I picked up Business Adventures by John Brooks
after hearing that it is Bill Gates’ favorite business book of all time. Commenting on Brooks’ work,
Gates says, "He offers sharp insights into timeless fundamentals of
business, like the challenge of building a large organization, hiring people
with the right skills, and listening to customers’ feedback."
Business Adventures is actually a collection
of 12 New Yorker articles, all originally published before 1971 so be
prepared for some less than current gender references to business executives. I
was especially interested in the section on the Xerox Corporation and the
challenges it faced through the 50’s and 60’s. A manager explains how he felt he had been part of three companies -- "until 1959 a small one engaged in a dangerous and exciting gamble [development of xerography]; from 1959 t0 1964 a growing one enjoying the fruits of victory; and now a huge one branching out in new directions." One can see how this might readily apply to tech companies
today.
If you find Business Adventures to be
fascinating, other titles by Brooks (Once in Golconda and The Go-Go Years) are also being reprinted.
Looking for more business book suggestions? The latest version of What Color is Your
Parachute by Richard N. Bolles discusses how the job hunt has changed
and includes tips and hints about using Monster and other online resume
services. It is written in a helpful, conversational tone with much useful
advice for job seekers who are switching careers and positions
more frequently than they did in the past. This book provides valuable information, especially
today when so much of the job market is dependent on searches conducted online
and/or through current contacts and personal networks. As you review this book’s suggestions about online portfolios,
use of hashtags, keyword choices from LinkedIn, and much more, consider taking
a short quiz about whether you should keep your job (presented on Slideshare
recently). I would highly recommend What Color is Your
Parachute which has been in print since the early 1970’s and is now
revised annually.
The list is long and changing, but other titles to explore include some business “classics”
like StrengthsFinder 2.0 (by Rath), 7 Habits of the Highly Effective People (Covey) Good to Great (Collins) or Mindset
(Dweck). More recently published choices
are Lean In (by Sandberg) or Thinking Fast and Slow (by Kahneman) plus these from Spring/Summer 2014 that are
on my latest “to read” list: Flash Boys (Lewis), Power Cues (Morgan), Soft Edge (Karlgaard), Organized Mind (Levitin) and Powers of Two (Shenk).
PS – another Gates suggestion is The Rosie Project – a highly entertaining novel about a professor on
the Asperger syndrome and his efforts to find a wife. Gates frequently publishes reviews and here
are some other titles he has been
reading.
