800-CEO-READ Blog

Time Magazine's Person of the Year

If you've been near a waiting room coffee table at all recently, you probably saw the cover of Time magazine. It announced its person of the year.

And the winner is...

You.

"And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME's Person of the Year for 2006 is you."

It has been really interesting, just coming on board at 800-CEO-READ, to see how much print is being devoted to this phenomenon of social media. I'm thinking specifically about Citizen Marketers and Wikinomics.

It has also been interesting to read some of the criticisms of our online communities.

"What's to stop an online mass of anonymous but connected people from suddenly turning into a mean mob, just like masses of people have time and time again in the history of every human culture?"

I'm not sure that these communities are as dangerous as Lanier suggests, but does he have a point about creativity being replaced with groupthink?

ZDNet's Best in Business and Technology 2006

Mitch Ratcliffe of ZDNet has complied his list of favorite business and technology books in 2006. He says:

This year's crop of business books, as usual, included a lot of me-too titles that were easily put down and forgotten after a few pages or chapters, because they contained little new, nothing thought-provoking. Downright crazy ideas are better than none, and challenges to the status quo invaluable, so don't shy away from shaking your colleagues' mental trees with a good book.

Here are the books that worked for Mitch:

• Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel
• WorldChanging edited by Alex Steffen
• The Elements of Influence by Alan Kelly
• The Long Tail by Chris Anderson
• Small Is The New Big by Seth Godin
• The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson
• The Singularity Is Near by Ray Kurweil
• Beautiful Evidence by Edward Tutfe
• Against The Day by Thomas Pynchon
• The Immortal Game by David Shenk

Design Challenges

A friend at Rockport Books sent me a copy of Steven Heller and Mirko Ilic's new book, The Anatomy of Design. It's a sleek, colorful book with fold-outs that trace the evolution of design trends and influences.

Heller and Ilic are two of the preeminent designers out there today, directing and designing art for such publications as The New York Times and Time magazine. This book is really neat because it shows how there's a pathology to design. Art builds on inspiration, from the most obscure to the most obvious objects in the world. It also deviates from existing design, as The Anatomy of Design shows.

Todd and I have been discussing the lack of design resources for the average businessperson. How do we identify good design? How do we know if our graphics are accomplishing what we want them to accomplish? I have some background in document design, but still it's often difficult to accomplish even the simplest projects without some advice from a professional graphic designer.

We're wondering, what are the design issues you face? How have you met design needs within your organization? What design resources would be useful to you?

A Perfect Mess

After any holiday, I always return to a slightly messy desk; one that is covered with books, letters and anything else left from the week before. Today was no different. In attempt to dig out of the post-holiday mess that is my desk, I found this a bit comforting:

Don't let the neat freaks push you around. Chaos, clutter, disorganization, and on-the-fly decision-making actually are good for your company--and for you.
[More here.]

David Freedman and Eric Abrahmson (authors of the soon-to-be-released A Perfect Mess) would assure us that there actually is hope for those of us too busy for filing and perfect piles. [Sigh of relief for not making my bed this morning.]

A perfect mess in practice is that of the New England Mobile Book Fair (known to Bostonians as Strymish's). It's a bookshop that operates less than five miles from four other major booksellers. Still it manages to generate around $10 million in sales a year!

How did its founder Louis Strymish, a Harvard-trained chemist, make the store so successful? By dumping books onto shelves straight from their boxes and creating a hodgepodge of new and bargained books along with leftovers. One would imagine that most bookstores buy based upon some science that involves bestseller lists and publisher suggestions. Strymishs does neither; decisions are based upon gut and instinct.

Yet, most people (including myself) would have never guessed to operate a business in a such a messy manner. Throughout time messiness has built a bad reputation. One that accounts for why 2/3 of the Americans surveyed by Eric and David said they feel guilty about how messy they are and believe they'd be more successful "if they were neater or more organized." It's also why 59% "think somewhat less" or "the worst" of messy people.

For Strymishs, being "messy" means:

• Saving time not organizing (equates into more time, money saved and lower prices).
• Creating an experience that's unlike any other bookstore.
• Enabling their visitors to run randomly into books that would otherwise remain undiscovered.

