With the festive season fast approaching, and those last-minute gift requests flying around, we thought why not publish a further edition of the UWE Policing Book Club…
Spoiler alert: this one is for the non-fiction fans!
Join Mike, Brian, Paul and Ian as they share a few of their top reads from this year. Whether you are planning to switch off over Christmas or are working in the vital services that keep everything running, we hope you find a moment to enjoy a great book.
Mike Griffiths recommends ‘Black Box Thinking’, by Matthew Syed.
Black box thinking is a concept popularised by Matthew Syed, which involves learning from mistakes and failures to improve future performance. I came upon this book some time ago and I was interested in the cross over between completely different aspects of commerce and industry, such as hospitals and the world of aviation. My interest stemmed from the fact that my father worked in the aircraft industry in the 1950s, a time of great innovation but at the same time, plenty of disasters, such as the D.H. Comet mark 4.
As I read it, I saw a direct relevance to modern day policing where mistakes can have serious consequences, including loss of public trust and safety issues. Black box thinking, would encourage police officers to analyse errors systematically, much like aviation industry investigators who analyse flight data after an incident. By examining what went wrong and why, police can identify patterns and underlying issues that need addressing. This process helps to prevent similar mistakes in the future, thereby improving overall effectiveness and reliability. Black box thinking aligns well with evidence-based policing, which uses data and research to inform practices and policies.
I think that if we introduced a more detailed examination of policing practices, as Matthew Syed suggests, we could greatly improve policing.
“When people don’t interrogate errors, they sometimes don’t even know they have made one (even if they suspect they may have).” – Matthew Syed
Brian Clifford recommends ‘The Forgotten Slave Trade’, by Simon Webb.
This book explores the slave trade starting with slavery in the ancient world and widens the reader’s knowledge of this subject across the world. A century before Britain became involved in the transatlantic slave trade it was involved in the wider slave trade. Some of what the reader will discover may challenge current thinking and understanding of this subject.
Most people are aware that Bristol was a major centre for the transatlantic slave trade in the eighteenth century but hardly anyone knows that 1000 years earlier it had been an important staging post in the slave trade of English slaves to Africa.
This book highlights how slavery cuts across all cultures, races and religions. This book will change the way you view the slave trade and show that many commonly held beliefs about this controversial subject are almost wholly inaccurate and mistaken.
This book does not seek to lessen the impact of this terrible trade. Instead, it highlights how widespread the practice has been and that virtually all parts of the world have both practiced and been affected by slavery.
I have sometimes struggled to find time to read but in recent years I have always enjoyed the learning and entertainment reading provides. More recently I have used the hour drive home from campus to listen to audiobooks. I find this a good way to unwind and reset after a busy day and make use of what may be considered unproductive time. While I enjoy a good thriller the opportunity to learn something new is always welcome. This book has done that.
Paul Williamson recommends ‘How to Strangle a Jelly’, by Les King.
How to Strangle a Jelly is a compelling and often humorous exploration of communication through the lens of a remarkable 50-year career spanning policing, probation and university lecturing. Les brings to life a wide range of experiences, from operational briefings and courtroom encounters to university lectures and wedding speeches, showing how the right words, delivered the right way, can inform, persuade, console, and even protect lives.
I had the privilege of working with Les earlier in my policing career, and I learned a great deal from his natural, people-centred style of communication. He had a remarkable ability to put people at ease, whether they were victims, colleagues, complainants or suspects. That same authenticity and calm confidence runs right through this book.
Now, as a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader in Policing and Criminology, I see even more clearly the value of what Les models so well, communication that is grounded, purposeful, and human. One of my favourite moments in the book involves a lesson he learned on a sergeants’ course about the power of effective briefings—a reminder of how much thought and preparation goes into good leadership communication.
Key Takeaways
- Communication is not just a technical skill—it’s an evolving, reflective practice.
- People respond best to communicators who are authentic, emotionally intelligent, and adaptable.
- Les’s blend of storytelling and practical models makes this book a great read for anyone working in policing, education, or public service.
- It is often the everyday interactions, not just the high-pressure moments, that define your effectiveness as a communicator.
How to Strangle a Jelly is thoughtful, funny, sometimes sombre and profoundly practical. Whether you are a new policing recruit or decades in, there is something in this book for everyone who wants to connect more meaningfully with others.
Bonus chapters – Ian Lowe recommends…
If you like ‘Black Box Thinking’ by Matthew Syed, Ian Lowe also recommends ‘Outliers’ by Malcolm Gladwell and ‘Peak’ by Robert Pool & Anders Erricson.
I can’t help it; Sorry. I have to push the boundaries, bend the rules. Which might be why I like the above books.
I read them all reasonably close to each other. Each one in its own right is worthy of reading (see Anne Eason’s recommendation for Black Box Thinking). However, if you take the time to read all three, you gain a greater level of perspective on the subject matter.
For example: All three books discuss the now infamous, it takes 10000 hours of practice at anything to become an expert. Well Peak invented this rule, although it is actually. It takes 10000 hours of deliberate practice. Which is a very specific type of practice. Outliers simplified it and made it famous and that is how most of us have heard of it. Blackbox thinking applies it further and in new ways.
I suppose what I am saying is read. Our thoughts and ideas are made from the content that we consume, so make that content the best quality that we can.
Editorial Team
Paul Williamson (Editor-in-Chief); Claudia McCready (Lecturer); Claire Bowers (Senior Lecturer); Eve Smietanko (Senior Lecturer) & Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer).
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