on personal growth and change?

We base the topic on what we have seen as a need throughout the year. This year, a common theme in organizations we have engaged with is an inability to make a change and communicate effectively. These two issues are related to each other, and we will go more into this later. The personal growth aspect is where we will touch on how this theme could help your home life and work life. Now more than ever, this line is blurred, considering many people work from home. Challenges at work are likely to spill over into home life and vice versa. Insights on change and communication can help in both. 

The three books in our series: 

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear

We chose Atomic Habits because it describes how tiny changes can create remarkable results. Making change is difficult, but this book breaks it into manageable parts and pieces. 

Ghost Boy “The Miraculous Escape of a Misdiagnosed Boy Trapped Inside His Own Body” by Martin Pistorius

Ghost Boy made our list because it takes a real-life extreme situation to make the point that it is still possible to communicate effectively no matter the obstacles. 

Making Numbers Count: The Art and Science of Communicating Numbers by Chip Heath and Karla Starr

Metrics are an important way of communicating. Too often are we in situations where measurement is a challenge for our clients. Making Numbers Count shows how to tell a compelling story with numbers.

We do hope you join us in diving deeper into these books. Each month this summer, we will give our perspective on how it relates to our industry and our takeaway.