Had a tangential conversation in a management meeting today in which we … okay, mostly I mentioned that certain books that are not at all about public relations, business, management or marketing per se can offer insights into how we can do our jobs better. The Malcolm Gladwell oeuvre comes to mind, but are there others?
Here’s my (very) short list:
Sun Tzu
The Godfather
Too Funny to be President (Mo Udall)
Whadaya got?
Or, what are you reading?
4 comments:
Here are my additions:
Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr Suess - the best motivation guide for under 600 words
Better by Atul Gawande - continuous improvement in health care through the eyes of a doctor, who happens to be a brilliant writer
Origins of Species by Charles Darwin- Natural selection appears in everywhere and Darwin's writing is still accessible today.
I've actually read two of those.
Too embarassed to say which I haven't.
Good question.
Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, argues that business leaders should read fewer management books. His article on the subject is very interesting. http://www.jimcollins.com/lib/articles/01_96_a.html
He also has an extensive reading list that includes a lot of non-business books. http://www.jimcollins.com/lib/readingRoom.html
It seems to me that we need some sort of balance between the two. We can learn a lot from other people's business experiences and ideas. However, reading in other areas can broaden our perspective and help us to make important connections between ideas in different fields.
David Rendall
www.daverendall.typepad.com
By the way, Collins' list includes Gladwell and Darwin.
Dave
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