5 Mind-Blowing Business Books
The past decade has been a flood of great marketing books, all aiming to provide the “big picture” of how the mind of a customer works. Few of them have been as interesting as Predictably Irrational, which is funny, concise and thoroughly researched. I enjoyed this because it made me re-examine all my assumptions about human behavior, from shopping to politics.
Learn More: Dan Ariely speaking @ TED (video)
By far, the best detailed guide to self-mastery I’ve read. Overflowing with concepts, exercises, case studies and been-there advice, the author manages to make high performance workflow into a step by step manual. Best of all, he talks to you like an adult the entire time. Highly recommended.
Learn More: free PDF preview chapter
Although the author has a tendency to ramble, that’s a typical side effect of being a genius. Of the 5 listed here, this is the most truly mind-blowing, a long, globalized rant from the smartest professor you’ve had, informing you that Everything You Know is Wrong. His core obsessions are risk, randomness, and rare events. This book is even remarkable for it’s timing, having arrived just a few months before the global economy began to crack.
Learn More: The Author discusses Geithner and Obama (video)
Here’s the pitch: right now, more than half of the human race lives in a city. By 2050, that number will be over 75%. This book is a well-presented, numbers oriented and business minded investigation of those statements. The patterns and trends of urbanization are the future of the real estate market, and this book is a guided tour of the next 40 years.
Learn More: Business Week Review
Listing this as a “business book” might be unorthodox, but this large, colorful book has been a valuable tool for inspiration and innovation. You see, it’s about our environmental problems, and includes some of the best summary writing about the State of the World you’ll find…but it’s definitely not a list of problems. It’s a huge catalog of solutions from around the world, from the low-tech to the sci-fi, and I’ve always found WorldChanging to be a testament to human ingenuity.
Learn More: WorldChanging Blog
World Changing is one of the best books (and websites) I’ve ever read. The solutions-based approach to life is by far the most opportunistic method of creating results. This simple notion is the crux of all innovation and technology, so while this might not be a “business book,” it is certainly a worthwhile investment for your business intelligence.
Your other recos are on point too Justin. Fine choices through out. Keep these guys IN THE KNOW!
Superb list, a few I that were unknown to me. I would like to recommend a few to you from a previous generation:
Peter Drucker, The Age of Discontinuity
Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich
Ben Graham, The Intelligent Investor
John Muir, The Velvet Monkey Wrench
Marshall McLuhan, Take Today: The Executive As Dropout