You are on page 1of 28

years ago, we chose The 100 Best Business Books of All Time.

Since then, thousands of business books have been published.

In this ebook anticipating the launch of the updated paperback version of The 100 Best, we chose books from each subsequent year that are worthy of your time, and suggest

ways you can experience each one of them.

Jack cove rt

and

todd satte rste n

index

2007 1 2 3 4 2008 1 2 3 4 2009 1 2 3 4 2010 1 2 3 4 2011 1 2 3 4

The Dream Manager Growing Great Employees No Mans Land StrengthsFinder 2.0 The Adventures of Johnny Bunko The Back of the Napkin The Knack Tribes The Art of the Idea The Four Conversations The Match King Too Big to Fail The Big Short Rework Switch Where Good Ideas Come From Great by Choice The Lean Startup I Moved Your Cheese The Quest

The 100 Best Business Books of All Time is now available in paperback!
An updated version with expanded reviews, new sidebars, a new introduction, and a closing manifesto. The perfect book to inspire yourself and others in the new year.

Find it at 100bestbiz.com

The Dream Manager


By Matthew kelly Reviewed by Jack

Why You Need It:


With The Dream Manager, storyteller and inspirational speaker, Matthew Kelly, has written a business parable worthy of the master, Pat Lencioni. The book tells the story of a commercial cleaning service with a turnover problem. The company has just over 400 employees and a turnover of over 400% per year. Unconventional solutions ensue including providing employees with transportation to and from the job. But high turnover remains a problem, so the company creates a position titled Dream Manager, and that persons sole job is to meet with the employees and help them think about, plan for, and realize their dreams. In return, the company gains more loyal and productive employees.

Hyperion Books August 2007 iSBn 9781401303709 The 100 Best category: Management

If You Own It:


Reread page 134 to remind yourself of the big picture: An organization changes when the habits of the people who make up that organization change. Get your people in the habit of pursuing and achieving dreams in their personal lives and they will be much more effective at chasing down the goals and dreams you place before them in the workplace. Achieving dreams is a habit.

When You Want More:


Read this authors ChangeThis manifesto: The Turnover Dilemma: A Question to Keep Employees

Matthew Kelly is also the president of Floyd Consulting, a Chicago-based consulting firm; for inspiration, watch his videos on their YouTube Channel. Or, visit his website to find The Best Version of Yourself.

5 43

2007: 1 2 3 4

Growing Great Employees


By erik a anderson Reviewed by Todd

Why You Need It:


Growing Great Employees: Turning Ordinary People into Extraordinary Performers is an incredible primer to teach new managers the skills they need to be successful. Erika describes her book as Good to Great meets Marcus Buckingham in the form of a Boy Scout handbook. The book covers needed skills like hiring, listening, delegating, and yes, firing. Her advice is clear and direct. Managers, new and old, would benefit from reading this one.
Portfolio January 2007 iSBn 9781591841517 now available in paperback: december 2007 iSBn 9781591841906 The 100 Best category: Management

If You Own It:


Turn to Chapter Six and learn about The Social Styles Model. We brought Erika in to teach us about Social Styles and it is one of the most useful tools we learned as an organization. Start on page 93.

When You Want More:


This 2-part, 90-minute interview with Erika from January 2007 covers everything from why having job descriptions is a good idea to the four things every employee needs to do. Part 1 Part 2
Read this authors ChangeThis manifesto: Growing Great New Managers

Erika also wrote a wonderful essay for our 2008 annual titled Why We Love Business Books More Than Ever that you can find on the 800-Ceo-read blog.

5 43

2007: 1 2 3 4

No Mans Land
By doug tatuM Reviewed by Jack

Why You Need It:


No Mans Land : What to Do When Your Company Is Too Big to Be Small but Too Small to Be Big by Doug Tatum is essential reading for any entrepreneur looking to grow their business, or wondering if they even should. Tatum does believe that some businesses have to remain small to remain profitable, but for those that are suited for growth, he delineates four Ms needed to make it a successful venture: Market, Management, Model, and Money. The key to that success, says Tatum, is to implement changes that professionalize the company but keep it focused on the customer the leaders first set out to serve.