As with anything there are extremes to messiness and neatness. A certain amount of messiness can be good; it's about finding that sweet spot that works for you. So go ahead, make a mess.

[p.s. check out the article for more on why having a messy desk can lead to inspired connections, Nobel Peace Prizes and more.]

[p.p.s. if you'd like the NYT review of the book, click here.]

Economist Books of the Year 2006

Behind their firewall, The Economist has quite a list of books for 2006. The categories include history, biography, fiction, politics, fiction and science. In the Economics and Business category (notice the order):

• The Wal-Mart Effect by Charles Fishman
• Myself and Other More Important Matters by Charles Handy
• Joe Wilson and the Creation of Xerox by Charles Ellis
• Mavericks At Work by Bill Taylor and Polly LaBarre

High Stakes

This story caught my attention today because this book just arrived on my desk this week:

Boeing Versus Airbus: The Inside Story of the Greatest International Competition in Business by John Newhouse (due out in mid-January, from Knopf)

After months of speculation, it looks like Boeing really is on track to outsell Airbus--for the first time in six years. Newhouse details the decades-long competition and raises questions about both companies' priorities. It looks like a great read.

800ceoread: Our Year In Review

As the year closes, I wanted to share with you some of the milestones for 800ceoread. 2006 was a special year, one I believe we are going to look back upon as a turning point.

This year 800ceoread went from sell books to being in the business of moving ideas. We stepped away from the constraints of looking at ourselves based on our competitors. Since I joined the company, Jack and I have talked about 800ceoread being a unique company in the marketplace. This year we finally believed it.

You can see it in the products and services we launched this year. inBubbleWrap built a unique online community connecting readers with authors and publishers. ChangeThis regained its voice as a place for innovative thought. The live events in Milwaukee got the business community excited again about ideas. The perfect ending was the Author Pow-Wow we held in Chicago.

In 2007, expect more. More events in Milwaukee. More resources to help authors be more successful. More ways to access the recommendations we provide.

Here is the part where I need to thank everyone.

It starts with the folks that make up our little company -- Meg, Roy, Dylan, Scott, Aaron, Kate, Ryan, Jake, Rebecca, Sally and Shane. You have all made our company the success it has been and the wonderful place it is to work.

Jack is what makes 800ceoread a magical place. I say magical because you sometimes don't believe you could be working in such a great place or that such a place exists. I have been around. Few of these places exist. Thank you, Jack.

I want to thank Mary, Mel, and Shawn from Schwartz. Our growth and continuing diversification put stress on the whole system. Thank you for letting us do what we do (it seems to be working :).

If you are an author, publisher, agent, or work in publishing in general, thanks for your support. Our company doesn't exist without great product (ideas) to sell.

Finally, I want to thank our customers. You put trust in us to make your efforts successful. We take it seriously and I hope it reflects in the services we provide.

Have a Wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy Happy Happy New Year!

Todd
800ceoread

The Best of Best of Business Books

Using Squidoo's new Plexo technology, I have created a list of favorite business books from many of the 2006 lists. You can vote on your favorites as well as add titles that you think are missing.

RSS Readers: Click-through to see and vote with the widget.

What To Read When Turning Around an Automaker

Wall Street Journal today has an extensive article on Alan Mulally and his attempt at revitalizing Ford. What do you read if you are rebuilding the number two automaker?

Shortly after his arrival, Mr. Mulally and his new troops bought books to better understand one another. The new CEO read the 1926 classic Today and Tomorrow by Henry Ford. He also met with the Ford family at the Henry Ford Museum complex early on. Ford managers began passing around The Machine That Changed the World, often cited by Mr. Mulally for its in-depth story of Toyota's manufacturing operation.

AdvertisingAge's "10 Books You Should Have Read"

1. What Sticks: Why Most Advertising Fails and How to Guarantee Yours Succeeds
2. Branding Iron: Branding Lessons from the Meltdown of the U.S. Auto Industry
3. The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
4. Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-Based Management
5. Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing
6. Small is the New Big, and 183 Other Riffs, Rants and Remarkable Business Ideas
7. The Must-Have Customer: Seven Steps to Winning the Customer You Haven't Got
8. An Army of Davids
9. Juicing the Orange: How to Turn Creativity into a Powerful Business Advantage
10. The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth

And, just for fun, the 10 words or phrases that AdvertisingAge says are "so 2006"

1. Consumer-generated media
2. Touch point
3. Organic
4. Connective tissue
5. Web 2.0
6. The idea is king
7. Customer-centric
8. Open the kimono
9. Join the conversation
10. "My Avatar..."

