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Boko Haram, once a Salafist sect based in Nigeria’s northeast, has become something far more deadly and ruthless: a hydra-headed monster further complicated by imitators and criminal gangs who commit violence under the guise of the group, according to Mike Smith in his book Boko Haram: Inside Nigeria’s Unholy War. However, the lack of faith in both the government and the military has remained one of the most important reasons why the insurgency has not been stopped.

Boko Haram began around 2002 when the charismatic preacher Mohammed Yusuf attracted a following by denouncing the corruption and injustices of the Nigerian government, army and police. Yusuf, who believed that the earth is flat and that Western education is evil, was arrested in 2009 and killed in police custody following an uprising by his followers which had resulted in over 1,000 deaths. The group has since engaged in violent attacks against police, the military, schools, mosques, churches, government institutions and unarmed civilians.

Interestingly, the group’s current leader Abubakar Shekau appropriates the rhetoric of peace when describing one of the group’s main aims: “Seeking Allah’s help to establish Sharia so that Muslims will have peace to practise their religion.” After being named a “global terrorist” by the United States, requiring his assets there to be frozen, Shekau responded in a video message: “I know the United States exists, but… I don’t know where it is, not to talk of freezing my assets there.”

To understand the environment in which Boko Haram thrives, it is necessary to comprehend the extent of corruption and injustice in Nigerian society. The army typically responds to Boko Haram raids first by running away during an attack, then by returning in numbers to slaughter some people indiscriminately and burn down houses, on the conjecture that some of them might have assisted or supported boko Haram.

Today as I write this review, the newspaper has six full pages including the front page discussing terrorist attacks in France which have resulted in 17 deaths. There is a small article on page 18 describing a Boko Haram attack on the town of Baga which may have resulted in 2,000 deaths, with all of the houses burnt and destroyed. There are plenty of photos on the Internet of burnt houses and dead bodies from Baga, but they are from an attack by the Nigerian army almost 2 years ago when the army killed about 200 people and burnt down houses as revenge after Boko Haram fighters had ambushed some troops near Baga.

With global terrorism on the rise, it has become increasingly important for all members of society to gain some understanding of the causes of terrorism. While this book reassures us that Boko Haram is essentially a Nigerian problem rather than a global problem, it does give some insight into how heavy-handed official responses to terrorist acts serve to intensify the terrorists’ grievances, resulting in amplification rather than suppression of the problem.

Today, strategy in business has fallen into disrepute; the expensive large-scale strategic planning exercises that were common in the late twentieth century are no longer perceived as providing commensurate returns in terms of contributing to the firm’s success. What really sealed the fate of these exercises was the fast-changing, increasingly dynamic and complex business environment, according to Johan Aurik, Martin Fabel and Gillis Jonk in their book The Future of Strategy: A Transformative Approach to Strategy for a World That Won’t Stand Still. Nonetheless strategy, when properly understood and executed, has never been more important.

My full review of the book is available at my business book reviews website.

In the decade since the first edition of their book was released, the ferocity of competition in existing industries and the pressures on costs and profits have only intensified, according to authors W Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne in the latest incarnation of their best-selling book, “Blue Ocean Strategy Expanded Edition”. That is why there is a rising call for creative new solutions and such an allure in the idea of escaping from cut-throat  “red ocean” markets into competition-free “blue ocean” market space.

My full review of the book is available at my business book reviews website.

It requires courage to voice your vision, to stand up for it, and to battle the resistance you’ll inevitably face in return, because an effective vision by definition has to be original, and therefore to some degree be provocative, maybe even slightly controversial, according to Rob-Jan de Jong in his book Anticipate: The Art of Leading by Looking Ahead. That is one of the reasons why leaders are often reluctant to espouse a compelling vision, and yet vision casting is one of the key components of effective leadership.

My full review of the book is available at my business book reviews website.

