After observing groundbreaking educational strategies for engineers in college, professor and consultant David Goldberg knew that he had to make these newfound approaches accessible to educators and facilities worldwide. In his initial prospects, Goldberg says he was interested in ways to make engineering education more motivating, well-rounded, and less nerdy.
He decided to partner with Mark Somerville to write A Whole New Engineer: The Coming Revolution in Engineering Education, and their work took off. Goldberg notes that, after picking up his book, people from across six continents became interested in his 510c3, Big Beacon, or hired his consulting firm, ThreeJoy, to help them implement the changes he highlighted in the book.
Following the success of the first book, the pair decided to make another: A Field Manual for a Whole New Education. This sequel specifically discussed step-by-step methods for introducing the theories, ideas, and stories mentioned in the first book, including a framework for methodology around “five shifts in mindset and skill, four spirits of change, and four sprints of action.” Their motive for creating books as guides for change was to influence large numbers of engineering educators to make surprisingly interesting and not-too-difficult changes, not just to their curriculum but also to the culture of their organizations.
In addition to further spreading his message, Goldberg is adamant that his work with Jenkins Group for the 2023 publishing of A Field Manual helped reboot his career as a leadership coach and consultant after the doldrums brought about by the pandemic lockdown.
Jenkins Group designed the book covers and interiors, formatted eBooks on multiple platforms, printed multiple book runs, and arranged for warehousing and a distribution network. Goldberg commented that, based on previous experiences, he “was uniformly disappointed by the efforts made by big houses for niche books” such as his own, and that working with Jenkins provided him with the freedom to write the book that he wanted to write and to sell it the way he wanted to sell it. “Looking back now ten years,” he says, “I am happy with those decisions and how they worked out.”
David Goldberg’s experience is an amazing testament to how these books can be used as tools for furthering your organization’s impact and promoting your services. Read A Field Manual for a Whole New Education and A Whole New Engineer today and see how It could change the trajectory of your business.
