BOOKS
Ladies Can’t Climb Ladders: The Pioneering Adventures of the First Professional Women
by Jane Robinson (Doubleday, £20, hardback)
Social historian Jane Robinson tells the story of the women who were among the first in the UK to enter fields such as medicine, law, academia, architecture, engineering and the church. The starting gun was fired with the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act of 1919, which came at the end of World War One, when women had worked in every kind of occupation, from factories to government and military services. But the supposed liberation that ensued is something of a myth, the author finds, since the barriers to many professions remained firmly in place.
More: The 10,000-Year Rise of the World Economy
by Philip Coggan (Economist Books, £25, hardback)
Coggan, who writes the Bartleby column for The Economist, sets out to track the development of the world economy – “starting with the first obsidian blades that made their way from what is now Turkey to the Iran-Iraq border 7,000 years before Christ, and ending with the Sino-American trade war we are in right now.” It traces the history of mankind’s prosperity, through the evolution of products such as toothpaste and sectors from agriculture to finance. And, of course, the emergence of a globally connected system that’s put smartphones in the hands of billions of people around the world.
Lift As You Climb: Women and the Art of Ambition
by Viv Groskop (Bantam Press, £12.99, hardback)
This latter-day perspective on women ascending career ladders is “part self-help guide, part masterclass in survival skills for life and work”. It sets out to examine how women can help each other on the way up, without any disadvantage to themselves. Comedienne and writer Groskop looks at the small actions and interactions that take place every day and how they can be approached in a way that is more ‘sisterly’. Intended as a companion to her previous oeuvre, How to Own the Room, Groskop says the new book was in part inspired by the saying “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women”. Look out for the podcast too.
Grow the Pie: How Great Companies Deliver Both Purpose and Profit
by Alex Edmans (Cambridge University Press, £18.99, hardback)
This book sets out to lay to rest the myth that business can only deliver social value at the expense of the bottom line. Edmans, a professor of finance at London Business School, espouses the idea that companies must work with stakeholders such as employees, customers and communities if they want to do more than merely reward shareholders. Those that indulge in this form of responsible capitalism, he finds, are more likely to be successful and sustainable in the long term. Purpose, says Edmans, is nothing less than the reason you exist as a corporate entity. And unlike some of the other social and environmental credentials companies strive for, it can only be driven at the highest level, rather than adopted as a bolt-on strategy.
RESOURCES
Leadership and Coding MBA
IÉSEG School of Management in Paris and coding school Le Wagon are launching a full-time MBA programme to provide participants with management/leadership and coding/technical skills. The one-year programme, which opens in October, is taught in English and aims to develop managers and changemakers through business and coding courses.
www.ieseg.fr/en/programs/mba/mba-leadership-coding/
Long-Term Stock Exchange
This new securities market in San Francisco aims to attract companies focused on sustainability. Led by Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup, the LTSE has gained approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, to become one of only three stock exchanges in the US that can trade shares and allow companies to list through an IPO.
longtermstockexchange.com
Vimeo Create
Vimeo’s new app will enable businesses to create their own videos on a limited budget. It includes a set of tools for small businesses that lack the resources, time or budget to invest in video production at scale to tell their stories using social video. Available in app and desktop versions, businesses choose from pre-made templates that can be customised through clips, colours, fonts, layouts, logos and captions.
vimeo.com/create
WeCrashed
Six-part podcast WeCrashed follows how co-working firm WeWorks’ planned IPO, designed to net its founders billions, collapsed in acrimony. At one point, WeWork was valued at $47bn, but its IPO was pulled when investors began to have doubts, and the company was left in turmoil. Hosted by David Brown of the hit podcast Business Wars, WeCrashed promises “a story of hope and hubris, big money and bigger screwups”.
wondery.com/shows/we-crashed/