By
El Copeland
October 13, 2025
•
20 min read
Professional Development
Book Club
Book Clubs, Conversations, and Curiosity
Like many MSPs, Rising Tide invests in our people through access to books, trainings, conferences, and certifications. At its core, this is not education for education’s sake: rather, we believe the best technical work starts with curiosity, and we consistently seek ways to foster curiosity as a skill. You see, we think the best solutions come not just from curiosity about technology, but curiosity about each other, about our clients, and about our community. We want to be known as people who ask better questions, understand others' perspectives with clarity, and are always hungry for more. We believe that personal growth will always drive technical and professional success for our team, and as a result, our clients.
Curiosity is not something you learn from an SOP, a certification, or a conference.
So how does a business foster curiosity? Curiosity is not something you learn from an SOP, a certification, or a conference. It’s something you develop by creating the time and space for yourself and your people to feel safe to speak up, to ideate, to build, and to iterate.
We are doing our best to build a culture of curiosity and progress in as many ways as possible, not just through structured education, but in choosing tools, conversations, and activities where we can intentionally seek to learn from and about each other and the world around us. The last part is very important at a core level: we believe every person brings a different background, toolkit, and perspective that strengthens and deepens our own, even — or especially! — when we disagree.
every person brings a different background, toolkit, and perspective that strengthens and deepens our own, even — or especially! — when we disagree.
As a fully remote team of 6, this can be pretty difficult to do since we can’t go out for lunch or have regular physical touchpoints other brick-and-mortar businesses may enjoy. So, one of the standard ways we cultivate this is through scheduled daily and weekly team conversations where we review customer issues, books or videos, conferences attended, or other interesting things we’ve seen that we want to share.
Most recently, we chose to essentially start a book club where we would read The Go-Giver by Bob Burg, together, and to invite clients and friends to review it with us on a weekly call. It was important to us that as a team expectation, we should make sure no one felt the demand too great on top of weekly work expectations. Thus, we decided on reading one chapter (7-10 pages) a week, to make sure that it felt accessible to everyone. (Reading ahead is absolutely allowed and encouraged, but we will only discuss one chapter a week!)
how do you allow for people to join in the conversation even if they didn’t get a chance to read?
The next question for a book club is: how do you facilitate conversation in a way that allows for people to share what was meaningful to them, or to join in the conversation even if they didn’t get a chance to read? In preparing for our book meetings, I sought out online resources with simple chapter-by-chapter discussion questions. However, as a very easy read, it seemed that most questions online covered concepts that spanned multiple chapters, which encouraged reading ahead and missing perhaps some smaller ideas worth savoring in each chapter.
Honestly, we figure we’re not alone in this desire to have simple questions and to walk carefully through conversations, so we've decided to share our own discussion questions, chapter-by-chapter! These questions are written without consideration for future chapters of the book and are meant to help bring in conversation about the topics and themes specifically covered in the given chapter. These questions are open-ended and if you’re facilitating, we encourage you to take the stance of no-wrong-answers, just as an impartial listener. You never know what perspectives or fresh ideas may come out of conversation.
Check out The Go-Getter Chapter One Discussion Questions here.
We’ll continue to add discussion questions and commentary on the book club as we move forward. Next things I’d like to try is to offer facilitation to a team member who has read ahead, to help them stretch their muscles of asking questions and building conversations. What other ideas should we tie in?
Join the Conversation
Want to hang out in these conversations with the Rising Tide team? We meet Fridays at 9:30 AM ET to talk through important business, technological, and communal developments, and for the next 14ish weeks, The Go-Giver! If you’re an MSP owner, consultant, or service professional who wants to grow your team’s emotional intelligence alongside your technical skill, you’re welcome here.
Reach out to partners@risingtidegroup.net for the Rising Tide Fridays Teams link. Bring your coffee and curiosity: no prep required.
As Partner and Business Consultant at Rising Tide, I help organizations align culture with efficiency, bridging the gap between strategy and the everyday systems that make it work. I’ve spent my career leading diverse, cross-functional teams and building communities where people actually want to learn and collaborate. With roots in technology, education, user experience & design, and project management, I specialize in turning complex ideas into clear, actionable plans that keep both people and projects thriving.
Outside of work, you’ll usually find me weight-training, gardening, or rewatching Doctor Who with a cat in my lap.
See some more of our most recent posts...
