Read to Succeed's preview of 2012 could just as well have been headlined: Read To Survive. Optimists for this year of the dragon are thin on the ground, and the markets are looking bearish. Nevertheless, here are some upcoming 2012 releases that will benefit the professional working hard to prevail over the next 11 fiery months. . One of the books most anticipated this year has been penned by Wall Street Journal columnist and fiendishly clever generalist Jonah Lehrer. Titled Imagine: How Creativity Works, it's unleashed on March 13. What The Dog Saw and Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell has had a sneak peek, and says: 'Jonah Lehrer's new book confirms what his fans have known all along - that he knows more about science than a lot of scientists and more about writing than a lot of writers.' But Lehrer uses science to illustrate how we can all enhance our creative-thinking powers, especially in business. This dude really thinks outside the box, to use a well-worn but apposite clich? Lehrer shows that creativity is not an amorphous gift possessed by a lucky few. Rather, it's a range of distinct thought-processes that we can all channel, in both our personal and professional lives. This is not strictly a business book, but its business and professional applications are tremendous. And if you have enjoyed Gladwell's popular psychology blockbusters, you'll likely love this. A more mainstream title is The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business. Patrick Lencioni is author of nine best-selling books with nearly three million copies sold, including the marvellously titled Death by Meeting, The Three Signs of a Miserable Job and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Lencioni's passion lies in organisations and teams, and how they function and dysfunction. Fortune has cited him as one of the '10 new gurus you should know.' His latest book posits that the key difference between successful and mediocre companies has everything to do with how 'healthy' they are, which he then defines. Healthy organisations, Lencioni maintains, outperform their counterparts, and are free of politics and confusion. What planet is he on? Still, this is one to look out for, especially if your team is misbehaving. It is said that the best time to start a business is during a downturn, as conventional wisdom goes. Out in March, Breakthrough Entrepreneurship: The Proven Framework for Building Brilliant New Ventures by Berkeley professor Jon Burgstone and business journalist Bill Murphy Jr offers - according to its publisher - a complete handbook for aspiring entrepreneurs 'who are seized with the fire of ambition but unsure where to begin.' Multidisciplinary publisher Wiley is unleashing an intriguing looking title in May -You've Got To Be Kidding! How to Keep Your Job Without Losing Your Integrity. So try to cling on to your desk until then. The publisher says it explains how to do the right thing without losing your integrity or your job. It is written to help you and colleagues nurture an ethics-based workplace that's a pleasure to work in - or at least not a gladiatorial amphitheatre, like so many Hong Kong offices. Moreover, it maintains that the best companies to work for - and those that are the most profitable - have a well-formed ethical culture. Therefore, these companies have a strategic advantage. Well that's author Nan DeMars's theory. DeMars is an 'ethics seminar leader and behaviourist', so I wonder how much real-world experience she can draw on. But with such a quirky title -and Wiley's excellent track-record of insightful business titles - I'm going to have to check this out on its mid-year release. The dragon being such an auspicious creature in these parts, 2012 might not prove so testing after all - and who really knows how this year is going to pan out. But if you want to take out a little insurance for your business or career, it may just pay to invest in a little reading.