Unfortunately, the history of the human species suggests that all too often groups fail to live up to their potential. Many groups turn out to be foolish; they bet on products that are doomed to failure; they miss out on spectacular opportunities; they develop unsuccessful marketing strategies; their investments and strategies go awry, hurting millions of people in the process, according to Cass Sunstein and Reid Hastie in their book Wiser: Getting Beyond Groupthink to Make Groups Smarter.

My full review of the book is available at my business book reviews website.

At the most basic level, leadership succession and transition is a continuous process of organizational transformation: a people decision, an organizational decision, and a strategy decision all rolled into one, with not infrequently a crisis call thrown in for good measure, according to Noel Tichy in his book Succession: Mastering the Make-or-Break Process of Leadership Transition. Leadership succession and transition is simply the most politically and culturally charged, technically challenging, and critical leadership assignment of all the many judgments that business leaders are obliged to make in the course of doing their day jobs.

My full review of the book is available at my business book reviews website.

In our schools and workplaces, groupthink is rewarded. Those who question decisions and advocate for different ways are often ignored, ostracized, or fired. Yet without rebels, our systems, companies, schools, churches, government agencies, and healthcare organizations become rigid and sometimes even dangerous, according to Lois Kelly, Carmen Medina and Debra Cameron in their book Rebels at Work: A Handbook for Leading Change from Within.

My full review of the book is available at my business book reviews website.

Christian leaders who stay in love with God embody something that the world deeply needs; they possess an ethos characterized by love, servanthood, and sacrifice that is distinctive and more important than other skills or insights that leaders acquire; they may not have all the latest leadership techniques, but quite often people will follow them anywhere, according to Tom Berlin and Lovett Weems in their book High Yield: Seven Disciplines of the Fruitful Leader.

The seven leadership disciplines recommended by the authors are:

• Build trust, which includes the importance of attending to people in their time of need
• Lead the journey, including engaging the past, naming the present and envisioning the future
• Set high standards, by insisting on excellence, expecting accountability without being controlling, and counting people carefully
• Communicate, communicate, communicate, which includes speaking the whole truth and preaching well
• Redeem conflict, by getting comfortable with uncomfortable conversations and being assertive while remaining humble
• Cultivate leadership practices, including teamwork, appropriate delegation, and consulting wise counsel; and
• Keep growing, by finding mentors, seeking and using feedback, and staying in love with God

Unlike many leadership books which are written from the perspective of a megachurch senior pastor, this book considers leadership from the perspective of everyday non-superstar pastors. It is a short book, easy to read, and should be a source of great encouragement to those who are called to lead a church in the current difficult times.

Like our world today, Roman citizens were bombarded with new cultures, new commerce, new foods, and new ideas, as well as new philosophies, cults, and religions; theirs was an era of massive disorientation, and at the same time, it was exactly the right environment for Christianity to emerge and thrive, according to Christine Chakoian in her book Cryptomnesia: How a Forgotten Memory Could Save the Church.

The author’s thesis is that the church today could work out how to respond to the current difficult times of change and crisis if only we could recover our memory of how the early church managed to thrive.

• Technology is causing massive disruptions today, just as the new Roman roads and technologies were causing disruptions in the ancient world.
• The shrinking world has brought religious pluralism, just as the Roman roads led to a melting pot of many foreign religions.
• The early church had to decide which parts of the faith were essential and which parts were not, and we have to deal with similar questions today.
• The early church had to struggle with finding authority in community, and we face similar struggles in today’s authority-questioning environment.
• The early church had to find ways to reach out to a non-Christian culture, and we face a similar task.

There are plenty of interesting ideas in this fairly short book. Most readers will probably find something to disagree with, but in my view this book does a provide a helpful context for the thoughtful consideration of a number of important and controversial issues.

In order to overcome the natural resistance to change within an organization, a systematic approach must be taken; this approach must deal with the whole system, which includes people, processes, and systems; it must begin with defining the organization, developing the vision, and detailing the steps along the way, according to Greg Howes in his book Business Optimization: Six Steps to a Sustained Performance Culture.

My full review of the book is available at my business book reviews website.