Shoe Dog by Phil Knight — So many people have recommended this to me that I’ve lost count. Now that I’ve finally read it, I get why. If you want to understand what it’s like to start and run a business – the uncertainty, the sweat, the stress, the self-doubt – this is among the best books available. It’s a memoir, so you’re certainly getting only one side of the story. But Knight doesn’t hesitate to flog himself throughout the book – he comes off as energetic, hardworking, risk-taking, and willing to enter moral grey area to make Nike a success. (Which he fully admits.) I suspect the truth was not far from his story. A fascinating read for anyone interested in business from any angle.
Sapiens is a work of “Big History” — in the style of Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel— that seeks to understand humanity in a deep way. Many of Professor Harari’s solutions will be uncomfortable for some to read, there is no attempt at political correctness, but his diagnosis of human history is undeniably interesting and at least partially correct. He draws on many fields to arrive at his conclusions; a grand method of synthesis that will be familiar to long-time Farnam Street readers. The book is almost impossible to summarize given the multitude of ideas presented. But then again, most great books are.
Management Lessons from the Mayo Clinic : The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota is one of the most remarkable organizations in the world. It was founded around the time of the Civil War and is still considered one of the premier healthcare organizations in the United States, with a distinctly unique operating model. Any time you have patients willing to fly or drive hundreds of miles to come to you, instead of going to the hospital nearby, there must be something in the sauce. And this book does a good job showing what it is exactly that makes the Mayo Clinic culture unique — something fairly well summed up by one of the chapter headings: “I Am a Better Doctor Here”.
Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise — Anders Ericsson has made a living studying the peak performers — chess champions, violin virtuosos, star athletes, and memory mavens. His findings have been interpreted by many over the years, including by Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers. Ericsson, himself, however, has never elaborated in depth on them until now. It’s worth reading because you can ignore all of the other books that interpret his results.
Ego is the Enemy — A book about how we can overcome ourselves and do our best work. Ego impedes learning. Ego impedes understanding. Ego can blind us. Yet ego can also fuel us and cause us to do otherwise impossible things. Self-awareness is the first step to reducing its negative impacts and harnessing its power.
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World — Cal Newport’s new book is a great read on a subject I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. In a world of distraction, how you organize your time and days makes an enormous difference. Read this.
To Kill a Mockingbird — I know, I know. Hear me out. Someone I respect mentioned that he thought Atticus Finch was the perfect blend of human characteristics. Tough and skilled, yet humble and understanding. He’s frequently rated as a “most admired” hero in fiction, yet he’s a lawyer competing with Jedis, Detectives, Spies, and Superheroes. Isn’t that kind of interesting? Since it had been at least 15 years since I’d read TKM, I wanted to go back and remember what made Atticus so admired. His courage, his humility, his understanding of people. I forgot just how perceptive Finch was when it came to what we’d call “group social dynamics” — he forgives the individual members of the mob that show up to hurt Tom Robinson simply because he understands that mob psychology is capable of overwhelming otherwise good people. How many of us would be able to do that? Atticus Finch is certainly a fictional, and perhaps “unattainably” moral hero. But I will point out that not only do real life “Finch’s” exist, but that even if we don’t “arrive” at a Finchian level of heroic integrity and calm temperament, it’s certainly a goal worth pursuing. Wise words from this week’s book on Knights sums it up best: “To head north, a knight may use the North Star to guide him, but he will not arrive at the North Star. A knight’s duty is to proceed in that direction.”
The Lessons of History — A concise book of lessons drawn from the survey of history. The book comes highly recommended by someone I met at the Berkshire Hathaway meeting last weekend. I can’t believe I haven’t read this before. I’ll be re-reading this a few times and I’ve started listening to the audio version in the car as well.
Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative — Despite what we think, nothing is original, it’s all one variation of combinatorial creatvity and play.
The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos And The Age of Amazon
An inside look at how Amazon came to be the company we know it as today. One important take away is how business, facing new competition, often struggle to cannibalize existing profit areas. Banes and Noble, for example, didn’t jump fully into the online book market until the game was already over because, in part, they worried about reducing the great profits they made in the physical stores. This is a lesson Bezos seems to have learned from The Innovator’s Dilemma, because when ebooks came around he didn’t try to protect the traditional book business. In fact, he told the person in charge to put Amazon’s traditional book business out of business.
The War of Art
An utterly fascinating book that not only describes the experience of writing but how to overcome some of the difficulties. The book is about more than writing, it’s about overcoming obstacles to success. He was right: it is much better.
Hooked: A Guide to Building Habit-Forming Products
A book about, as you can probably guess, what compels people to use a product regularly. While some products become habit-forming through luck, others can be manufactured into habits if you understand what makes users tick. Habits are behaviours that we do with little or no conscious thought — they are system one thinking. How do you manufacture them? The answer is the “hook model: a four-phase process companies use to form habits.” The model consists of: Triggers, Action, Variable Rewards, and Investment.
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
This is a beautiful book. If you’ve ever wanted to write better — from the first draft to the final product — I highly recommend this readable book. Make no mistake, it’s not a ‘how to’ book, rather it is an exploration of the process of writing and what it means to write.
The Obstacle Is The Way
As someone interested in learning more about stoic philosophy this book hits the right notes — insightful, practical, and just the right length. The book is based on the famous quote by Marcus Aurelius: “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” Adversity is nothing more than opportunity, right?
Letters From a Self-Made Merchant to his Son
This book has been on my shelf for over a year. I have no idea why. While the letters are over a hundred years old, they are full of timeless wisdom and practical no-nonsense advice to parents and wisdom seekers alike. Something I’m sure to re-read over the years.
Managing Oneself by Peter Drucker — This is an excellent short read. There is a strong argument to be made that knowing how you work and your strengths and weaknesses is more important than ever in the knowledge economy.
The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures — A book recommended by a participant in Re:Think Decision Making 2015. As someone with zero artistic talent I find that drawing things forces me to reduce and simplify, which is a natural way to help me find out what matters. A picture is worth a thousand words. Consider this a smart primer on visual thinking.
Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman
Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard expands on the history of the company as well as how his business philosophy has changed over time. I had no idea they almost went bankrupt a few times.