Books & Reviews
[Review] Smart Leaders, Smarter Teams
If your company is under-performing despite having a A team, you may be suffering from a case of "unilateral control mindset", asserts Roger Schwarz, author of "Smart Leaders, Smarter Teams".
[Review] The Innovator’s Dilemma
Backed by rigorous research, Clayton Christensen's "The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business" builds a premise that even well-managed companies that watch competitors, listen to customers, and invest heavily in new technologies can still lose market dominance.
[Review] The E-Myth Revisited
While "The E-Myth Revisited" may have been written quite some time ago, its teachings still ring true in this day and age. Although social technologies have transformed the business and consumer landscape, the basic principles of sound businesses still apply.
[Review] Unrelenting Innovation
There's plenty already written on the topic of innovation, but "Unrelenting Innovation: How to Build a Culture for Market Dominance" by Gerard J. Tellis is still likely to offer fresh new insight for those who're involved in building innovative organizations.
[Review] Enchantment
Keen to change the world? Want to transform your "caterpillars" into "butterflies"? Guy Kawasaki's "Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions" may show you a trick or two.
[Review] Startup Guide For The Technopreneur
If you're a startup founder that needs to understand and work out the financial aspects for your company, "Start-Up Guide for the Technopreneur" by David Shelters is a must-read.
[Review] Rework
Divided into 12 short chapters on various aspects of business - from progress to productivity and competitors to culture - "Rework" by founders of 37Signals Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson isn't an ordinary book on entrepreneurship.
[Review] How Pleasure Works
Written by Yale's evolutionary psychologist Paul Bloom, "How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like" uncovers the "new science of why we like what we like" by delving into the fields of anthropology, evolution, history, biology and psychology, and investigates why we humans are so different compared to our fellow earthlings.
[Review] Out-Executing The Competition
"Out-Executing the Competition: Building and Growing a Financial Services Company in Any Economy" is a part-autobiography, part-business guide written by Irv Rothman, the president and CEO of HP Financial Services that covers issues such as leadership and business transformation.
[Review] The Book of Business Awesome/The Book Of Business UnAwesome
Written in tongue-in-cheek fashion with unabashed directness, "The Book of Business Awesome / The Book of Business UnAwesome" is a unique two-in-one volume by "UnMarketing" consultant Scott Stratten that's laced with numerous case studies on what worked - and sucked - in the fields of social media, PR, customer service, HR, branding and other related areas.
[Review] Mastering Story, Community & Influence
Jay Oatway's "Mastering Story, Community and Influence: How to Use Social Media to Become a Socialeader" details not only the role of social media plays in modern-day narrative and competitive landscape, but how one can also maximize one's own digital influence whether in a personal or professional capacity.
[Review] How China’s Leaders Think
In How China’s Leaders Think, author and investment banker Robert Kuhn notes that Chinese leaders recognize that free access to information is critical for technological advancement and competitive success in world markets.
[Review] Startup Communities
In "Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City", author Brad Feld explores the various factors that contribute to a successful startup community and argues that the success of a startup community is heavily dependent on the make-up of the environmental and geographical factors in which that community resides.
[Review] Great By Choice
"Great by Choice" is a highly thought provoking business book by bestselling "Good to Great" author Jim Collins and his partner Morten T. Hansen that attempts to find a "secret sauce" to enduring corporate performance.
[Review] Going Social
"Going Social: Excite Customers, Generate Buzz, and Energize Your Brand with the Power of Social Media" by social marketing practitioner Jeremy Goldman, shows how companies can inject "social" into their business processes.
[Review] Return On Influence
Written by marketing consultant Mark Schaefer, "Return On Influence: The Revolutionary Power of Klout, Social Scoring, and Influence Marketing" traces the origins of "citizen influence" on the social web, delves deeply into the world of Klout, and provides tips on how one can navigate this new digital landscape.
[Review] Secrets To Entrepreneurial Success
"Secrets to Entrepreneurial Success" provides the new entrepreneur much advice at every stage in the growth cycle of a small business, from starting up to growth to near exit, and shares wisdom and simple common sense in equal measure.
[Review] Gamestorming
Written in an easily digestible format laced with useful illustrations and examples, "Gamestorming" provides a useful blend of theory, tools, and techniques that anybody tasked with collective problem solving can adopt.
[Review] Beam, Straight Up
Fred Noe, author of "Beam, Straight Up" and a 7th-generation Beam (of the Jim Beam fame), is an inside look at the family that's pretty much created the Kentucky bourbon whiskey category, and helped cement the drink as America's "native spirit".
[Review] The Wisdom Of Failure
"The Wisdom of Failure: How to Learn the Tough Leadership Lessons Without Paying the Price", authored by Laurence G. Weinzimmer and Jim McConoughey, dissects the kinds of leadership, both good and bad, that can be found in different company cultures and distils the essence of what can be learned from those leadership behaviors.
[Review] Start With Why
What is the magic ingredient embodied by those icons of business we so admire? The answer, according to Simon Sinek, is that they inspire others to take action by beginning with "Why".
[Review] The Rebel Entrepreneur
You know the conventional advice that can now be found everywhere, in books, blogs, newspapers and entrepreneur magazines? Jonathan Moules, who has devoted six years to interviewing and reporting on successful entrepreneurs as the Enterprise Editor for The Financial Times, tries to turn some of this advice on its head with his book "The Rebel Entrepreneur".
[Review] Innovate The Pixar Way
"Innovate The Pixar Way" relates how Ed Catmull, Alvy Ray Smith and lengendary animator John Lasseter created a company which captures the imagination of childhood while making dreams come alive.
[Review] Howard’s Gift
Entrepreneur Eric C. Sinoway's book "Howard's Gift: Uncommon Wisdom to Inspire Your Life's Work" is a tribute to his mentor Howard Stephenson, one of the key figures at Harvard Business School, who has taught thousands of bright young minds over 40 years.
[Review] HBR’s 10 Must Reads: On Change
Harvard Business Review's latest compilation "HBR's 10 Must Reads" is a selection of carefully selected journal articles centered on the most pressing issues of management.
[Review] Our Iceberg Is Melting
"Our Iceberg Is Melting" is a fable by Harvard professor John Kotter about a penguin colony in Antarctica that weaves Kotter's eight steps of leading change to the lives of a group of emperor penguins.
[Review] The Art And Science Of Entrepreneurship
Is entrepreneurship an art or a science? Does founding and leading a company require finesse, gut feel, some degree of luck, or does it rely more on careful planning, surgical execution and detailed and constant reevaluation? The book "The Art and Science of Entrepreneurship" by Inderjit Singh attempts to answer the question even as he shares his lessons learned as an entrepreneur himself.
[Review] Execution – The Discipline of Getting Things Done
In a world inundated with numerous management theories, "Execution" provides a great reminder that winning companies are not built through brilliant strategies but a relentless focus on implementation.
[Review] Building A Small Business That Warren Buffett Would Love
In the book "Building a Small Business that Warren Buffett Would Love", author Adam Brownlee puts together some advice for small business owners on how to structure their companies with fundamentals that would impress the Oracle of Omaha.
[Review] Who Killed Change?
Written by Ken Blanchard of "The One Minute Manager" fame, together with his co-authors John Britt, Pat Zigarmi and Judd Hoekstra, "Who Killed Change?" is a whodunnit with a business twist.