Portfolio September 2007 iSBn 9781591841722 now available in paperback: december 2008 iSBn 9781591842491 The 100 Best category: Entrepreneurship

If You Own It:


Return to page 149, and consider: In negotiating the challenges posed by rapid growth, it is important not to neglect a firms morale and emotional health. Tangible things such as money, experienced managers, and a workable business model are critical if a firm is to transition through no mans land, but they arent enough. Entrepreneurs must also take care to sustain forward motion, or momentum, in the organization, even and especially when the firms fortunes appear bleakest.

When You Want More:


In 2007, we had Doug come to speak at a LeaveSmarter event. See it on YouTube. Also read small biz expert Bo Burlingham on doug Tatum and No Mans Land.

5 43

2007: 1 2 3 4

StrengthsFinder 2.0
By toM rath Reviewed by Todd

Why You Need It:


You cannot be everything you want to bebut you can be a lot more of who you already are. This is the mantra of StrengthsFinder 2.0, a book that delivers an updated, more comprehensive version to the popular testing methodology introduced in the 2001 book, Now, Discover Your Strengths. StrengthsFinder 2.0 has been on the national bestseller lists since its publication and has likely sold more copies than any other business books in the last four years.

Gallup Press February 2007 iSBn 9781595620156 The 100 Best category: You

If You Own It:


Turn to the back of the book, grab the code and take the StrengthsFinder test online. From a list of 34 strengths, you will find out the five that best match you in ranked order. Each strength has an extensive description and examples of how people use them. This will be the best 30 minutes you spend this year.

When You Want More:


Todd interviewed Tom in March 2007 and talked about the changes to the test, whether strengths change over time, and if using the test for hiring was a good idea.

The Gallup organization provides many sources for learning more about their strengths theories.

5 43

2007: 1 2 3 4

How do you turn what you know into knowledge you can use?

A new online tool from 800-CEO-READ to help you get the most out of your business reading, by making connections and information actionable.

knowledge-blocks.com
Follow us on Twitter @knowledgeblocks and sign up to receive e-mail updates about the launch of this exciting new business tool.

The Adventures of Johnny Bunko


By dan Pink, art By roB ten Pas Reviewed by Todd

Why You Need It:


Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide Youll Ever Need is unlike any business book youve ever read, and thats just as author Dan Pink wanted it. After visiting Japan on a fellowship, Pink noticed the wide array of information that was conveyed in the comic format known as manga and decided to write a business book for the U.S. market using the same form. Collaborating with artist Rob Ten Pas, Pink creates a conference room-laden, cubicle-infested world that the young Johnny Bunko is trying to navigate. During another late night, thinking his life is going the wrong way, Diana appears literally out of thin air (hey, this is manga) and helps Johnny get his career back on track with a magical seven step process.

Riverhead Books April 2008 iSBn 9781594482915 The 100 Best category: You

If You Own It:


Its a comic book; start at the beginning.

When You Want More:


Pink wrote a piece for Wired Magazine in October 2007 called Japan, Ink about his experiences overseas with manga. The issue also featured an outstanding guide to mangas impact in the U.S. presented in, what else, manga.

5 43

2008: 1 2 3 4

The Back of the Napkin


By dan roaM Reviewed by Todd

Why You Need It:


75% of the neurons in our brain devoted to sensory input work with visual information and Roam makes the argument in The Back of The Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas With Pictures that we should better utilize this brainpower to do better business. He has been on a crusade to get audiences past the fear that they cant draw and move them toward the insight that using pictures, regardless of skill level, solves problems quicker and more effectively. The field of visual thinking has exploded in the last few years and the time has come for everyone to grab their Sharpie.

Portfolio March 2008 iSBn 9781591841999 expanded edition: december 2009 The 100 Best category: Big Ideas

If You Own It:


The decoder ring on page 141 shows the six basic questions of who/what, how much, where, when, how and why with the appropriate pictures to answer each of those questions. This alone is worth the price of two books (one for you, the other for a friend).

Read this authors ChangeThis manifestos: Found In Translation: The Case for Pictures in Business The 10 Commandments of Visual Thinking The Lost Chapter from The Back of the Napkin

When You Want More:


Watch Dans authors@Google Talk from June 2008.

