Since my last employer went through a fairly wobbly time in the 18 months prior to my departure there wasn’t any spare cash for training. So it struck me the other day that I’d probably gone three years without attending a formal, face-to-face training course. Which doesn’t do much for the whole Continuous Professional Development thing.
But looking at the kind of courses that might be of interest to me (like a proper introduction to Behavioural Economics or exploring some more advanced moderating skills) they just don’t come cheap. I’ve recently found myself thinking of things in terms of how many days work (after tax) they’ll cost me and at up to £500 (plus £120+ peak time train to London and back) for a day long course I can’t really justify it.
Obviously there’s always the internet for a bit of DIY education and fellow Planners to bounce ideas off but I still feel like I need something more structured. So I hit Amazon. I’ve ended up with a very scary looking heavyweight tome on Behavioural Economics and a much more user friendly one on Moderation.
But does anyone have any recommendations for other books I should delve into?
Sarah – I’ve actually just ordered Moderating to the Max to go with Nudge and Predictably Irrational :)
I’ve got a good moderation skills one called ‘Moderating to the Max’ that I’d reccomend – did some MRS training with it earlier in the year and it’s well worth a peak – not least becasue it’s full of ways to get consumers to view creative stuff in a more constructive way in qual groups
p..s. I second Rob’s idea of a planning book bank :)
Thanks for the advice guys. I’ve sent the blue doorstop academic book back to Amazon (I couldn’t get past page 4) and ordered Nudge and Predictably Irrational to replace it.
Andrew – perhaps we should have a Book Swap at the next SupNorth?
All the above sounds great. I have a riduculous amount of books I’m happy to share.
Have a look at Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely and it’s follow up, plus his blog and also his column in Wired.
It’s worth having a look at Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert…it’s really about how and why people make decisions
By the way, thanks for the head up on that organisation. They’re really desperate, so they actually got it contact.
Read Nudge for Behavioural Economics. Rory Sutherland (Ogilvy) has also spoken and publish some stuff. I was at Marketing Week Live last week, and both him, a lady for COI and Wendy Gorden delivered some interesting talks on the matter.
AQR tends to have papers non-members can access, which is useful to keep up to date with new techniques and theories.
LinkedIn have useful groups in both areas.
On a similar note, we should organise a planning book-bank. Where we can swap books and things to help us learn.
Brilliant idea Mark. Does anyone senior Down South want to swap some Northern moderating for some email/phone based 121 training?
Do you reckon there’s an idea here for like a “Planning Timebank” where one person donates one hour and gets one back, regardless of age, experience etc?
ie. You donate someone an hour of moderating skills, and you claim back an hour of Rory Sutherland’s time to learn about Behavoural Economics?