Title

"Marie-Josée Loiselle is one of those few consultants who rapidly understands our needs and knows how to bring, with her usual wit and dynamism, answers to our questions."

Mr. Arnold Beaudin, Director
Dept. of Economic Dev. & Planning
City of Montréal
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The Community Leader

Global Thought-Provoking Newsletter on the Future of Economic Development in Our Communities
 
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Traders Guns & Money - Knowns and Unknowns in the Dazzling World of Derivatives

By Satyajit Das

Ok so if you still think that all these people in Prada suits with MBAs and PhDs in finance/economics really know what they're doing - well you are in for a disappointment but a big laugh. A great read on what they were really doing with your money!! Guarantee to make you think (and act accordingly I hope!).

Only the Paranoid Survive

By Andy Grove (Intel)

This book written in 1996 could not be more à propos today! His important concept of Strategic Inflection Point is so important because even the mightiest company is in trouble if it has not worked on the future. The SIP is a kind of "ten times force" where the fundamentals are about to change - hum a financial crisis maybe - and can put an organization out of business - permanently. It is a great read - showing in practice what Intel had to do to go through what is called "the death valley" - the period where you shift those valuable resources from cash cows low yield areas (memory chips) to higher yield (microprocessors).

The Clean Tech Revolution - Discover the Top Trends, Technologies, and companies to watch

By Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder

This book gives a great overview of the lingo and the sectors/companies to watch. It also explains the real drivers behind this new industry and it's not because we all love the planet! A must read if you are to foster clean tech in your community.

Clean Money - Picking Winners in the Green-Tech Boom

By John Rubino

We have seen it with the dot com bubble - it is easy to get carried away with the new stuff! Especially now - who does not want to make it up for their rock bottom 401K (or your RSSP if you're a Canuck!)? Based on the saying that problems create opportunities and, big complex problems create vast opportunities. So solving environmental problems will be worth a lot of dollars. This book's angle is about giving the reader a framework for understanding the competing technologies and for sorting out the winners and losers.

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

by Nicolas Nassim Taleb

Not what economists want to hear but just that means we are on to something… Clearly an eye opener. Like Paul Simon said in one of his song: After high school - it's a wonder I can think at all. This book can at least attempt to repair some of the damage.

Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets: Surviving the Public Spectacle in Finance and Politics (Agora Series)

by William Bonner and Lila Rajiva

First, my B.A. in Economics would have been more fun with this type of reading. Second, early in my life, I would have laugh more listening to the news, especially the financial commentators - made better investments too. But it's not too late (in my case at least).

Empire of Debt: The Rise of an Epic Financial Crisis

by William Bonner and Addison Wiggin

Stuff we don't hear on the news but that will affect each and every one of us. I love their wit and am a faithful reader of Mr. Bonner's newsletter: The Daily Reckoning (www.dailyreckoning.com).

Why Mexicans Don't Drink Molson: Rescuing Canadian Business From the Suds of Global Obscurity

by Andrea Mandel-Campbell

Next time you hear how good we are, remember this book. For example, it will make you understand why certain industries are in the state they are, with things going south as they say, including the jobs. It's a nice change from the national rhetoric.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

by Peter F. Drucker

Challenge the accepted wisdom of innovation and entrepreneurship. Great read for EDOs - for your organization and for your business community.

Managing the Nonprofit Organization

by Peter F. Drucker

Economic development is not only about selling techniques, real estate or incentives. It starts with management of human energies. Read this and you will be a better manager for it.

The Essential Drucker: The Best of Sixty Years of Peter Drucker's Essential Writings on Management

by Peter F. Drucker

Drucker has written extensively but if you want to have a summary of his main ideas, it a good book to start.

The Art and Discipline of Strategic Leadership

by Mike Freedman and Ben Tregoe

A great framework for strategy. These fellows have worked successfully with major corporations and institutions all over the world. After reading it you will know that strategy is work.

The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More

by Chris Anderson

This book is interesting as it challenges some traditional economic notions in the digital age. Some business models like mass production/consumption (like movie theatres) where you need a hit or you die are being challenged and it's a good thing. It should inspire your people in your business community. But a bit too optimistic on what it really means for the overall growth of the economy (in North American at least): Chinese are making and we are buying and the real wages are going down while stuff is more expansive. Someone will scream when the punch bowl will be taken away.

The Power of Myth

by Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers

A classic on man's ethos. One line that I particularly like: "you are not going to improve the world, you are not going to make it better". Something world improvers should have read and applied a long time ago.

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

by Malcolm Gladwell

Makes you rethink all those strategic plans! We sometime forget how we make decisions. It's a good book to remind ourselves.

Xenophon's Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

by Xenophon and Larry Hedrick

Many books have been written on leadership, to say the least. I prefer the original.

Best Laid Plans: Turning Strategy Into Action Throughout Your Organization

by Alan Weiss

Very insightful as you see strategy in action from a great consultant. I love his wit and provocative views on organizations and on people who run them. He is a great inspiration in my work, a must read.

The Innovation Formula: How Organizations Turn Change into Opportunity (Business Strategist Series)

by Michel Robert and Alan Weiss

A provocative book on what is innovation, what it's not and how to transform your organization into the ultimate innovative machine.