5 43

2008: 1 2 3 4

The Knack (Street Smarts)


By norM Brodsk y and Bo BurlinghaM Reviewed by Jack

Why You Need It:


Books about the entrepreneur who made it big are often filled with more celebrity and celebration than hard-won lessons and real life pain. The Knack: How Street-Smart Entrepreneurs Learn to Handle Whatever Comes Up (paperback retitled Street Smarts) is a wonderful exception. The book introduces readers to Bobby and Helene Stone. Bobby has just lost his job and decides to join his wifes computer supply business that she runs out of the couples home. And through the Stones story, authors Norm Brodsky and Bo Burlingham tell the quintessential tale of every entrepreneurthe seed of a new enterprise, the quest for independence, and the fear of failure (and bankruptcy).

Portfolio October 2008 iSBn 9781591842217 Retitled Street Smarts, now available in paperback: February 2010 iSBn 9781591843207 The 100 Best category: Entrepreneurship

If You Own It:


Post these lines from page 41 where you can see them: The Bottom Line Point one: Those who persevere win. Be resilient and welcome failure. Thats how you become a better businessperson. Point Two: You learn by refusing to make excuses and looking inside yourself for the reason things have gone wrong. Point Three: Focus and discipline are more important than identifying opportunities, but they have to be balanced with flexibility. Point Four: The solutions are seldom right in front of you. You need to learn how to spot them out of the corner of your eye.

When You Want More:


Watch a Book Brief video. See Inc. articles by Norm Brodsky and Bo Burlingham.

5 43

2008: 1 2 3 4

Tribes
By seth godin Reviewed by Jack and Todd

Why You Need It:


The subtitle for Tribes is We Need You To Lead Us. The call to action is clear and powerful, exactly what you would expect from marketer Seth Godin. But when was the last time a books subtitle expected so much from the reader? Think about how that simple statement turns all of the expectations around. In Tribes, Seth says not only are we all marketers, but we are also now leaders, leaders who have to deal with change, hope, fear, faith, and risk. He says existing guilds, legions and platoons are just waiting for someone to step forward. It is time to look at Godin as more than a marketer; he too is a leader of tribes.

Portfolio October 2008 iSBn 9781591842330 The 100 Best category: Leadership

If You Own It:


Every time it gets tough, re-read page 55: Leadership is scarce because few people are willing to go through the discomfort required to lead. This scarcity makes leadership valuable. In other words, if everyone could do it, they would, and it wouldnt be worth much. Its uncomfortable to stand up in front of strangers. Its uncomfortable to propose an idea that might fail. Its uncomfortable to challenge the status quo. Its uncomfortable to resist the urge to settle. When you identify the discomfort, youve found the place where a leader is needed.
Read this authors ChangeThis manifesto: How to Sell a Book (or Any New Idea)

When You Want More:


Seth spoke about Tribes at Ted in 2009.

5 43

2008: 1 2 3 4

What is the future of publishing?

Find out at oreilly.com

The Art of the Idea


By John hunt Reviewed by Todd

Why You Need It:


At first, you might think we chose this book because of the beautiful imagery by artist Sam Nhlengethwa. However, the words that author John Hunt has written about creating ideas are equally beautiful and eloquent and make this a book that everyone should read. The trouble is that most people dont think they are in the idea business. Of course, we all are, but we let fear and logic and incrementalism sap the strength of our intentions and the will to see our ideas come to life. The Art of the Idea and how it can change your life reminds us again what is possible.

powerHouse Books October 2009 iSBn 9781576875162 The 100 Best category: Innovation and Creativity

If You Own It:


Start with Observation No. 11: An IDEA is a PARADIGM SHIFTING moment that forward projects FUTURE POTENTIAL in an initially ETHEREAL but progressively tangible MANNER.

When You Want More:


Watch Johns talk at The Berlin School of Creative Leadership from November 2009:
The art of the Idea, Part 1 The art of the Idea, Part 2 The art of the Idea, Part 3 The art of the Idea, Part 4 The art of the Idea, Part 5 The art of the Idea, Part 6

5 43

2009: 1 2 3 4

The Four Conversations


By Jeffery ford and laurie ford Reviewed by Todd

Why You Need It:


The Fords The Four Conversations: Daily Communication that Gets Results is about making the exchange of words mean something beyond the definition of the words themselves. This focus on intention welcomes clarity and progress. Initiative conversations set the vision and direction, like John F. Kennedys 1961 speech that committed putting men on the moon. If initiative conversations are about what, when, and why, understanding conversations answer the who and the how. These conversations ground individuals at the start of a project by laying out the roles they will play, and reinforce the value of the initiative. Understanding conversations do not create action, however; thats the purpose of performance conversations: ask that something be done and obtain a promise for completion. Closure conversations mark an ending and create the opportunity for new beginnings.