Chapter-by-Chapter Discussion Questions for The Go-Giver by Bob Burg: Chapter Fourteen: The Go-Giver
Chapter 14 ties The Go-Giver up neatly, and our team's conversation unpacked whether or not Joe’s ending was a success, and if it was relatable to anyone else.
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About this Series
This discussion guide is part of Rising Tide’s Fall 2025 book club, where we’re reading The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann.
If you’re just joining us, here are a few pages you’ll likely benefit from:
- Chapter One – The Go-Getter for an introduction on how to use these Discussion Questions
- Book Clubs, Conversations, and Curiosity for why we started a book club for a technical team here
Chapter Summary
In the final chapter of The Go-Giver, we meet Claire, who is on her way to meet the partners behind an amazingly (even stratospherically) successful new business: Rachel’s Famous Coffee. Chapter 14 ties up the story of The Go-Giver in a neat little bow, showcasing the stratospheric success possible, and encouraging us to share the secret with others along the way.
Discussion Questions
Use these open-ended prompts to guide reflection and conversation. Remember, there are no right answers!
- Joe ends the book in a completely different role than he started. Did that feel like success to you?
- How has your own definition of success changed over time?
- How do you tell the difference between quitting, failing, and evolving? Would this ending feel different if Joe were less financially secure?
- What did you learn from this book? What do you think your key takeaway will be?
Rising Tide Input for your Consideration
- Joe didn’t land the sale, he completely changed his trajectory. What does that mean for you? Sometimes success isn’t what we imagine or set out to accomplish, sometimes it’s adjacent.
- Joe isn’t keeping the secret or the process to himself, he’s actively sharing it with others and using the same framework Pindar gave him.
- As a team, we didn’t really like this book and wouldn’t recommend it to peers who already have practical experience in business or leadership.
- The parable format wasn’t great for our team. It was a good basic overview, but it didn’t go as deep as we felt some of these concepts deserved. While we get that it’s a book with a story that needed to be simplified to get the author’s key ideas across, seven days isn’t enough time for meaningful personal or professional change, and we felt the timeline and simplicity undercut the book’s credibility. Many felt the book oversold its lesson without adequately showing how it applies in complex, real-world situations, added to the fact that since Joe doesn’t apply the lessons over time and he’s rewarded through proximity to power, it made the ending feel uncomfortably like access solves everything.
- The main character wasn’t relatable or aspirational. The team generally struggled with Joe! He started unlikable and never quite crossed into someone the team wanted to root for or become, in fact, as a result, the story ended up feeling like it was more about “who you know.” and being in the right place at the right time. While generosity mattered, only once the right people were involved, which ignores how uneven access to networks really is.
- There are possibly better books out there that communicate similar ideas more effectively. Here are a few of our favorites:
- We hope you’ll join us in 2026 for our next book: Think Naked: Childlike Brilliance in the Rough Adult World by Peter Lloyd Marco Marsan | Goodreads. Get a copy of the book and mark your calendar for January 09, 2026 to talk through the cover and reading plan.
About Rising Tide and our Book Club
Rising Tide helps MSPs and service-focused teams build better systems: the kind that align people with purpose.
Every Friday at 9:30 AM ET, we host Rising Tide Fridays as an open conversation for MSP owners, consultants, and service professionals who want to grow both professionally, technically, and emotionally. Our book for 2026 Quarter 1 is Think Naked: Childlike Brilliance in the Rough Adult World by Marco Marsan.
If that sounds like your kind of crowd, reach out to partners@risingtidegroup.net for the Teams link.
Bring your coffee and curiosity…no prep required.
Chapter-by-Chapter Discussion Questions for The Go-Giver by Bob Burg: Chapter Ten - The Law of Authenticity
What if the real value you bring to your work, clients, and relationships isn’t your pitch, your process, or your polish—but you? This post walks through The Go-Giver’s Law of Authenticity, major blows to self-esteem, and why relationships aren’t 50/50. Learn how to add value simply by showing up as your honest, imperfect self.
Read post
About this Series
This discussion guide is part of Rising Tide’s Fall 2025 book club, where we’re reading The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann.
If you’re just joining us, here are a few pages you’ll likely benefit from:
- Chapter One – The Go-Getter for an introduction on how to use these Discussion Questions
- Book Clubs, Conversations, and Curiosity for why we started a book club for a technical team here
Chapter Summary
In Chapter 10, Joe learns the Fourth Law of Stratospheric Success — “The Law of Authenticity” — from a now-successful saleswoman who found this truth when she was at her lowest.
Discussion Questions
Use these open-ended prompts to guide reflection and conversation. Remember, there are no right answers!
