Check out this pretty interesting concept for a sustainable house (powered by spinach, of all things) that I found on business2blog.com. The house is not only sustainable from the energy it produces from its spinach factory, it’s edible too.

Here’s a blurb about how the process works from the C2C site (sponsored the contest in which the spinach house won first place):

Energy is neither created nor destroyed. It is collected and returned. This design utilizes timeless passive solar strategies by shielding unwanted summer sun and absorbing heat from low winter sun through its thermal mass. Active solar collection provides the main source of necessary electrical energy. The core extends vertically, clad with a super-conductive photosynthetic plasma cell skin that is able to generate 200% more electrical voltage per area than contemporary photovoltaics. Building on current research involving extracted spinach protein, this living skin is photosynthetic and phototropic it grows and follows the path of the sun, generating electricity in excess of single family needs. Excess power is distributed to neighboring homes and street lighting infrastructure.

Pretty sweet stuff. Or bitter—I’ve never been a big fan of spinach, raw or cooked. But I might like it more if it were pumping clean juice into my appliances…

TAGS: Environment | Energy | Photosynthetic | Solar

It has been a long time since I have read a pseudo-technical book as pleasurable as On Writing Well, by William Zinsser. Is it possible that a book about writing (boooring!), about grammar (yeck!), about style, prose, adverbs and pronouns (!), can actually be called pleasurable?

Most definitely.

Zinsser is an incredible writer and does an excellent job at making writing fun and sexy. He combines a bit of humor, excellent citations and stories, and a cadence that keeps each page turning like a novel. I can’t say that the book has improved my writing much—I imagine that a bit of practice and diligence on my end are needed first—but I do think the book is essential for anyone who will ever have to write something that someone else will read. The most dramatic effect the book has had on me is the frequency with which I now notice poor writing. And I’m sad to say it’s everywhere, including in my outbox.

I’d recommend reading this book at least once, and if you can handle it, several times more over the course of your professional development. It will, minimally, open your eyes to how much further you have to go to be a great writer, and hopefully, give you the tools and determination to achieve such a goal.

TAGS: MBA | Books | Book Recommendations | Writing

I’ve managed to find the time to knock off at least one of the books on my GSB s528 reading list and highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in improving team dynamics.

Patrick Lencioni’s, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, is an excellent book on overcoming the problems that bring teamwork screeching to a halt. The book is written in an incredibly addicting style (a fable followed by a very short technical overview). I noticed, however, that once I had finished the fable, the principles of the book were so well explained, that the technical portion was almost unnecessary! The book can easily be read in a few short hours and is interesting enough to be a pleasure even on a second or third read!

Lencioni has also written a number of other books, all of which I am now quite interested in reading.

TAGS: Books | Book Recommendations | Team | Dysfunction | Lencioni

If you were to purchase one book on personal finance, I must say, David Bach’s The Automatic Millionaire, should be that book. David does an excellent job of captivating the reader while promoting solid financial advice. I particularly like his mention and strong emphasis on giving back.

Whether this book presents a completely new financial philosophy to you, or simply reinforces the one you have in place, it is well worth a spot on your bookshelf. So many of the personal finance books I come across are dumbed down, poorly written, and simply offer terrible advice. David gives succinct, ethical and excellent advice, and does so with clear and intelligent writing. In addition to The Automatic Millionaire, David has written a number of other books, all of which can be found at amazon.com.

I just finished MBA In A Box by Joel Kurtzman and highly recommend it to anyone wanting to expand their understanding of business. Rather than trying to put together a tome on business with his own pen, Kurtzman let others do the talking. The result is a very deep and knowledge-packed book with a large number of perspectives and great insight.

What about the book’s take on social enterprise and business ethics? Just take a look at the table of contents—the second chapter, titled “Sustainability and the Environment” is accompanied by the subtitle, “A Business That Makes Nothing but Money is a Poor Kind of Business.” That should give you a bit of an idea!
The chapters in the book, along with their subtitles, are as follows:

1. Innovation: How Breakthroughs Happen
2. Sustainability and the Environment: A Business That Makes Nothing but Money is a Poor Kind of Business
3. Finance and Accounting: “We’re not in Kansas Anymore”—Getting Real About Numbers and What They Mean
4. Strategy: “Make Sure You Take the Right Fork in the Road—On the Importance of Strategic Direction
5. Managing: Is Getting Paid for Other People’s Home Runs
6. Human Resources: Why Brains Trump Brawn
7. How to Be a Leader: and Live to Tell About It
8. Marketing: “Find Out What They Want and How They Want It and Give It to ‘Em Just That Way”
9. Communication: “A Fool May Talk, but a Wise Man Speaks”
10. There’s Many a Slip ‘Twixt the Cup and the Lip: Good Ideas Gone Awry

If you have yet to see The Corporation, I highly recommend you do so as soon as possible. In fact, I’d recommend buying it so you can watch it once a month, or snippets with greater frequency.

The film is a documentary about corporations (subtle title…) and though I left feeling as if the filmmakers left little room for the possibility of good corporations (which I believe exist), I still think it is an outstanding film. It will challenge you to think, examine your life and purpose, and hopefully make some significant positive changes in the way you run or interact with businesses.

In addition to the documentary, there is a 2nd DVD with extended interviews and additional features.

• The Corporation from amazon.com