Having recently completed The Knack as noted in my prior post, I pondered why I enjoyed the book so much. I've read many books recently including: The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, Tipping Point by Gladwell, The Business of America by John Steele Gordon, Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubnar, The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki, Small Giants by Bo Burlingham, The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss, Blue Ocean Strategy by Kim and Mauborgne and From Good to Great by Jim Collins. I also read The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (OK but not great) and City of Thieves by Benioff (Excellent!), but this post pertains to business books. I tend to place books I select to read into four categories: Small Business Books, Big Business Books, General Thought Provoking Books, and Fun Reads. Thus this list would look like this:
* General Business/Thought Provoking: Tipping Point, The World is Flat, The Business of America, Freakonomics
* Big Business: From Good to Great, Blue Ocean Strategy
* Small Business: The Knack, Small Giants, The Art of the Start, The 4-Hour Work Week
* Just for fun: City of Thieves, The Lost Symbol, Mayflower
Although I enjoy all of these categories, I derive the greatest business benefit from books like The Knack, Small Giants and The Art of the Start. These books apply directly to small businesses like mine. My own book, Your Virtual Success is geared toward small business, home based business or businesses trying to go virtual. There is a lot of practical, pragmatic, hands on advice as opposed to strategic or organizational oriented advice. The Big Business books like those mentioned above seem geared toward large corporations and teams which are buried in the muck and mire of bureaucracy, far removed from my daily routine. So if you're a small or emerging business, a would be entrepreneur or a home office based operation, read the The Knack or Small Giants (or even Your Virtual Success), and you'll gain some valuable small business insights - hold off on Blue Ocean Strategy or From Good to Great. And just for fun, pick up (or download) a copy of City of Thieves it's a great read, particularly when contrasted with The 900 Days.
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