- “These lessons don’t apply only to business…the true bottom line is whether it improves your life’s balance sheet.” What are things that improve your own balance sheet of life? Family? Hobbies? Travel?
- Have you ever had a major blow to your self-esteem like Debra’s husband leaving her? Have you ever looked at is as a gift? What if you did?
- “Add value. I had nothing to add but myself”. Have you ever considered that you, as you are, brings value to a relationship? Yes, your perspective, your experiences, but more than that, your presence is valuable in a relationship!!
- What do you consider to be people skills? To be a person?
Rising Tide Input for your Consideration
- How does privilege (financial cushion, partner support, social safety nets) affect whether we’re able to call adversity a “gift”? As leaders or teammates, what responsibility do we have to build safety nets for our people (policies, culture, financial practices) so they don’t fall off a cliff when life hits?
- John & Julie Gottman – Fighting Right & Repair. The Gottmans’ work shows that what predicts relationship health is not whether you fight, but whether you repair effectively afterward, mirroring what we discussed about client relationships and authenticity.
- Julie and John Gottman: Relationship advice from 50+ years of marriage | TED Talk
- “Happily ever after simply means that both partners are known, valued, accepted for who they are and who they are becoming.” - John M. Gottman
- Julie and John Gottman: Relationship advice from 50+ years of marriage | TED Talk
- Brené Brown – “Marriage is Never 50/50” - Short clip where Brown explains why healthy relationships aren’t equal splits but ebb and flow based on capacity, reinforcing the idea that we bring our best available self, not a fixed quota.sometimes they're 30-70...and sometimes they're 30-30...you should only be expected to bring your best. Because we are rarely able to be 100% consistently!
- The Framemaking Sale - by Brent Adamson and Karl Schmidt; so often relationships aren’t just about US or what we perceive we need to be, but rather how we can make the other person feel confident and comfortable in their own decisions.
About Rising Tide and our Book Club
Rising Tide helps MSPs and service-focused teams build better systems: the kind that align people with purpose.
Every Friday at 9:30 AM ET, we host Rising Tide Fridays as an open conversation for MSP owners, consultants, and service professionals who want to grow both professionally, technically, and emotionally. In Fall/Winter 2025, we’re walking through The Go-Giver, chapter by chapter.
If that sounds like your kind of crowd, reach out to partners@risingtidegroup.net for the Teams link.
Bring your coffee and curiosity…no prep required.
By the [run]Book: Episode 12
Episode 12 explores the second half of the HaloPSA 2.204 release—focusing heavily on operational enhancements that matter to MSPs. From SLA fixes to asset relationship control to better filtering and improved chat API hooks, this is a release packed with workflow refinements.
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In Episode 12 of By the [run]Book, Mendy and Connor continue their deep dive into HaloPSA release v2.204, covering the second half of this massive update. They break down critical enhancements across SLAs, custom fields, assets, chat, Google Workspace, billing, documentation, and integration workflows. This episode is ideal for MSP operators, service managers, and Halo administrators looking to understand not just what changed—but how those changes impact real-world processes.
Here's a few Key impactful updates featured in this episode:
· ATimezone option has been added to Agent details (998146)
Ensures holiday/PTO allowances calculate correctly based on each agent’s actualtimezone—preventing mid-day rollovers for distributed teams.
· Improvementsto the Google Workspace integration (987605)Updated user-matching options to now allow the use of both username and email.
· Restrictedasset relationship types (897671)
Allows admins to control which relationship types can be used between differentasset classes, preventing illogical or messy asset mappings.
· Separatepermission for impersonating users (747369)Impersonation no longer requires full admin rights, enabling safertroubleshooting and testing by leads, onboarding teams, or QA staff.
· Optionto select different email templates when sending invoices (574826)
Staff can now choose from multiple invoice email templates—helpful for voided,corrected, or specialized billing communications.
· NewSLA setting: user replies reset the response target even when on hold (920093)
Fixes unpredictable SLA behavior by ensuring user updates always reset theresponse timer, eliminating false breaches.
· Ticketlist filters now support Client, Site, and User custom fields (965190)
A major visibility upgrade that allows filtering by Client, Site, User customfields, and other options.
· Pre-paybalance type can now be set per contract (758980)
MSPs can now choose hours or currency on a per-contract basis—ideal for clientswith mixed prepay models like retainer hours and project funds.
Watch Now: By the [run]Book: Episode 12
For easier tracking, check out haloreleases.remmy.dev to filter and search HaloPSA updates by ID, version, and keyword.
