We believe you can tell a lot about an organization by what its people are reading. It’s been a while since we shared our work-related reading, so here’s some of what we’ve got on our night tables and ebook readers this week.

What if?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, by Randall Munroe. “Loving the questions and answers, but especially the simple, humorous illustrations. Example: What would happen if everyone on Earth stood as close to each other as they could and jumped, everyone landing on the ground at the same instant? (Answer is here: Everybody Jump.)”

We’re also reading 100 Things Every Presenter Needs To Know About People, by Susan M. Weinschenk, Ph.D., and we learned this week that the person in the world who thinks the most about TED-style talks is writing a book about ’em.

We’re not just reading books. For those of you with productivity on the mind, check out Get more done by working fewer hours: Shorter days are more productive. “Yes, I’m admitting to falling for clickbait, but the research is interesting….something we might anecdotally experience. There’s a point at which people stop making good decisions. It’s better to actually admit there’s a limit to productivity, and stop working sooner.”

Those with loftier reading goals but unlikely to go The Full Piketty might enjoy What Money Can’t Buy, by Michael J. Sandel. “It’s about the ethics of financial incentives, how the market dynamics are used throughout all areas of society, and how that might not be a great thing. One of the most interesting ideas that I took away is the notion that our economic system treats charity as a scarce good, a thing that should only be used sparingly because the assumption is that we will run out. What the author suggests is that charity not a scarce resource at all. It’s more like a muscle: the more work you do, the stronger and healthier you’ll become.”

It doesn’t have to be long to have an impact, though: “I have been doing a little reading on some new tools that could really change the way we do things: Adobe Brush Turns Anything You See Into Ink.”

And, finally: “I just finished Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, so if we ever get a client looking how to frame someone for murder, I can assist on that.”

Happy reading!