The Personal MBA^TM

Here’s a quick summary (by category) of the new books that have been included in the 2008 edition of the PMBA Recommended Reading List:

Quick Start

• Lead the Field by Earl Nightingale
• The Art of Exceptional Living by Jim Rohn

Read more about these books in the Quick Start category…

Productivity & Effectiveness

• The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp
• Making Things Happen by Scott Berkun
• Results Without Authority by Tom Kendrick

Read more about these books in the Productivity & Effectiveness category…

Psychology & Communication

• Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds

Read more about these books in the Psychology & Communication category…

Design &am; Production

• Getting Real by 37signals

Read more about these books in the Design & Production category…

Marketing, Sales, & Negotiation

• Indispensable by Joe Calloway
• The Sales Bible by Jeffrey Gitomer
• SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham

Read more about these books in the Marketing, Sales, & Negotiation category…

Entrepreneurship

• The New Business Road Test by John Mullins
• Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson

Read more about these books in the Entrepreneurship category…

Management & Leadership

• What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith
• Hiring Smart by Pierre Mornell
• Judgment by Noel Tichy & Warren Bennis
• The New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan by George Bradt, Jayme Check, & Jorge Pedraza
• Ethics for the Real World Ronald Howard & Clinton Korver

Read more about these books in the Management & Leadership category…

Strategy & Innovation

• Learning from the Future by Liam Fahey & Robert Randall
• Myths of Innovation by Scott Berkun
• Green to Gold by Daniel Esty & Andrew Winston

Read more about these books in the Strategy & Innovation category…

Finance & Analysis

• Turning Numbers Into Knowledge by Jonathan Koomey
• Show Me The Numbers by Stephen Few
• Web Analytics: An Hour a Day by Avinash Kaushik

Read more about these books in the Finance & Analysis category…

Personal Finance

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

Read more about these books in the Personal Finance category…

I’m also happy to announce the launch of the brand-new PMBA Forums, a place to discuss advanced business concepts and ideas with other PMBA members.

I think you’ll find the new forums much nicer and easier to use than the old forums. There are hundreds of new features that will help you find interesting conversations, view threads you’ve contributed to, and communicate directly with other forum members.

Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to import the data from the old system, so we’re starting from scratch… that’s the price of progress.

How to Use the New Forums

To get started using the new PMBA Forums, register for an account. After confirming your e-mail address, you’ll be able to post immediately!

Once you’re an active member, be sure to introduce yourself to other members and upload a custom avatar. You can also:

1. Get answers to your PMBA questions
2. Share your PMBA stories
3. Organize local PMBA groups
4. Discuss what you’re currently working on.
5. Share your thoughts about the new books

Start The Conversation!

To get started now, register for an account. See you on the forums!

I am happy to announce the publication of the 2008 edition of the Personal MBA Recommended Reading List!

What’s New in the 2008 Edition:

28 new books. This update reflects a year of intensive research to make the PMBA as comprehensive and complete as possible. I’m confident that the 77 books featured on this list are the very best business books currently available.

2 updated editions. Making Things Happen by Scott Berkun (previously The Art of Project Management) and Bankable Business Plans by Edward Rogoff deliver even greater educational value with updated content.

2 revivals of previous books. Getting Things Done and The Essential Drucker re-join the list after a year hiatus, based on feedback from PMBA readers.

A new design. The updated 2-column format keeps the focus on the content while providing easy access to other features and categories.

A new category structure. The revised categories have been designed to make it as easy as possible to find exactly the book you need.

A brand new category: Personal Finance. If you’re interested in business, chances are you’re interested in accumulating wealth. The books in the Personal Finance category will help you save, manage, and invest your income.

2 “supplemental” categories. The Business History and Business Reference categories feature a variety of interesting resources, but all of the books in each category aren’t necessarily right for all readers. The introduction of supplemental categories allows fantastic books to be highlighted for certain types of readers without inflating the “core” list.

New tools to build your business library. Alongside the Complete Business Library (formerly the “PMBA Motherlode”), which you can use to purchase the entire list at once from Amazon.com, a new Batch Book Buyer tool has been created to help you select only the books you want to buy.

The Batch Book Buyer comes in very handy if you want to own all of the books on the PMBA Recommended Reading List, but don’t want to re-purchase books you already own.

Explore the New PMBA Reading List!

I’ll be talking more about the changes and updates in future posts. To get started reading the new list, check out the updated Personal MBA Manifesto or jump straight into the PMBA Recommended Reading List. Enjoy!