Edited by Margie Kelley

Invisible Americans: The Tragic Cost of Child Poverty
by Jeff Madrick (MBA 1971)
Knopf
By official count, more than one in six American children live below the poverty line. But statistics alone tell little of the story. In Invisible Americans, Jeff Madrick brings to light the often invisible reality and irreparable damage of childhood poverty in America. Madrick examines the roots of the problem, including the toothless remnants of our social welfare system, entrenched racism, and a government unmotivated to help its most voiceless citizens. Backed by new and unambiguous research, he makes clear the devastating consequences of growing up poor: living in poverty, even temporarily, is detrimental to cognitive abilities, emotional control, and the overall health of children. The cost to society is incalculable. The inaction of politicians is unacceptable. Still, Madrick argues, there may be more reason to hope now than ever before. Rather than attempting to treat the symptoms of poverty, we might be able to ameliorate its worst effects through a single, simple, and politically feasible policy that he lays out in this impassioned and urgent call to arms.

Innovation Through Fusion: Combining Innovative Ideas to Create High Impact Solutions
by CJ Meadows (DBA 1996)
De Gruyter
Just as nuclear fusion produces massive energy by combining two nuclei, a fusion in business, technology, and the arts can release massive value, creating whole new companies, industries, and human capabilities. Examples of the fusion technique for high-value, radical innovation are presented in this unique collection of stories about innovating across industries, fields, organizational silos, nations, social class, and more. This book is the result of a global research study of 30 world-class innovators who have collectively created billions of dollars’ worth of business value, as well as new advances in the arts and sciences that bring joy to the world and can save millions of lives. Insights from these journeys will help leaders, organizations, and individuals succeed in their innovative endeavors. In addition, each chapter provides a link to a short video that reveals further insights, mostly from the innovators themselves.

Seven Climbs: Finding the Finest Climb on Each Continent
by Charles Sherwood (MBA 1985)
Vertebrate Publishing
Experienced climber Charles Sherwood is on a quest to find the best climb on each continent. He eschews the traditional Seven Summits, where height alone is the determining factor, and instead considers mountaineering challenge, natural beauty, and historical context, aiming to capture the diverse character of each continent and the sheer variety of climbing in all its forms.

The author’s ambitious odyssey takes him to the Alps, the Himalaya, Yosemite, the Andes, Kenya, New Zealand, and South Georgia. His goal is neither to seek glory nor to complete a box-ticking exercise, but simply to enjoy himself in the company of his fellow climbers, including Mark Seaton, Andy Kirkpatrick, and Stephen Venables, and to appreciate the splendor of his surroundings. On classic routes like the North Face of the Eiger and the Nose on El Capitan, it is hard not to be swept away by Sherwood’s unfaltering enthusiasm. Also featuring fascinating historical detail about each route, Seven Climbs is a compelling account of Sherwood’s efforts to answer a much-debated question: Which are the world’s greatest climbs?

Capitalism at Risk: Rethinking the Role of Business (updated)
by Joseph L. Bower, Donald K. David Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus;
Herman B. Leonard, George F. Baker Jr. Professor of Public Management and Eliot I. Snider and Family Professor of Business Administration;
and Lynn S. Paine, John G. McLean Professor of Business Administration and
Senior Associate Dean for International Development
Harvard Business Review Press
The spread of capitalism worldwide has made people wealthier than ever before. But capitalism’s future is far from assured. Pandemics, income inequality, resource depletion, mass migrations from poor to rich countries, religious fundamentalism, the misuse of social media, and cyber attacks are just a few of the threats to continuing prosperity that we see dominating the headlines every day.

How can capitalism be sustained? And who should spearhead the effort? Critics turn to government. In their groundbreaking book, Capitalism at Risk, Harvard Business School professors Joseph Bower, Herman Leonard, and Lynn Paine argue that while robust governments must play a role, leadership by business is essential. For enterprising companies—whether large multinationals, established regional players, or small startups—the current threats to market capitalism present important opportunities.

In this updated and expanded edition of Capitalism at Risk, Bower, Leonard, and Paine set forth a renewed and more urgent call to action. With three additional chapters and a new preface, the authors explain how the 11 original disruptors of the global market system clash with the digital age, and how to take action. Presenting examples of companies already making a difference, the authors show how business must serve both as innovator and activist, developing corporate strategies that effect change at the community, national, and international levels.

