"Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again." Creativity, innovation, leadership, entrepreneurship — they all begin within us; each is very much a human process. If we understand the mental and emotional drivers of innovation and creativity, we can be more innovative and creative. Today's authors and thinkers have the privilege of standing on the shoulders of giants. Their works, a diverse arrangement of titles and backgrounds, have inspired me to understand what's behind things like mindfulness, creativity, innovation and leadership, and I believe they will inspire you, too.

1. 9 Classic Books That Will
Change Your Life And Career
“Crea&vity, innova&on, leadership,
entrepreneurship — they all begin within
us; each is very much a human process.”
by Faisal Hoque
founder of:

2. “If we understand
the mental and
emotional drivers
of innovation and
creativity, we
can be more
innovative and
creative.”

3. "Sit in a room and read — and
read and read. And read the
right books by the right
people. Your mind is brought
onto that level, and you have a
nice, mild, slow-­‐burning
rapture all the ?me."
— Joseph Campbell

4. "Thoughts of doubt and fear never
accomplish anything, and never can.
They always lead to failure.
Purpose, energy, power to do, and
all strong thoughts cease when
doubt and fear creep in. Self-­‐control
is strength. Right thought is
mastery. Calmness is power."
— James Allen

5. "Imagina?on, broadly defined,
seems to me to be a principle in
human life underlying even
reason, for the ra?onal func?ons,
according to our defini?ons, can
lead to understanding — can
par?cipate in the cons?tu?ng of
reality — only as they are
crea?ve."
— Rollo May

6. "The fundamental impulse that sets
and keeps the capitalist engine in
mo?on comes from the new
consumers, goods, the new methods
of produc?on or transporta?on, the
new markets, the new forms of
industrial organiza?on that
capitalist enterprise creates. This
process of Crea?ve Destruc?on is
the essen?al fact about capitalism.”
— Joseph Schumpeter

7. "All managerial decisions and
ac?ons rest on assump?ons
about behavior...We can
improve our ability to control
only if we recognize that
control consists in selec?ve
adapta?on to human nature
rather than in aLemp?ng to
make human nature conform
to our wishes.”
— Douglas McGregor

8. "One can choose to go back
toward safety or forward
toward growth. Growth must
be chosen again and again;
fear must be overcome again
and again.”
— Abraham Maslow

9. "At a crisis in my youth he
taught me the wisdom of
choice: To try and fail is at
least to learn; to fail to try is to
suffer the ines?mable loss of
what might have been."
— Chester Barnard

10. "We can look upon a road from
two different points of view.
One regards it as dividing us
from the object of our desire.
The other sees it as the road
which leads us to our
des?na?on, and as such, it is
part of our goal.”
— Rabindranath Tagore

11. "We are fragmented into so
many different aspects. We
don't know who we really are,
or what aspects of ourselves we
should iden?fy with or believe
in. So many contradictory
voices, dictates, and feelings
fight for control over our inner
lives that we find ourselves
scaLered everywhere, in all
direc?ons, leaving nobody at
home.”
— Sogyal Rinpoche

13. Shadoka’s porDolio of offerings enables
entrepreneurship, growth, and social
impact. Our customers and partners
aspire to create sustainable value. They
are focused on repeatable and
measurable impact. We enable their
aspira9ons.
We bring together the management
frameworks, digital plaDorms, and
thought leadership for:
• Evalua&on, execu&on, and
monitoring of programs
• Scaling sales, revenue, and
profitability
• Crea&on and management of digital
communi&es and marketplaces
About SHADOKA
Follow us @shadokaventures
shadoka.com

14. About Me
Founder of Shadoka and other
companies. Shadoka enables
entrepreneurship, growth, and social
impact.
Formerly of GE and other global
brands. Author of several books,
including Everything Connects – How to
Transform and Lead in the Age of
Crea?vity, Innova?on and
Sustainability (McGraw Hill, 2014) and
Survive to Thrive – 27 Prac?ces of
Resilient Entrepreneurs, Innovators,
And Leaders (Mo&va&onal Press, 2015).
Follow me @faisal_hoque
faisalhoque.com