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Why Ken Livingstone felt City Hall would need a guide to frog-snogging
Katharine Barney, City Hall Reporter27.07.09
City Hall staff ordered a bizarre set of self-help books in the run-up to the mayoral election, it has been revealed.
The list includes titles such as In Search Of Excellence and The Science Of Influence: How To Get Anyone To Say Yes In 8 Minutes Or Less!
Invoices seen by the Standard also show that £67.50 was spent on Public Private Partnerships: Managing Risks And Opportunities - years after the controversial PPP agreement to upgrade the London Underground.
And in keeping with former Mayor Ken Livingstone's reputation for being a newt-lover, the library also bought The Frog-Snogger's Guide.
A review of the book says: "It shows how to overcome aversion and form a bond or rapport with the many frogs and toads we need to get on with (the boss, the mother-in-law, customers, or anyone unappealing or slimy)."
The books requested by the human resources department, which cost almost £1,000, were ordered by librarian Sue Biggs and paid for on a credit card in the name of Annabel Davies, head of information services.
Other titles include:
Why Teams Don't Work: What Went Wrong And How to Make It Right.
Kick In The Seat Of The Pants.
Built To Last: Successful Habits Of Visionary Companies.
Raving Fans: Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service.
The information was obtained in the fortnight that City Hall is obliged to open its books for public inspection.
The books were all ordered online from Amazon between 12 and 14 March last year. The corporate credit card receipts for the invoices are clearly marked "GLA library books".
A total of 61 books were ordered at a cost of £868.60. Nearly all were on effective leadership and securing the agreement and support of colleagues. But one £78 title is the Handbook Of The Economics Of Art And Culture and another is about climate change. A spokesman for Boris Johnson said: "We are grateful to the former Mayor for his parting gift. However, as always, we doubt whether this was appropriate use of precious taxpayer resources."
But the Mayor himself has agreed to pay up to £9,000 for staff confidence-boosting sessions following the announcement of redundancies.
Mayoral advice
The Frog-snogger's Guide, by Susan Lancaster and Sean Orford
The publisher says: “This is a guide to getting along with those people we instinctively don't like.”
Tao of Coaching: Boost Your Effectiveness at Work by Inspiring and Developing Those Around You, by Thomas Peters £6.99
The publisher says: “This book is a rich and vivid mix of serious theory, witty practice and handy models. It left me full of ideas and thoroughly motivated.”
The Dictionary of Alternatives: Utopianism and Organization, by Martin Parker £16.14
The publisher says: “Part reference work, part source book and part polemic, this is a rich understanding of how fiction, history and today's politics provide ways of thinking about how we can organize for the new century.”
Reader views (2)
£67.50!!
£67.50?!?!?!
What a staggering misuse of public money, this scandal certainly puts the £100,000 us Londoners contributed to Boris Johnson's mortgage in sharp relief! Good grief, when will this ceaseless muck-raking end, the real scandal is what's happening now, not some books bought more than a year ago. Boris Johnson is a millionaire, yet us Londoners are expected to pay his mortgage for him, when will we see an article about that blatant trough-snouting? The fact that Boris writes for the paper that has led the MPs' expenses scandal is pure coincidence, I'm sure.
- Steve Porter, London W4
Although I myself was never a great fan of ken, I would have to say that surely the acquisition of knowledge, no matter how bizarre it may appear, is a good thing and it's not as if they were acquired for personal use, were they??
- Alan, Romney Marsh UK
