The members of the WEAll California Working Group offer their top book recommendations for understanding and working toward a wellbeing economy. 

Rex Green recommends:

“Replacing GDP by 2030″ by Rutger Hoekstra, Cambridge University Press, 2019.

Dr. Hoekstra started tracking the plethora of measures of well-being in the summer of 2007.  From 2009 to 2014 he worked on developing a set of sustainable development measures.  Then, he noticed there were over 900 measures of sustainable development, but there was a lack of momentum to unseat GDP as the leading indicator of societal progress.  So, he studied the history of the development and adoption of GDP.  Then, he wrote this book, explaining why a different strategy is needed to replace GDP than merely searching for the optimal well-being indicator(s).  He recommends following the same steps that led to the widespread adoption of GDP.  This book deserves a place on the shelf of everyone who wants to know how to improve the tracking of societal progress.

Joe Houde recommends:

“Breaking Together – A Freedom Loving Response to Collapse” by Jem Bendell, Good Works, 2023.

“Breaking Together” is a journal of ecologically-driven societal collapse. There are many descriptions of opportunities for transformation that would lead to a survivable planet.  This is a sobering, yet clear-eyed look at the science, economics and social conditions that will lead to collapse. The author provides prescriptions for responses.  Not to be missed!  No need to rush through this book as there is far too much to cover in a single session.

David Green recommends:

“How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion” by David McRaney, Penguin, 2022.

McRaney hosts the long running podcast You Are Not So Smart.  His third book is a thorough examination of what changes people’s minds on issues that are central to identity.  He talks to people who have left cults, opted out of Flat Earth conspiracies and dozens of experts on how evolution, biology and culture affect our thinking and decisions. It is a delightfully easy read even though it is filled with scientific research.  McRaney also spends time with people who specialize in getting people to re-examine their beliefs to see what methods are most effective.  My runner up for this year is Brian Klaas’ Corruptible which is also about evolution and brain patterns but with a focus on why we choose bad leaders.

Krista Nickles recommends:

“3D Management, an Integral Theory for Organisations in the Vanguard of Evolution” by Marco Robledo, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2020.

As managers and executives scramble to help their businesses survive in a rapidly changing world, this book gives hope and guidance for running a business that holistically thrives. Robledo explains why past business models no longer work and how using a more integrated approach will help your business flex with the times and produce better outcomes for all stakeholders’ wellbeing. Executives can work from the many detailed examples of companies, management paradigms, and organizational structures that are already taking this integrated approach and making businesses more profitable, sustainable, and positively impactful than companies clinging to older models. This book leaves the reader feeling inspired about their own ability to help their company successfully build toward a more mutually beneficial and sustainable future.