Full Feature review:
A Timezone option has been added to Agent details which initially will only be used to ensure that the Holiday allowance calculations are correct | v2.204 #998146 | 2:04
Ensures holiday allowance calculations respect each agent’s timezone.
Various Embeddable Chat Widget API improvements | v2.204 #993194 | 7:42
Adds more customization and event capabilities to Halo’s external chat widget.
Various improvements to SAF management | v2.204 #987889 | 9:23
Enhances the Service Architecture Framework.
Improvements to the Google Workspace integration | v2.204 #987605 | 13:02
Adjusts Google user matching behavior.
Added a ticket setting to show the department a team belongs to when assigning/re-assigning | v2.204 #983485 | 15:29
Displays department context during ticket assignment.
The FAQ list now shows in the portal URL when navigating through the Knowledge Base | v2.204 #983353 | 16:02
Improves navigation clarity when browsing FAQs.
Slack notifications can now be triggered by CRM Note updates, Site updates and specific Agent Actions | v2.204 #982479 | 16:27
Expands Slack integration coverage.
Added Agent Team Mappings to Microsoft Entra ID | v2.204 #979667 | 16:36
Allows syncing team membership from Entra ID.
The change management fields ‘Impact’ and ‘Risk’ can now be used in Risk Score calculations | v2.204 #975163 | 19:31
Improves accuracy of Change Management scoring.
Added a general Ticket setting that when enabled, the Can Edit Advanced Ticket Details permission is required to bulk change Ticket Priority | v2.204 #971319 | 21:58
Adds protection against mass-priority edits.
Charge Rates/Types can now be ordered by a sequence number set on the Charge Rate/Type setup | v2.204 #969791 | 22:33
Enables custom sorting of charge rates.
Minor report Chart filtering UX improvements | v2.204 #969514 | 23:20
Improves visual continuity when filtering dashboard charts.
You can now use Client, Site and User Custom Fields as criteria for Ticket List filters | v2.204 #965190 | 24:58
Significantly expands filter capabilities.
Added option to send an Email to a specified Agent when a Runbook fails | v2.204 #957580 | 27:45
New notification option for automation failures.
Added a notification trigger for when a User uploads a document to a specific folder | v2.204 #955651 | 27:53
Useful for client-upload workflows.
Added Access Control to Folders when using Document Management | v2.204 #955650 | 28:09
Brings permissioning to folder-level document storage.
‘Top Level’ field now available when creating an Account/Prospect from the new Opportunity screen | v2.204 #923428 | 30:08
Allows proper top-level assignment for accounts/prospects.
Customer & Site level custom fields now have the option to be displayed under the customer record when logging a ticket | v2.204 #920539 | 32:06
Surfaces client metadata during ticket creation.
Added a global SLA setting to allow user updates to reset the response target regardless of whether the ticket is on hold | v2.204 #920093 | 34:13
Fixes a major SLA limitation.
Added the ability to restrict the allowed relationship types when relating assets | v2.204 #897671 | 39:30
Prevents invalid asset relationship mappings.
You can now import Service Level Agreements (SLAs) & Priorities using an XLS spreadsheet | v2.204 #841750 | 40:34
Enables bulk-import of SLA structures.
Added asset and service business and technical owners as notification recipients | v2.204 #801201 | 41:42
Provides more targeted asset/service notifications.
Improvements to the Jira Software integration | v2.204 #796046 | 43:04
Enhances mapping, syncing, and mention handling.
Unapproved holidays now show with a dotted border | v2.204 #795392 | 44:59
Better visibility in calendars.
You can now save emails from Mail Campaigns as email templates | v2.204 #762793 | 45:06
Allows reuse of campaign email layouts.
Pre-pay balance type can now be set per contract | v2.204 #758980 | 46:33
Adds contract-specific prepay logic.
You can now view the amount of hours invoiced so far on the billing tab of a ticket | v2.204 #749755 | 48:13
Adds visibility into billed time totals.
Added a separate permission for impersonating users | v2.204 #747369 | 48:37
Impersonation no longer requires full admin.
Added option to select different email templates when sending out invoices | v2.204 #574826 | 49:02
Choose among different invoice email templates.
Creating a Purchase Order from a Sales Order line will now set the Sales Order line Supplier field and updating the Purchase Order line price will update the Sales Order line cost | v2.204 #417125 | 50:38
Fixes cost/supplier syncing between SO → PO.