An excellent book and one that doesn't quite fit the usual review format, Leading Change , is well-worth the read for system leaders in business and school. So rather than pursue my usual review format - review followed by assessment. These Review-ishes will be more of a digital notebook offering up what I see as highlights especially in the context of school leadership. Today's review-ish is on Leading Change by John P. Kotter. Kotter's emphasis lies in differentiating betw

This week's review is on AI Goes to Church by Todd Korpi.  There is a clear need for our religious leaders to think deeply about AI and its role in ministry, institutions, and society - especially in its contrast to human nature. Todd Korpi, a protestant professor and church leader, seeks to do so in AI Goes to Church. Korpi struggles to engage directly with deeper theological or philosophical issues; focusing on a pastoral response. Korpi proceeds systematically, establishi

This week's review is on If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies by Eliezer Yudkowsky & Nate Soares. Also informing this piece, their supporting website, https://ifanyonebuildsit.com/ , and the following review articles: " The case for AI doom isn't very convincing " by Timothy B. Lee. Understanding AI . Substack. September 25, 2025. " Book Review: If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies " by Scott Alexander. Astral Codex Ten. Substack. September 11, 2025. Long a Cassandra of the

This week's review is on Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men by Leonard Sax . Leonard Sax is a "family physician, psychologist, and acclaimed author" (back cover) who presents a case of five factors affecting boys (drawn from observations, discussions, and limited studies) in this book published in 2007. Like Bad Therapy , I found myself nodding along with the problem, some of the diagnosis, and drawing

This week's review is on Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech   by Brian Merchant. Part history, part anti-capitalist screed, part-analysis; Brian Merchant offers a fast-paced inter-connected cultural history and analysis of the present and past Luddite movements. He does so to reclaim the word "Luddite" - pointing out that these rebels were "technologists themselves; they did not hate the machines, though they did not hold any undue respect fo

This week's review is on More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI   by John Warner. The biggest problem with AI and education is that our system is geared not towards a deeper purpose but instead towards some promise of college and career advancement. The cleverest students realize this and play the system (completion grades, extra credit, clubs, et al.) in order to succeed; but little learning happens in this context. No better demonstration of this than

This week's review is on Leadership & Sustainability: System Thinkers in Action by Michael Fullan. Fullan is back and better than ever... If it can feel that Fullan's books are the latest cinematic universe - sharing many of the same elements while moving forward at a regular pace - I can't argue with you. Made with Sora. This would have been an amazing cover. In this case, Fullan looks at systemness and sustainability approaching how schools, districts, and systems can crea

A review of the magazine issue from the Bishop Barron-led Word on Fire Institute. A beautifully-produced magazine that serves as just the...

This week's review is on Rebooting AI: Building Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust by Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis . In the nearly six years since its publication, Gary Marcus has remained a staunch contrarian even as Generative AI has exploded in financing, development, and implementation across the tech, business, and education worlds. Rebooting AI marks his first real entry into a critique of where the field was heading and the limitations imposed by those choices. Thi

This week's review is on Teaching with AI - A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning by Jos é Antonio Bowen and C. Edward Watson. A book which states its aim clearly - focusing on the how, not necessarily the why or why not of using AI in teaching. Bowen and Watson present a brief overview on what AI is, before proceeding to Teaching (which includes a discussion of cheating, policies, and quality) and Learning (feedback, assessments, writing). The first section is l

The Better Pastor: A Fable  by Patrick Lencioni Clocking it at 101 pages, The Better Pastor aims to provide - in story form - simple...

This week's review is on Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans by Melanie Mitchell . A book written by an expert on AI -...

This week's review is on Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren't Growing Up   by Abigail Shrier . Abigail Shrier builds off of her Substack ...

Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great by Jim Collins Clocking it at 35 pages, this addendum which...

Two interesting reads today - which given their construction and the personal relationship I have with several of the authors in A...

This week's review is on  The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization (Revised and Updated) by Peter M. Senge....

The passing of Llosa marks the passing of one of South America's best novelists. As someone not aligned with the global left, Llosa will...

This week's review is on   Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect by Will Guidara. After...

This week's review is on   Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI   by Karen Hao. Widely anticipated and already a...

This week's review is on The Smart Non-Profit: Staying Human-Centered in an Automated World by Beth Kanter and Allison Fine. With about...