Books that help me think and work

05 Sep Books that help me think and work

Books are one of my favourite things—ebooks, audiobooks, paper and ink books. I love diving into people’s ideas and thinking because, in turn, they get me thinking in new ways, inspire more than a few of my articles and often wind their way into my work. Meetings with me will nearly always include the names of a few recommended books.

Correspondingly, I’m also a sucker for others’ reading lists. So, in the spirit of the genre, here are 15 books I rely on and love (I could easily list 100). There are old friends I come back to again and again and some more recent literary acquaintances. And they’re all readily available at your preferred bookstore.

In alphabetical order by title, 15 books for your business and life …

1. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
With a light and compassionate touch, Gilbert encourages using our curiosity to unleash the creative soul within. So whether you build organisations, string code, crunch numbers, flip burgers or dally with ideas, there’s something here for you.

2. Deep Work by Cal Newport
Life is full of distractions. So how do you get below the noise and focus on what matters to you? Newport shares a few ideas about how to “foster a practice of distraction-free productivity at work”. I’ve used his thinking numerous times to talk about the work needed to build the brand result you want.

3. Do I Make Myself Clear by Harold Evans
We can all write better, and Evans is on a mission to help us. It’s required reading for anyone who needs to string a sentence together (so all of us). Add The Writers Diet by Helen Sword and give your prose some punch.

4. Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
The granddaddy of finding your calling and what makes people happy in work—it is hard to find other books of this ilk that don’t refer back to Flow. A bit academic but jam-packed with enough ‘ah ha’ moments and examples to help you sail through.

5. Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman
Burkeman wants us to accept both our finitude and modest place in the world as marked by a horrifyingly short 4000 weeks alive. Which is strangely uplifting. Using equal measures of straight talk and kindness, he provides valuable examples for navigating the time we have. The result is a practical and grounded philosophy perfect for people like me who get itchy when talk turns to grand passion as the only path to a meaningful life.

6. Good to Great by Jim Collins
The bestselling business book of all time. And even if you want to pick a bone about the research examples who have since fallen, whether you’re big, small, for or not-for-profit, it’s hard to go past the practical and enduring truths (with a small t) captured in the ideas. Partner it with Great by Choice to unlock the full wealth on offer in Collin’s research, and if you don’t resonate with the big-name companies, try BE 2.0.

7. How to be perfect by Michael Schur
Dishing plenty of wisdom with some serious sass isn’t what you’d necessarily expect from a TV producer. But this romp through the world’s philosophy from Aristotle to Ayn Rand is so good I read it twice. Back-to-back. Don’t let the amusing questions fool you. For example, answering ‘should we return the shopping trolley to the shopping cart rack thingy’ will take you deep into how we choose what we choose.

8. Let my people go surfing by Yvon Chouinard
If you want a guide for achieving a brand to withstand the test of time, you can’t go past the story of Patagonia. A fabulous business yarn and honest accounting of what it takes to try, nearly fail and succeed in the end, told by founder Yvon Chouinard and recently updated.

9. Made to Stick by Dan and Chip Heath
Long before storytelling became a buzzword attached to every aspect of business, Dan and Chip Heath outlined their recipe for getting and keeping the attention of the fickle masses. Still fresh and helpful today — proving good ideas do stick.

10. Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz
Chris Voss is a hard-core negotiator with a career including leading FBI and CIA kidnap and hostage rescues. So clearly, the man knows a thing or two about how to resolve differences. Paraphrasing Voss, “we’re always negotiating something”, and his methods are virtual dark arts for getting people to do what you want. If books aren’t your thing, his Masterclass is well worth the price of admission.

11. Range by David Epstein
When people ask about my background, what emerges is a cornucopia of lived experience and learned stuff that’s hard to describe. So reading Epstein’s treatise to generalists was a balm and affirmation that there is a place for broad know-how or, in his words, “range”. Perhaps most importantly, his discovery affirms that those who sample widely and have a breadth of experience are best primed to excel, especially in complex and unpredictable fields.

12. So Far from Home by Margaret Wheatley
Margaret Wheatley is one of my favourite authors on how to bring humanity and mindful attention to your work. This book is a manifesto on how to survive even as “you find yourself feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, and sometimes despairing even as you paradoxically experience moments of joy, belonging, and greater resolve to do your work”. Even more relevant in our post-pandemic world.

13. The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene
Prickly, inconvenient, expansive and not for the faint-hearted might not sound like a resounding endorsement. But it is when you’re talking about Robert Greene’s well-rounded apprenticeship into human nature. If you work with people (so all of us), it’s essential reading for insight into yourself and others. But if you’re overwhelmed by books that double as a door stop, try Plays Well with Others by Eric Barker for a shorter, more accessible, but still worthwhile read. 

14. The Logic of Failure by Dietrich Dorner
This modest classic helps us understand the small sensible steps we take to certain disaster. I read it once a year. Illuminating and practical, it will change how you think about how you do things.

15. The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh,
Craig Walsh and Steve Jamison
This book studies a leader who took his organisation from last to first and held the momentum. While some aspects feel out of sync with today’s more considerate, gentler leadership thinking, it offers plenty for those who like to set a standard and lead by example with a side order of tough love.

Happy reading