Which would you rather get?

We get 10 to 15 books every week. The majority of the time it is just a book with a letter telling me why I should like the book. Every once in a while, we get something more. I highly recommend to authors taking the extra time. It is not difficult to make your book standout in the pile.

There are two pictures below showing what authors did to go above and beyond. Both of the examples below were remarkable, but only one of them got me to read the book. I will let you guess which.

Stephen King's "2006: My Top 10 Books"

Seeing as we at 8cr are in list frenzy mode, here is another Best of 2006. As Stephen King states in his column

“Here are the best ones I read in 2006…and as always, please keep in mind that doesn’t mean they were published in 2006. This is just my list of the ones that best furnished my interior room this past year.�

1> The Road by Cormac McCarthy
2> American Pastoral by Philip Roth
3> One Mississippi by Mark Childress
4> The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos
5> The Ruins by Scott Smith
6> Crooked River Burning by Mark Winegaardner
7> The People’s Act of Love by James Meek
8> Night Mowing by Chard deNiord
9> The Egyptologist by Arthur Philips
10>Dispatch by Bentley Little

This list is courtesy of December 15, 2006 Entertainment Weekly.

I accept the fact that these aren’t business books but "a person can’t live on bread alone."

BTW, two of the ten made my list.

ChangeThis: Reflecting on 2006

2006 was, appropriately, a year of change here at ChangeThis. I became Managing Editor (otherwise known as “Editor on the Loose� around here) in February after 8 years of working almost every position at 800-CEO-READ. My background made this a natural transition for me. Prior to joining 800-CEO-READ, I had earned a Master’s degree in creative writing and worked as an adjunct instructor teaching writing. Then, at 800-CEO-READ, I spent time selling some of the best business books on the market and interacting with some of the top business thinkers (which, in addition to our authors, include our very own braintrust of Jack and Todd). Needless to say, I was excited to have this chance to meld these two professional experiences into this new adventure as editor of ChangeThis. In addition, my new role as editor allowed me the flexibility I needed to adapt to my challenging new role as a parent. For me, this year has been life-changing.

And really, that is what ChangeThis is all about. We are committed to providing you with the tools to change your life. Whether you yearn to tap into your creativity, be motivated to start your own company, make more of your work day or more from your money, or even just be able to write a more concise email…visit ChangeThis to get excited again, excited enough to do something different, make a small change that could just change your life.

I’d like to raise my glass to each author who submitted a manifesto, each person who voted on our manifesto proposals, and especially to every reader who downloaded a manifesto to dig in to. My goal for the coming year is to get to know you all better and help facilitate the spreading of great ideas in the form of quality manifestos. We have plans in the works to make ChangeThis even more accessible to all of you, including a new content management system and even a compilation of our best manifestos.

But no ‘end of year’ is complete without a “Best of� review. You can certainly visit the ChangeThis site and discover for yourselves which manifestos are most popular, so this is my chance to emphasize some of the manifestos that I feel were exceptional. Plus, I’m a sucker for awards shows, so here are my winners, in no particular order, from 2006.

Most fun: Beyond Snobbery: Grammar Need Not Be Cruel to Be Cool by June Casagrande (Clever, well-written, with a great voice, there is more here than just a lesson on grammar.)

Most well-written: The Power of the Marginal by Paul Graham (If you’re reading ChangeThis, you’ve probably spent some time in the margin, taking a risk, looking at life differently than your officemates. This manifesto includes diverse cultural references and spot-on insights sure to keep you off the beaten path.).

Most useful: Management Advice: Which 90% Is Crap? by Bob Sutton (What we love about Bob Sutton is that he tells it like it is. This manifesto offers a common sense lesson on how to filter anything we hear with a knowledgeable (cynical?) ear.)

