My All-Time Business Book List

Until fairly recently, I included a list of books as part of my LinkedIn profile. While these were not necessarily my all-time favorite books for sheer reading pleasure (for that I thank Haruki Murakami), these were the business books I found distinctly instructive on matters of strategy, leadership, business building and just plain “how to manage stuff.” There’s no shortage of business books, podcasts, and articles in this world, so my humble purpose in publishing this list was simple: help others sift through a mountain of books to get to the ones that really matter. After all, someone referred these to me and I’d like to pass on that favor. But also, this little collection represented my thinking about business and my approach to work, as I (hopefully) internalized and put into practice the lessons and wisdom within these great books. Well, at least that has been my aspiration.

Earlier this year, I blew up/redid my LinkedIn profile and that book list went poof. In this article, I’m re-listing those books in hopes they can be useful to some of you. In future posts, I may try to provide other highly-edited resources like this, but more along the lines of podcast episodes or articles that, in my mind, truly stand out. For now, here’s the book list. Not sexy, no AI, nothing algorithmic, just some well-written and smart books for learning and enjoyment. Hope you find this helpful…

Small Giants (Bo Burlingame) - successful businesses that challenge the notion of growth for growth’s sake and what makes them tick.

Setting the Table (Danny Meyer) - it’s really two books in one: his origin story and the subsequent development and refinement of his brand of “enlightened hospitality”. A must read for high-touch businesses.

Good to Great (Jim Collins) - this is one you read and re-read and never stop coming back to. It overflows with timeless wisdom. There is never a bad time to read this book.

High Output Management (Andrew Grove) - it’s become a trendy/staple Silicon Valley read but I’m always surprised by how little known it is outside of that sphere. Full of smart and practicable advice by someone (legendary) who actually did it.

No Rules Rules (Erin Meyer, Reed Hastings) - the unorthodox and sometimes contrarian business culture philosophy that built Netflix from the guy who built Netflix.

Creativity Inc. (Ed Catmull, Amy Wallace) - the creative ways that a company whose survival depends on creativity unleashes and harnesses…creativity.

Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0 (Jim Collins) - more practical wisdom from Jim Collins. So core and fundamental and highly-applicable in any business context.

Working Backwards (Bill Carr, Colin Bryar) - how business is done at Amazon. Every great business has its own way of doing things. Amazon’s ways are highly indoctrinated and well-covered but this book sums it all up and explains how their unique methodologies underpin their culture and fuel their output.

What You Do Is Who You Are (Ben Horowitz) - the title sort of says it all but this book hits the topic of company culture in a fresh and digestible way.

Shoe Dog (Phil Knight) - sometimes it’s just fun to read about how a business went from nothing to something and what it had to slog through to get there. What a story.

The Power of Habit (Charles Duhigg) - I guess you could call this a “self-help book” but it’s one whose lessons apply broadly. Both high-functioning companies and individuals need to be driven by the right habits and there’s a science to how these habits are formed and kept. Maybe sounds dry but it’s engagingly readable and incredibly useful.

Only the Paranoid Survive (Andrew Grove) - the second book on this list by the great man Andrew Grove, it hits on competition and transformation with urgency and intensity.

That’s it. By the way, the above list is in no particular order…

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