Yesterday, we kicked off the series with a beautiful dialogue with Brian Johnson. (Check out the downloads page if you missed it!) During the Q&A, Richard from the U.K. asked Brian: “For an aspiring entrepreneur, what one book is a must read to start a business with higher ideal than the majority of current businesses?” Brian responded that if he had to pick one, focusing on the ‘nuts and bolts’ level of business, he’d go for 37signals’ Rework.

Here’s a list of all the other books he mentioned during the call.

(Conscious) business

• Working for Good by Jeff klein
• Conscious Business by Fred kofman
• Rework by 37signals
• Good to Great by Jim Collins
• Built to Last by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras
• The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
• Peak by Chip Conley
• Good Business by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
• Firms of Endearment by Sisodia, Wolfe, and Sheth
• The Leader Who Had No Title by Robin Sharma

Optimal Living

• A Philosopher’s Notes by Brian Johnson
• Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman
• Why We Do What We Do by Edward Deci
• Everyday Enlightenment By Dan Millman
• Mastery by George Leonard

Inspiration

• The Dhammapada by Buddha

Nutrition

• Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Caldwell Esselstyn

Authentic Happiness
Furthermore, in reaction to a question by Lindsay Ruiz, Brian generously offered to share his Philosopher’s Notes summary of Martin Seligman’s Authentic Happiness which you can download here. You can find more info and a number of pretty cool questionnaires at www.authentichappiness.org.

Conscious Investors
Finally, Marni Melrose asked a great question about conscious investors, which Brian offered to share some more thoughts and resources about. We’ll update this post as soon as those are in, so check back in a few days!

In the meantime: What are some of your favourite books, links, or other resources on conscious business?

Today we kick off the series, and I can’t tell you how excited we are about it (and I must admit I have a few nerves too ;)) We chose to start this series with a dialogue with Brain Johnson, and I just want to take a moment to tell you why!

I first came across Brian when I heard an interview between him and philosopher Ken Wilber. The title of the conversation perfectly encapsulates what inspires me about Brian, and why he was one of the first names on my list for this series. It was entitled entrepreneurial idealism.

Brian is not only an entrepreneur; he is a visionary, a philosopher and an idealist – a rare combination for someone so successful.  For me, he is a wonderful example of how business and consciousness can combine to create truly inspiring work in the world!

The bottom line is, Brian is awesome, and he’s doing awesome stuff, and we feel honoured to be starting this series with him.

So come and join the conversation today with Brian!

It starts at 8pm CET, which is 7pm GMT, 3pm Eastern time and 12pm Pacific time.  If you want to join, and haven’t registered yet, fill in your details in the registration box to the right and I’ll send you instructions on how to join 30 minutes before the call.

During the second part of the call we’ll be opening it up to questions from you.  If you’re unable to join the call, post your questions for Brian below, and we’ll select the juiciest one to ask him live on the call!

For more information about Brian, check out his biography here.

“What on earth is Conscious Business?” It was over a year ago now that Jeroen Maes and I sat down to explore how to collaborate on an online project to explore that very question. Being good friends, and sharing a passion for new ways of doing and being in business, the ideas just seemed to flow out of us right from the start. We were joined last summer by Jeroen’s business partner, and also a good friend of ours; Diederick Janse. Together we set off down the path of building something…

We got inspired, and we got stuck. We worked hard, and we let it slip. We got encouragement, we got criticism. But throughout, we stuck like glue to the real burning question we all shared – how can business be a vehicle for genuine global transformation? This series is the culminations of those ideas.

So, as a kick-off to this blog, and the series in general, let me take some time to tell you a little more about why we created the series, what we hope to achieve through hosting it, and all the things that we’re inviting you to co-create with us along the way.

We are idealists. We have this intensely passionate, and of course, utterly idealistic belief that the world can be changed, and that we have some role to play in this change. Each through our different routes, we have arrived at the workplace as the arena in which we feel called to contribute to this transformation. I had to traverse the world of performing arts for years until I realised that it sapped my creativity, and that business was the thing that really excited me. Jeroen and Diederick took their own route through business school and the world of consulting. For their story, you can check out this video of them talking with philosopher Ken Wilber.

So why did we create this series? Well, we are just totally curious to explore what on earth Conscious Business is! We have some ideas. But we have even more questions.

We also created this series in a very deliberate way that perhaps runs counter to the conventional wisdom on these things. And I want to tell you as transparently as I can about why we did it in the way we did.

We could have created another one of those teleseminars series that promises to give you the tools to triple your bottom line, and find the secret to the life you really want to live while at the same time being totally ethical, sustainable and conscious. To be honest though, we don’t really know how to do that. Even more importantly though,  we don’t think that’s the biggest acupuncture point, or indeed, the way to really create a new way of doing business.

We could have made a series promising to give you all the answers. But for us, there are bigger questions.

What is the new version of business that wants to emerge in the world? What does it look like, and feel like? What is the role of work in the 21st century, anyway? What really works and has massive impact, and what doesn’t? What feels like it resonates deep down inside, and what feels like a sheep-like joining of the indomitable conscious band-wagon?

Does business even need to become more conscious at all, or is it ok just as it is? What are the questions that the 21^st century is asking us? How do we live, and how do we work in ways that can truly address those questions?

We don’t know. But we’re totally psyched about finding out, and committing fully to everything that the journey entails.

And this is where you come in. We’re pretty damned sure that no-one of us can see the entire big picture, but we do have the questions that we think will invite the type of conversations that may reveal this bigger picture.

You will have your own questions, and we invite you to bring them to the table. Challenge us, and help us challenge the speakers. Get curious about what business is, and what it could be. Bring your enthusiasm, and bring your scepticism. Bring your success stories, and bring your struggles. Bring whatever it is you feel called to bring, in service of the exploration of how we can wake up the workplace, and maybe even change the world.

If we do that, I think we’re in for a ride!

Why don’t we start right now? What are your burning questions? What do you think we need in order to wake up the workplace to its full and glorious potential?

Comment below and we can get this conversation rolling…