Berrett-Koehler August 2009 iSBn 9781576759202 The 100 Best category: Management

If You Own It:


Go back and read about the Four As of closure conversations. These conversations are the least used and probably most important to allow things to move forward. Start on page 134.

When You Want More:


In this interview with Jeffery Ford in August 2009, we talked about midwestern sensibilities, amending broken agreements, and the frequency with which we use The Four Conversations.

5 43

2009: 1 2 3 4

The Match King


By frank Partnoy Reviewed by Jack

Why You Need It:


In The Match King: Ivar Kreuger, the Financial Genius Behind a Century of Wall Street Scandals, Frank Partnoy brings Ivar Kruegar, and the practices and punishments of living and doing business during the Depression, to life. We learn how Kreuger cornered the market on matches in his native Sweden and, using creative accounting, was able to ride that success to riches beyond belief until the market collapsed and so did his house of cards. So brilliant is Partnoys portrayal that I kept reading the book even as I walked to my car from the office at night.

PublicAffairs April 2009 iSBn 9781586487430 now available in paperback: March 2010 iSBn 9781586488123 The 100 Best category: Narratives

If You Own It:


Just flip to page 6 to get a feel for why a story about such a benign product is so full of drama: American consumers and investors were in a buying mood. Ivar wantedand neededtheir dollars, and he had a plan to get them. By 1922, he had mastered the complexities of modern finance, and had created a web of related corporations and new financial instruments spanning the globe. But Ivar wasnt trying to sell anything complex. At least not at first. This time, his pitch involved a basic and essential product everyone used and could understand, something even more straightforward and common than cars or radio. That product was the safety match.

When You Want More:


Author Frank Partnoys talk at the Roosevelt Institute about Off-Balance Sheet Transactions offers insight into the history and current state of shady accounting.

5 43

2009: 1 2 3 4

Too Big to Fail


By andrew ross sorkin Reviewed by Jack

Why You Need It:


Even though Too Big to Fail was written during the same year the financial collapse occurred, Andrew Ross Sorkin has written what we predict will remain the definitive book on the subject. Sorkin not only tells a gripping perfect storm storyreporting the gory details as our 401ks disappeared and our financial system became nationalizedbut he humanizes the players as well, resulting in an imminently readable, albeit lengthy, book. Packed with great stories and detailed insider information, Too Big to Fail is a sobering reflection on and a critical reminder of what transpired in recent financial history.

Viking Books October 2009 iSBn 9780670021253 now available in paperback: May 2011 iSBn 9780143120278 The 100 Best category: Narratives

If You Own It:


Go to page 534 for the answer to the question: Could the financial crisis have been avoided? That is the $1.1 trillion questionthe price tag of the bailout thus far. The answer to that question is perhaps. But the preemptive strike would probably have had to come long before Henry Paulson was sworn in as secretary of the Treasury in the spring of 2006. The seeds of disaster had been planted years earlier with such measures as: the deregulation of the banks in the late 1990s; the push to increase home ownership, which encouraged lax mortgage standards; historically low interest rates, which created the liquidity bubble; and the system of Wall Street compensation that rewarded short-term risk taking. They all came together to create the perfect storm.

When You Want More:


Watch a CBS MoneyWatch interview with Sorkin.

5 43

Plan a movie night to see HBos Too Big to Fail.


