Many companies pay lip service to diversity and inclusion efforts. After all, it sounds great in a press release, in an HR manual, or in the “About Us” section of a website.
But true change begins with action, not words. So if you’re ready to truly move the needle on diversity and inclusion at your company, the nine eye-opening books below will show you the way.
Radical Inclusion: Seven Steps to Help You Create a More Just Workplace, Home, and World
By David Moinina Sengeh
Inspiring, moving, and often humorous, the book includes wonderful stories and anecdotes that show us specific techniques to make our homes, workplaces, and communities happier and more just places for everyone. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author David Moinina Sengeh, in the Next Big Idea App
How to Be an Ally: Actions You Can Take for a Stronger, Happier Workplace
By Melinda Briana Epler
Through the power of allyship, each of us can create an equitable, innovative workplace where everyone feels safe, valued, and able to thrive. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Melinda Briana Epler, in the Next Big Idea App
Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work
By Ruchika Tulshyan
And eye-opening look at how organizations can foster diversity, equity, and inclusion, taking action to address and prevent workplace bias while centering women of color. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Ruchika Tulshyan, in the Next Big Idea App
Getting to Diversity: What Works and What Doesn’t
By Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev
In an authoritative, data-driven account, two of the world’s leading management experts challenge dominant approaches to increasing workplace diversity and provide a comprehensive account of what really works. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-authors Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev, in the Next Big Idea App
Say More About That: …And Other Ways to Speak Up, Push Back, and Advocate for Yourself and Others
By Amber Cabral
A veteran inclusion strategist, coach, writer, and speaker delivers an incisive and practical guide to assertively addressing inequitable treatment you see at home, work, school, and other settings. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Amber Cabral, in the Next Big Idea App
Build the Damn Thing: How to Start a Successful Business If You’re Not a Rich White Guy
By Kathryn Finney
For all the Builders striving to build their businesses in a world that has overlooked and underestimated them: this is the essential guide to knowing, breaking, remaking, and building your own rules of entrepreneurship. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Kathryn Finney, in the Next Big Idea App
The First, the Few, the Only: How Women of Color Can Redefine Power in Corporate America
By Deepa Purushothaman
A deeply personal call to action for women of color to find power from within and to join together in community, advocating for a new corporate environment where we all belong—and are accepted—on our own terms. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Deepa Purushothaman, in the Next Big Idea App
Building for Everyone: Expand Your Market with Design Practices from Google’s Product Inclusion Team
By Annie Jean-Baptiste
For years, Google has set the standard for innovative products and business practices. And now, their Head of Product Inclusion shows how any organization can cultivate inclusive teams where diversity becomes a source of strength and creativity. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Annie Jean-Baptiste, in the Next Big Idea App
Did That Just Happen?!: Beyond “Diversity”―Creating Sustainable and Inclusive Organizations
By Stephanie Pinder-Amaker and Lauren Wadsworth
Offering real-life accounts that illustrate common workplace occurrences around inclusivity, this handbook breaks down ways that organizations (and all people) can improve their cultural awareness and become more equitable in their work and personal relationships. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-authors Stephanie Pinder-Amaker and Lauren Wadsworth, in the Next Big Idea App
The Key Ideas in 15 Minutes
“If you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books,” Roald Dahl once famously said. The only trouble is, reading even one book from cover to cover takes hours—and you may not have many hours to spare.
But imagine for a moment: What if you could read a groundbreaking new book every day? Or even better, what if you could invite a world-renowned thinker into your earbuds, where they personally describe the 5 key takeaways from their work in just 15 minutes?
With the Next Big Idea App, we’ve turned this fantasy into a reality. We partnered with hundreds of acclaimed authors to create “Book Bites,” short audio summaries of the latest nonfiction that are prepared and read aloud by the authors themselves. Discover cutting-edge leadership skills, productivity hacks, the science of happiness and well-being, and much more—all in the time it takes to drive to work or walk the dog.
Go Deeper with a Next Big Idea Club Membership
The Next Big Idea App is free for anyone to try—and if you love it, we invite you to become an official member of the Next Big Idea Club. Membership grants you unlimited access to Book Bites and unlocks early-release, ad-free episodes of our LinkedIn-partnered podcast. You also gain entry to our private online discussion group, where you can talk big ideas with fellow club members and join exclusive live Q&A sessions with featured authors.
For a more focused learning experience, we recommend a Hardcover or eBook Membership. Every few months, legendary authors and club curators Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel Pink select two new nonfiction books as the must-reads of the season. We then send hardcover copies straight to your doorstep, or eBook versions to your favorite digital device. We also collaborate with the authors of selected books to produce original reading guides and premium video e-courses, 50-minute master classes that take you step by step through their most life-changing ideas. And yes, it’s all available through the Next Big Idea App.
Learn Faster, from the World’s Leading Thinkers
Whether you prefer to read, listen, or watch, the Next Big Idea is here to help you work smarter and live better. Wake up with an always-fresh Idea of the Day, the perfect shot of inspiration to go with your morning coffee. Then dive into one of our Challenges, hand-picked collections of Book Bites that form crash courses in subjects like communication, motivation, and career acceleration. Later, watch the playback of an interview with U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Stanford psychologist Jennifer Eberhardt, or philosopher John Kaag. And be sure to check the “Events” tab in the app, so that you can join an upcoming live Q&A and personally chat with the next featured thought leader.
If you’re hoping to grow as a person or as a professional, we hope you’ll join us and tens of thousands of others who enjoy the Next Big Idea. Get started by downloading the app today!
