Best Business Books: The Personal MBA Recommended Reading List

by Josh Kaufman

Personal MBA - The Best Business Books

This page lists all PMBA-recommended books and resources for easy printing, bookmarking, and reference. For more information about the Personal MBA and book selection criteria, read the manifesto.

For your convenience, you can purchase these books on Amazon.com by clicking the “Add to Cart” button – your purchase helps support the PMBA. If you would like to purchase multiple books, check out the PMBA Batch Book Buyer tool.

Decision-Making

Smart Choices by John S. Hammond et al
The Path of Least Resistance by Robert Fritz
Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows
Learning from the Future by Liam Fahey & Robert Randall
Ethics for the Real World by Ronald Howard & Clinton Korver

Creativity & Innovation

The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp
Myths of Innovation by Scott Berkun
Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter F. Drucker

Project Management

Making Things Happen by Scott Berkun
Results Without Authority by Tom Kendrick

Opportunity Identification

The New Business Road Test by John Mullins
How to Make Millions with Your Ideas by Dan Kennedy

Entrepreneurship

Bankable Business Plans by Edward Rogoff
The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki
Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson
The Knack by Norm Brodsky & Bo Burlingham

Value-Creation & Design

Getting Real by 37signals
Product Design and Development by Karl Ulrich and Steven Eppinger
The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman
Universal Principles of Design by William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, and Jill Butler

Marketing

All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin
Permission Marketing by Seth Godin
Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got by Jay Abraham
Citizen Marketers by Ben McConnell & Jackie Huba
The Copywriter’s Handbook by Robert Bly

Sales

The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes
SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham
The Sales Bible by Jeffrey Gitomer

Negotiation

Bargaining For Advantage by G. Richard Shell
3-D Negotiation by David A. Lax and James K. Sebenius
The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi

Value-Delivery

Indispensable by Joe Calloway
The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt
Lean Thinking by James Womack and Daniel Jones

Management

The Unwritten Laws of Business by W.J. King
First, Break All The Rules by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman
12: The Elements of Great Managing by Rodd Wagner & James Harter
Growing Great Employees by Erika Andersen
Hiring Smart by Pierre Mornell
The Essential Drucker by Peter F. Drucker

Leadership

Total Leadership by Stewart Friedman
Tribes by Seth Godin
What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith
The New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan by George Bradt et al
The Halo Effect by Phil Rosenzweig
Judgment by Noel Tichy & Warren Bennis

Finance & Accounting

Accounting Made Simple by Mike Piper
Essentials of Accounting (9th Edition) by Robert N. Anthony and Leslie K. Breitner
The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course in Finance by Robert A. Cooke
How to Read a Financial Report by John A. Tracy

Analysis

Turning Numbers Into Knowledge by Jonathan Koomey
Marketing Metrics by Paul W. Farris et al
Web Analytics: An Hour a Day by Avinash Kaushik
Show Me The Numbers by Stephen Few

Statistics

How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff
Principles of Statistics by M.G. Bulmer

Corporate Skills

The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker
The Simplicity Survival Handbook by Bill Jensen
Cut to the Chase by Stuart Levine

Corporate Strategy

Purpose: The Starting Point of Great Companies by Nikos Mourkogiannis
Competitive Strategy by Michael Porter
Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
Green to Gold by Daniel Esty & Andrew Winston
Seeing What’s Next by Clayton M. Christensen, Erik A. Roth, Scott D. Anthony

Consulting

Getting Started in Consulting by Alan Weiss
Secrets of Consulting by Gerald M. Weinberg

Personal Finance

Your Money or Your Life by Joel Dominguez & Vicki Robin
The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley & William Danko
The Boglehead’s Guide to Investing by Taylor Larimore et al
Fail-Safe Investing by Harry Browne
Work Less, Live More by Bob Clyatt
It’s Not About The Money by Brent Kessel

Personal Development

Personal Development for Smart People by Steve Pavlina
Re-Create Your Life by Morty Lefkoe
Changing for Good by James O. Prochaska et al
Lead the Field by Earl Nightingale
The Art of Exceptional Living by Jim Rohn

June 13, 2009 0 Comments

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About the Personal MBA

MBA programs don't have a monopoly on business knowledge: you can teach yourself everything you need to know to succeed in life and at work. The Personal MBA features the very best business books available, based on thousands of hours of research. If you're serious about learning advanced business principles, the Personal MBA can help you master business without the baggage of b-school. Learn more...

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