2009: 1 2 3 4

The 100 Best Business Books of All Time digital version available on amazon, Barnes & Noble and iTunes

The Big Short


By Michael lewis Reviewed by Jack

Why You Need It:


Michael Lewis has crafted an impressive collection of nonfiction that represents the very best of the genre. With The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, Lewis applies his keen investigative instinct and careful re-creation of real-life characters to this elucidative morality play documenting our current economic predicament. Michael Lewis is a writer who entertains us, and in the process, educates us about both business and the human spirit.
W. W. norton & Company March 2010 iSBn 9780393072235 now available in paperback: February 2011 iSBn 9780393338829 The 100 Best category: Narratives

If You Own It:


On page 256, Lewis keeps it simple: The line between gambling and investing is artificial and thin. The soundest investment has the defining trait of a bet (you losing all of your money in hopes of making a bit more), and the wildest speculation has the salient characteristic of an investment (you might get your money back with interest). Maybe the best definition of investing is gambling with the odds in your favor. The people on the short side of the subprime mortgage market had gambled with the odds in their favor. The people on the other sidethe entire financial system, essentiallyhad gambled with the odds against them. Up to this point, the story of the big short could not be simpler. Whats strange and complicated about it, however, is that pretty much all the important people on both sides left the table rich.

When You Want More:


Author Michael Lewis discusses The Big Short and the future of finance at UC Berkeley.

5 43

2010: 1 2 3 4

Rework
By Jason fried, david heineMeier hansson Reviewed by Jack

Why You Need It:


Whether youre managing a company, running a small business, or wanting to start one, Rework will change all preconceptions of how to do those things. Its not contrarian for its own sake, but intuitively insightful, and refreshing in a time when job security is not what it once was. It provides hope for what can be, and will go down in history as a business book that made a big difference.

Crown Business March 2010 iSBn 9780307463746 The 100 Best category: Management

If You Own It:


Page 271 will remind you that: Inspiration is perishable. If you want to do something, youve got to do it now. You cant put it on the shelf and wait two months to get around to it. You cant just say youll do it later. Later, you wont be pumped up about it anymore. If youre inspired on a Friday, swear off the weekend and dive into the project. When youre high on inspiration, you can get two weeks work done in twenty-four hours. Inspiration is a time machine in that way. Inspiration is a magical thing, a productivity multiplier, a motivator. But it wont wait for you. Inspiration is a now thing. If it grabs you, grab it right back and put it to work.

When You Want More:


Read the authors ChangeThis manifesto: Rework: A Better, Easier Way To Succeed In Business

See the Big Think interview. Watch Jason Frieds Ted talk about why work doesnt happen at work.

5 43

2010: 1 2 3 4

Switch
By chiP heath and dan heath Reviewed by Todd

Why You Need It:


The Heath brothers first book Made To Stick presented a brilliant framework for making ideas memorable. The authors found a very receptive audience, but they were always asked, How do we get people to change? Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard is their answer to that question. By introducing readers to the very sticky concept of our internal elephant and rider, and how to get them both on the right path, the Heaths effectively show how we can better understand our own resistance to change and how we often misinterpret what the people around us are experiencing when they are going through significant change.

Broadway Business February 2010 iSBn 9780385528757 The 100 Best category: Big Ideas

If You Own It:


Read Chapter 5: Find the Feeling. As many times as we have heard about the important role emotion plays in change efforts, we still tend to use the A NALY ZE-THINKCHA NGE model, rather than the more successful SEEFEEL-CHA NGE.
Read the authors ChangeThis manifesto: Talking Strategy: Three Straightforward Ways to Make Your Strategy Stick

When You Want More:


Listen to this interview with Chip Heath from February 2010.

5 43

2010: 1 2 3 4

Where Good Ideas Come From


By steven Johnson Reviewed by Todd

Why You Need It:


Steven Johnson has been writing about the pursuit of science for a decade. Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation synthesizes what Johnson has learned from writing narratives like Ghost Map and The Invention of Air. While this book is based in the world of science, it is a small step to see how his collective of seven patterns of successful innovation have ample business applications.
Riverhead Books October 2010 iSBn 9781594487712 now available in paperback: October 2011 iSBn 9781594485381 The 100 Best category: Innovation and Creativity

If You Own It:


Read Chapter II about liquid networks. Steven says its the unique properties of carbon atoms and water molecules that created the unique environment that produced early life. The implications for meeting structure and office design are enormous.

When You Want More:


Hard to choose between Johnsons whiteboarded pitch for the book or his talk from TEDGLOBAL 2010. Heres both:
Watch the book pitch. Watch the Ted talk.

