There’s certainly no shortage of “best business book” lists on the internet. Here are a few.
What makes the Personal MBA different?
The vast majority of business book lists seem to focus on “interestingness” – i.e. how interesting the list creator found each book relative to the other books they’ve read. While it’s certainly better for a book to be interesting than boring, but I don’t believe “interestingness” is the primary factor in whether or not any particular business book is better than others.
Take, for example, Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, Outliers
According to Adrian Wooldridge at Intelligent Life magazine, because of Gladwell:
“The New Yorker is now a bigger generator of management fads than the Harvard Business Review.”
Here’s my question:
Who gives a flying fractal about management fads?
The very definition of a fad is something that’s interesting but not useful – a fashion. (That’s why fads are ultimately short-lived: after the initial interest wanes, there’s no utility there to keep people engaged.) Gladwell’s books are certainly interesting, but I can’t think of a single thing I’ve done differently based on what I’ve read in any of his books or articles. Tipping points, snap judgements, and winning the genetic lottery are interesting, but not useful. I feel smarter, but I haven’t really taken away anything I can use to build my business or improve my life. Books like Outliers
Self-Education is about Usefulness
If you’re interested in the Personal MBA, chances are there’s something you want to create, improve, or change in your business or your life – something you want to do. Self-education can help you get to where you want to go more quickly and with less frustration, but you won’t learn what you need to know if you focus only on reading “mental candy” – content that’s interesting, but ultimately teaches you nothing.
The books on the PMBA Recommended Reading List are there for a very specific reason – they’re the books that will actually teach you the practical concepts, techniques, and methods you need to know in order to succeed in your business endeavors, whatever they happen to be.
My focus for the past four years has been to identify the most useful business books available, not the most interesting business books available. After reading a book on the PMBA reading list, you should walk away with a more comprehensive understanding of how the business world works and a list of a few things you can do immediately to improve yourself or your business.
Your time and energy are a finite resource – if you choose to invest your time and energy in self-education, focus on reading and learning what will actually help you get to where you want to go.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I respectfully disagree with your conclusions as to the usefulness of Malcolm Gladwell’s works. In particular, I want to demonstrate the usefulness I found in the ideas explained within Galdwell’s The Tipping Point. In the book Gladwell describes three major elements that can lead to a word-of-mouth contagious result 1) the law of the few, 2) the quality of the message, and 3) the context of the message. Here is how I utilize these principles in my work as a Director of Information Systems. First, with regard to the law of the few, Gladwell describes the powerful factor that people he calls connectors, mavens and salesmen have on how quickly and effectively a message can be spread. In my work I have taken this principle and identified the people within my organization that have these attributes in order to more effectively get my department’s viewpoints out across the organization. People tend to listen to these people more intently than they would listen to the ‘IT’ staff members. Second, Gladwell’s concept of the quality of the message is imperative for change. The ‘stickiness’ of the message is the difference between a dry technical announcement about a new technology rollout and an intriguing message about a new feature presented in terms that the end-user can relate to. Finally, the context of the message is also imperative in my field. I have discovered that if I create training opportunities that are lead by my IT staff alone there is far less positive response than if I pair my IT staff with members of the administrative assistants on staff. This makes for a positive paradigm whereby the context of the message is much closer to the end-users’ paradigms. I agree with your conclusion that we should seek books that provide usefulness. However, I disagree with the example of Gladwell’s works as the vehicle to prove your parable.
I enjoyed reading your assessment Malcolm. Actually, I really enjoyed the fully belly laugh I had while reading. Personally I am a big fan of Seth Godin (both his blog and books(Tribes, the Dip, Purple Cow, etc…))….He provides real value — not a candy bar. Cheers, Jill
Glen – thanks for your thoughtful comment; I appreciate it.
A clarification: Gladwell does present a few useful concepts in his writing, which you mentioned. The difference is primarily focus: Gladwell presents the concepts primarily to tell an interesting story, not to teach the reader how to work differently. Practical applications are largely an afterthought.
In my opinion, you can learn the same practical concepts much more quickly and effectively by reading books like “Made to Stick” and “The 80/20 Principle,” which teach the reader *how to use* the concepts Gladwell mentions in his work. My inclination is to recommend these types of books to PMBA readers, since the intent of this site is to help people maximize their educational return on time invested. Hope this helps!
I get your point. Gladwell did not set out to write an how to book. I believe he has achieved his aim. I also think that saying you have not used any concept garnered from Gladwell’s book might be a stretch. I am still a fan anyway. I am slowly plowing through your list of books.