Christmas recommendations: Break your habits and live out your astronaut dreams - INVI

Do you have plenty of time during the holidays? Or just a few late night gaps? The INVI team has gathered Christmas recommendations to suit it all! There's something for the thoughtful reader, the curious explorer and the political TV nerd. And if you want to slam the bars up on the chaise lounge and bust a gut? Then you'll have two wild movies to do just that.

And scroll all the way to the bottom to see which books we went on Christmas vacation with.

Want to see what books INVI employees got for Christmas? Read to the bottom of the article!

BOG: "To change everything, you must first find the one thing that changes everything."

We're about to make a lot of promises to ourselves and each other. We'll eat healthier, run more, work smarter or be braver. 2025 will be the year, we think - again! But often the balloon quickly deflates - and we're back to the same old patterns.

The Power of Habit by Pulitzer Prize winner Charles Duhigg is not just a book - it's a revelation. It can help with both sugar and social change.

Duhigg takes something as mundane as habits and turns it into a key that can unlock both personal breakthroughs and major systemic change - and with good reason, he's been quite successful at it.

With stories ranging from the success of Starbucks to the careers of NFL players to the citizens of small-town Mississippi, Duhigg weaves science and stories together in a way that makes it easy to read and hard to put down. The message is simple, as the best ones often are: Change is not random. It is structured, and it begins with identifying the crucial habits that have the power to pull all the others with them. As he writes: "To change everything, you must first find the one thing that changes everything."

Sum. If you've ever struggled with creating change - in yourself, in your work, or in larger contexts - The Power of Habit is an inspiring guide to finding that one habit that can act as the domino that topples the old and paves the way for the new. And it's not hocus pocus, it's pure science.

Happy reading, happy hunting for the thing and happy new year!

Tine Maria Borresø, INVI's Head of Communications, recommends The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

FILM: A wild child

Benni is ten years old and has a volcano of anger that erupts at any moment. Her mother gives up and now the system is left with a child who is untamable. Benni doesn't expect to be able to count on any adult, and the German system pulls out all the stops. Educational (distanced) love, pacifying injections, helmets with thousands of wires to understand what's wrong inside the little girl's head.

But Benni is a "system breaker". She cannot be understood within the system - and therefore cannot be handled. Social educators, child psychiatrists and well-meaning caseworkers cram Benni into boxes she can't fit into.

Watch the award-winning System Breaker for free - or rather for the mere sum of 4 points - on Filmstriben.

Anders Degn, Communications Consultant at INVI, recommends the movie "System Breaker" directed by Nora Fingscheidt

FILM: Are people born wicked?

I would like to recommend the movie Wicked. Which of course is obvious when we are called the Institute for Wicked Problems. An iconic musical and an iconic movie that opens with the quote. "Are people born wicked, or do they have wickedness thrust upon them". In the same way, in INVI we can ask: Are problems born wicked, or do they become wicked as a result of the way we have tried to solve them with one-size-fits-all solutions and by putting them into certain boxes?

It's inherently queer to break out of boxes and break conventions. That's what we're trying to do in INVI, and there's no better example of that in popular culture than in the movie Wicked.

Sofie Burgos-Thorsen, INVI's Head of Research, recommends the movie "Wicked" directed by Winnie Holzman

GAMES: Explore the unknown

I would like to recommend the video game Outer Wilds. Outer Wilds is not just a game - it's a unique, deeply engaging experience that can only be conveyed through the medium of gaming. You step into the role of a curious astronaut, tasked with exploring a fascinating solar system filled with secrets, ancient ruins and traces of a lost space civilization.

Each planet visit reveals new pieces of a grand and interwoven mystery that spans both time and space. The game's combination of exploration, creative problem solving and an atmospheric, handcrafted world make it truly special. With ingenious mechanics, great music and a story that rewards your curiosity, Outer Wilds offers an experience that both challenges and moves you.

If you love mystery, adventure and the unforgettable feeling of discovering the unknown, Outer Wilds is a game not to be missed.

Sam Rahbar, Junior Analyst at INVI, recommends the video game "Outer Wilds", available on PlayStation, Xbox and Windows.

TV: "The best piece of political satire ever made"

If you're interested in political entertainment, it doesn't get much better than BBC 2. It's a channel that's impossible to find as a regular consumer, but if you succeed (and the internet knows how), you'll find gems.

Here are two: (i) The Thick It, the best piece of political satire ever made. (ii) The Wolf Hall series, based on Hillary Mantell's bestselling trilogy, about royal advisor Thomas Cromwell trying to deal with his boss's penchant for new queens while pushing for a reformation of the Church of England - all without losing his head. It's social change in 1500 - and it's hugely entertaining.

Esben Dahl Sørensen recommended by INVI's Head of Finance and Development

BOOK: Read it or look up

I would like to recommend the book "Look Up" by Jakob Sorgenfri Kjær. Just when I thought I was getting the hang of how tech giants are taking over our lives through data and manipulative, time-consuming design, this book comes along and makes me smarter. Combining the latest knowledge from a wide range of professionals and personal accounts, this is popular science at its best.

It once again emphasizes the importance of togetherness, presence, concentration and contemplation. Things that you might just have time to reflect on during the holidays? And if you don't have the energy to spend your Christmas reading, you can also just follow the simple message of the book - look up more.

Sina Jæger, PA for Sigge Winther Nielsen, recommends "Look up" by Jakob Sorgenfri Kjær

What should INVI read over Christmas? We all got books to take on vacation - check them out here (read all the titles below the picture):