5 43

2010: 1 2 3 4

The 100 Best Business Books of All Time audio version available on audible and iTunes

Great by Choice
By JiM collins and Morten t. hansen Reviewed by Jack

Why You Need It:


Management guru, Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, has written, this time with Morten Hansen, another seminal book. All of Collinss books are research-based and are often quite contrarian. In Great By Choice, Collins and Hansen deconstruct the successes of a final set of companies researchers call 10X because they beat their industry index by at least 10 times. I appreciate that for people who have read Good to Great this sounds familiar, but the difference is the second of the basis tests the researchers used: The enterprise achieved these results in a particularly turbulent environment, full of events that were uncontrollable, fast-moving, uncertain and potentially harmful.

HarperBusiness October 2011 iSBn 9780062120991 The 100 Best category: Strategy

If You Own It:


Read pages 27-30 to learn about the value of productive paranoia in 10Xer companies: By embracing the myriad of possible dangers, they put themselves in a superior position to overcome danger. 10Xers distinguish themselves not by paranoia per se, but by how they take effective action as a result. Paranoid behavior is enormously functional if fear is channeled into extensive preparation and calm, clear-headed action, hence our term productive paranoia.

When You Want More:


Read Collins Fortune article on How to Manage Through Chaos. Watch Morten Hansen on Innovation.

5 43

2011: 1 2 3 4

The Lean Startup


By eric ries Reviewed by Todd

Why You Need It:


Ries wants to change how entrepreneurship is practiced. He believes that we are at the beginning of a startup renaissance and that learning how to start a business will be taught with the same rigor as management is at the top business schools. The Lean Startup: How Todays Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses marks a step forward for the movement, one that borrows from The Toyota Production System, the Scientific Method, and Agile Programming to provide a framework based on constant learning rather than blind guessing.

Crown Business March 2010 iSBn 9780307463746 The 100 Best category: Entrepreneurship

If You Own It:


Go back and read Chapter 8: Pivot (or Persevere). Ries lists ten possible moves as your startup searches for its business model from switching the customer need being fulfilled to zooming in on one feature and making it the whole product.

When You Want More:


Watch Ries opening to the Startup Lessons Learned conference from April 2010.

5 43

2011: 1 2 3 4

I Moved Your Cheese


By deePak Malhotra Reviewed by Todd

Why You Need It:


You might mistake this book as fan fiction or a parody of the 20-million copy bestseller Who Move My Cheese? Its not. Malhorta has written a thoughtful extension to the original fable, a rebuttal of sorts, as the title, I Moved Your Cheese: For Those Who Refuse to Live as Mice in Someone Elses Maze, makes clear. He acknowledges that change is ever-present in our lives, but to stop at that conclusion and look only at how we can learn to accept change is a mistake; the better question is to ask about the very existence of the maze, and about whether change really is inevitable or at least uncontrollable. The mice, Max, Big and Zed, each choose to confront the reality of the maze and arrive at wonderfully different answers.

Berrett-Koehler September 2011 iSBn 9781609940652 The 100 Best category: You

If You Own It:


Start at the beginning and read it again.

When You Want More:


Read the Harvard Business School interview with Malhotra.

5 43

2011: 1 2 3 4

The Quest
By daniel yergin Reviewed by Jack

Why You Need It:


Ten years ago, the author wrote a book called The Prize, a Pulitzer Prize winner that told the history of oil. In The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World, Yergin uses a wider lens to capture the larger energy picture, looking beyond the oil industry to include coal, nuclear, and natural gas, as well as less common energy sources like solar, wind, and biofuels, and analyzing the choices we make to generate electricity, drive our cars and heat our homes. Yergin has a real talent for explaining complicated issues with great story-telling and this book will help you to understand some of the complex issues regarding energy that we need to deal with globally, and will keep you thoroughly entertained through all 816 pages.

Penguin Press September 2011 iSBn 9781594202834 The 100 Best category: Narratives

If You Own It:


Just read the 8-page introduction to understand the significance and importance of the subject and the amazing quality of the storytelling.

When You Want More:


Read the New York Times review in case you need some more convincing to read an 816 page book. Listen to Yergin on fracking and questing on NPr.org.

5 43

2011: 1 2 3 4

Now available in paperback.

You might also like