GENCO MEMO-June 7, 2024: Business Book List
I explain how "framing the question" helps find the right books.
A student–sometimes a client–will ask,
"What book would you recommend?"
And I always look back and ask them,
"What QUESTION are you trying to answer?"
That's when I see THE PAUSE.
You know, that half-head-tilted, confused puppy-dog look.
"Question?"
"Answer?"
They never thought of it that way.
I didn't use it before, either.
I would just get a book and start reading, and I hope it made me wiser.
But, in this day and age of information overload, you can waste a lot of time doing it this way, which takes me to my ONE POINT for today.
The One Point: Frame your question on this side of complexity before you look for a book to get you over to that side.
So let's do it.
Imagine you walk up to me and ask:
"What would be a good book to read if I want to be caught up with people going to business school?"
I would look at you–smile–and say,
"Here are some books I read that answered that question for me."
With that in mind, here they are:
1. The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business by Josh Kaufman
Summary: This book distills vital business concepts into a comprehensive guide introducing business fundamentals without attending business school. It explains essential topics like value creation, marketing, sales, finance, and productivity.
Why it matters: This book provides a solid foundation in core business principles that every business school includes in its curriculum. Key takeaways include creating real value for customers, understanding and optimizing business models, developing effective marketing and sales strategies, and improving personal productivity. It's an excellent reference to keep near you. It's also great to have on the bedstand and read a page or two before sleep.
2. The Visual MBA: Two Years of Business School Packed into One Priceless Book of Pure Awesomeness by Jason Barron
Summary: This book presents key MBA concepts and frameworks in a hand-drawn visual format. They're based on the author's sketches from his MBA classes. It covers strategy, marketing, accounting, operations, and more.
Why it matters: The Visual MBA makes complex business topics more accessible and memorable through visuals and concise explanations. You will find that you can absorb important MBA frameworks more quickly–I did!
3. The Business Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained by DK (DK Big Ideas Series)
Summary: This book explores influential business ideas, theories, and entrepreneurs that have shaped the business world. It covers various topics, including management, innovation, leadership, and more, in an easy-to-understand format.
Why it matters: This large format book provides an excellent overview of key business concepts and thinkers, giving you great context on the evolution of business practices.
4. Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers by Alexander Osterwalder
Summary: This book presents a systematic way to design, test, and implement business models using the Business Model Canvas framework. It includes practical visual tools and techniques for business model innovation.
Why it matters: The ideas in this book work and are used by some of the top entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. It emphasizes taking a customer-centric approach, iterating and pivoting based on feedback, and exploring multiple business model possibilities. It helped me understand value propositions, revenue streams, partnerships, and more to build competitive advantages with my clients.
That is all.
Have a great weekend.