MBA programs don’t have a monopoly on advanced 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. So skip b-school and the $150,000 loan: you can get a world-class business education simply by reading these 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, or see a list of the 2010 changes. Purchasing books through this website helps support the PMBA’s ongoing research.

Here are the 99 business books the Personal MBA officially recommends… click on the title to read a detailed description of each book and why it’s important.

NEW: The Comprehensive Overview

The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business by Josh Kaufman. While this is not an official part of the list, I wrote this book to summarize the most important concepts you’ll learn by reading the books on this list. If you’re new to the Personal MBA, I strongly recommend reading this book first.

Productivity & Effectiveness

• 10 Days to Faster Reading by Abby Marks-Beale
• StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath
• Getting Things Done by David Allen
• The Power of Less by Leo Babauta
• The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch
• Bit Literacy by Mark Hurst
• The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr & Tony Schwartz

The Human Mind

• Brain Rules by John Medina
• Making Sense of Behavior by William T. Powers
• Driven by Paul Lawrence and Nitin Nohria
• Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales

Communication

• On Writing Well by William Zinsser
• Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds
• Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath
• The Copywriter’s Handbook by Robert Bly
• Show Me The Numbers by Stephen Few

Influence

• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
• Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson et al
• The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

Decision-Making

• Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions by Gary Klein
• Smart Choices by John S. Hammond et al
• The Path of Least Resistance by Robert Fritz
• 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

• Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson
• The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki
• The Knack by Norm Brodsky & Bo Burlingham
• The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
• Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pamela Slim
• Bankable Business Plans by Edward Rogoff

Value-Creation & Design

• Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
• Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blank
• 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
• The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries & Jack Trout
• Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got by Jay Abraham

Sales

• The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes
• Value-Based Fees by Alan Weiss
• SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham
• The Sales Bible by Jeffrey Gitomer

Value-Delivery

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

Negotiation

• Bargaining For Advantage by G. Richard Shell
• 3-D Negotiation by David A. Lax and James K. Sebenius
• The Partnership Charter by David Gage

Management

• 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

• Tribes by Seth Godin
• Total Leadership by Stewart Friedman
• 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

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

Systems

• Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows
• Work the System by Sam Carpenter
• Learning from the Future by Liam Fahey & Robert Randall

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
• The Economist Numbers Guide by Richard Stuteley

Statistics

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

Corporate Skills

• The Unwritten Laws of Business by W.J. King
• The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker
• The Simplicity Survival Handbook by Bill Jensen

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
• I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
• The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley & William Danko
• Fail-Safe Investing by Harry Browne
• It’s Not About The Money by Brent Kessel
• Work Less, Live More by Bob Clyatt

Personal Development

• Self-Directed Behavior by David L. Watson & Roland G. Tharp
• Personal Development for Smart People by Steve Pavlina
• Re-Create Your Life by Morty Lefkoe
• Lead the Field by Earl Nightingale
• The Art of Exceptional Living by Jim Rohn

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