Unleashed: The Unapologetic Leader’s Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You
by Francis Frei, Professor of Technology and Operations Management;
and Anne Morriss (MBA 2004)
Harvard Business Review Press
Leadership isn’t easy. It takes grit, courage, and vision, among other things, that can be hard to come by on your toughest days. When leaders and aspiring leaders seek out advice, they’re often told to try harder. Dig deeper. Look in the mirror and own your natural-born strengths and fix any real or perceived career-limiting deficiencies.

Frances Frei and Anne Morriss offer a different view. They argue that this popular leadership advice glosses over the most important thing you do as a leader: build others up. Leadership isn’t about you. It’s about how effective you are at empowering other people, and making sure this impact endures even in your absence. Unleashed provides radical advice for the practice of leadership today. Showing how the boldest, most effective leaders use a combination of trust, love, and belonging to create an environment in which other people can excel, Frei and Morriss offer practical tools—battle-tested in their work with companies such as Uber, Riot Games, and WeWork—along with interviews and stories from their own personal experience, to make these ideas come alive. This book is your indispensable guide for unleashing greatness in other people and, ultimately, in yourself.

Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire
by Rebecca Henderson, John and Natty McArthur University Professor
PublicAffairs
Free market capitalism is one of humanity’s greatest inventions and the greatest source of prosperity the world has ever seen. But this success has been costly. Capitalism is on the verge of destroying the planet and destabilizing society as wealth rushes to the top. The time for action is running short. Professor Rebecca Henderson’s rigorous research in economics, psychology, and organizational behavior, as well as her many years of work with companies around the world, illuminates a path forward. She debunks the worldview that the only purpose of business is to make money and maximize shareholder value. She shows that we have failed to reimagine capitalism as not only an engine of prosperity, but also a system in harmony with environmental realities, striving for social justice and the demands of truly democratic institutions. Henderson’s deep understanding of how change takes place, combined with fascinating in-depth stories of companies that have made the first steps toward reimagining capitalism, provides inspiring insight into what capitalism could be.

Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity
by Joseph G. Allen and John D. Macomber, Senior Lecturer of Business Administration
Harvard University Press
By the time you reach 80, you will have spent 72 years of your life indoors. Like it or not, humans have become an indoor species. This means that the people who design, build, and maintain our buildings can have a major impact on our health. Ever feel tired during a meeting? That’s because most offices and conference rooms are not bringing in enough fresh air. When that door opens, it literally breathes life back into the room. But there is a lot more acting on your body that you can’t feel or see. From our offices and homes to our schools and hospitals, the indoor spaces where we work, learn, play, eat, and heal have an outsized influence on our performance and well-being. They affect our creativity, focus, and problem-solving ability and can make us sick, dragging down profits in the process. Charismatic pioneers of the healthy building movement who have paired up to combine the cutting-edge science of Harvard’s School of Public Health with the financial know-how of HBS, Joseph Allen and John Macomber lay out the science of healthy buildings and make the business case for owners, developers, and CEOs. They reveal what makes a building healthy and show how tracking health performance indicators with smart technology can boost performance and create economic value. While the “green” building movement tackled energy, waste, and water, the new healthy building movement focuses on the most important (and expensive) asset of any business: its people.

The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy
by Katherine M. Gehl and Michael E. Porter, Bishop William Lawrence University Professor
Harvard Business Review Press
Our political system in America is broken, right? Wrong. The truth is, the American political system is working exactly how it is designed to work; it just isn’t designed or optimized to work for ordinary citizens.

Most people believe that our political system is a public institution with high-minded principles and impartial rules derived from the Constitution. In reality, it has become a private industry dominated by a textbook duopoly—the Democrats and the Republicans—and plagued by unhealthy competition. Tragically, it has become incapable of delivering solutions to America’s key economic and social challenges. In The Politics Industry, business leader and path-breaking political innovator Katherine Gehl and world-renowned business strategist Michael Porter take a radical new approach. Applying the tools of business analysis—and Porter’s distinctive Five Forces framework—they show how the political system functions just as every other competitive industry does, and how the duopoly has led to the devastating outcomes we see today. Using this competition lens, Gehl and Porter identify the most powerful lever for change—a strategy comprised of a clear set of choices in two key areas: how our elections work and how we make our laws. Their bracing assessment and practical recommendations cut through the endless debate about various proposed fixes, such as term limits and campaign finance reform. The result: true political innovation.

The Politics Industry is an original and completely nonpartisan guide that will open your eyes to the true dynamics and profound challenges of the American political system and provide real solutions for reshaping the system for the benefit of all.

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