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The New Leadership Literacies book club questions
Here are 11 book club questions for The New Leadership Literacies by Bob Johansen, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. Copy them, print them, or bring them up one at a time.
The New Leadership Literacies is Bob Johansen's forecast of the skills leaders will need for a world that is more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous than the one most leadership frameworks were designed for.
Bob Johansen · 2017 · 4h 0m
Full summary and key takeaways →The 11 questions
- 1.
Johansen argues that the traditional planning mindset is increasingly counterproductive. Where in your organization do you see this tension most clearly?
- 2.
What does future-back thinking look like in practice for a decision you're currently facing? What ten-year view would change the way you're approaching it?
- 3.
What would voluntary fear engagement look like for you specifically? What discomfort are you currently avoiding that you should be practicing with?
- 4.
Which of the five literacies feels most foreign or underdeveloped in your own leadership? What would building it require?
- 5.
Johansen's forecasts about AI were made in 2017 and are already partially outdated. How does reading a forecast that time has tested change how you engage with the rest of his predictions?
- 6.
What does shape-shifting actually mean for an organization you know well? What would have to change structurally for that to be possible?
- 7.
Where in your field or industry do you see commons-creation dynamics emerging? Where do you see them being resisted?
- 8.
How is your organization currently relating to AI and automation — as a threat, a tool, or a partner? What would the partnership framing actually require?
- 9.
Johansen recommends holding strong views lightly. Can you think of a current view you hold strongly? What evidence would actually change it?
- 10.
What does VUCA mean in your daily work? Which of the four dimensions — volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity — is most disruptive for you right now?
- 11.
The book was published in 2017. Which predictions feel most prescient? Which feel most dated or wrong?
How to run the discussion
- Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
- Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
- Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
- Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.
Themes worth steering toward
If the conversation stalls, these are the threads that usually restart it.
Common questions
What are good book club questions for The New Leadership Literacies?
Here are 11 book club questions for The New Leadership Literacies by Bob Johansen, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. The strongest openers ask what each reader noticed rather than what they concluded, and the discussion usually turns on future of leadership, foresight, organizational agility.
How long should a book club discussion of The New Leadership Literacies last?
Most groups run 60 to 90 minutes of actual discussion. That is roughly six to eight questions, not all of them, so pick the ones that suit your group rather than working down the list in order.
What are the main themes in The New Leadership Literacies?
Future of leadership, Foresight, Organizational agility, Digital transformation, Resilience. Those are the threads most likely to divide a room, which makes them the useful places to steer a discussion that has gone quiet.
Picking the next one? See books like The New Leadership Literacies or questions for other book club picks.