Most life-changing: Working Mother’s Manifesto by Carol Evans (One of the toughest challenges we face—man or woman—is how to make money while raising our children. Carol Evans presents practical advice on how to do both by asking for a little compromise from both sides. Really, this is a Working Person’s Manifesto).

Most intriguing: Know the Codes by Clotaire Rapaille and Getting Out of Embed by Michael Mauboussin (Both authors use psychology to illuminate how we make every day decisions. You’ll never look at yourself the same way again.)

Most overlooked: Non-Geeks are Not Morons by Pip Coburn (If you didn’t read this one, I take full responsibility for a limiting title. Pip’s theory on change isn’t reserved for technology, but can and should be applied across the board. Once you read about it, you’ll use it to better understand just how and when to make change.)

Most socially responsible: Beyond Sustainability by John Ehrenfeld and The Declaration of Independents by Stacey Mitchell (Both authors present arguments on how we need to change the way we behave in the world in order to change the world.)

And just because I think they are worth your time because they are so good: The Rewritten Rules of Management by Tom Ehrenfeld, Never the Same by Charles Halton and Strategy and the Fat Smoker by David Maister

Cheers!

Sally

Strategy+Business Best Business Books of 2006

Strategy+Business has published their Best Business Books: 2006. This list is one I look forward to each year (they are on their sixth). The books they choose require a deeper mediation on the study of management and the issues that face business. The feature is divided into 11 topics and each topic is accompanied by an essay.

I encourage you to read the essays. The magazine has recruited a great set of writers which include Howard Rheingold, Nikos Mourkogiannis, and James O'Toole. Each essay provides context for the book selections within the area of study. This year's list also includes a couple of special topics including The Business of Defense and Fiction (as inspired by business). The topic headings will take you to the essays and a starred (*) book means it was chosen as the best book in the category.

The Future by Howard Rheingold

• The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom by Yocahi Benkler*
• Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide by Henry Jenkins
• Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, A New Urban World by Robert Neuwirth
• The New Argonauts: Regional Advantage in a Global Economy by AnnaLee Saxenian
• The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth by Tim Flannery

Economics by Michael Schrage

• Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations: A Story of Economic Discovery by David Warsh
• The Origin of Wealth: Evolution, Complexity, and the Radical Remaking of Economics by Eric D. Beinhocker
• More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places by Michael J. Mauboussin*

Marketing by Nick Wreden

• Marketing Metrics: 50+ Metrics Every Executive Should Master by Paul W. Farris, Neil T. Bendle, Phillip E. Pfeifer, and David J. Reibstein*
• Six Sigma for Marketing Processes: An Overview for Marketing Executives, Leaders, and Managers by Clyde M. Creveling, Lynne Hambleton, and Burke McCarthy
• The 50-Plus Market: Why the Future Is Age Neutral When It Comes to Marketing and Branding Strategies by Dick Stroud
• Brand Rejuvenation: How to Protect, Strengthen, and Add Value to Your Brand to Prevent It from Ageing by Jean-Marc Lehu
• Why Johnny Can’t Brand: Rediscovering the Lost Art of the Big Idea by Bill Schley and Carl Nichols Jr.
• Asian Brand Strategy: How Asia Builds Strong Brands by Martin Roll

Media by Neil Minow

• Smartbomb: The Quest for Art, Entertainment, and Big Bucks in the Videogame Revolution by Heather Chaplin and Aaron Ruby
• An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths by Glenn Reynolds
• The Google Story: Inside the Hottest Business, Media, and Technology Success of Our Time by David A. Vise and Mark Malseed
• The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson*

Negotiation by Nikos Mourkogiannis

• Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People by G. Richard Shell
• Negotiate to Win: The 21 Rules for Successful Negotiating by Jim Thomas
• Beyond Reason: Using Emotions as You Negotiate by Roger Fisher and Daniel Shapiro*

Strategy by Chuck Lucier and Jan Dyer

• The Growth Gamble: When Leaders Should Bet Big on New Business — and How They Can Avoid Expensive Failures by Andrew Campbell and Robert Park
• 10 Rules for Strategic Innovators: From Idea to Execution by Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble*
• The Core Value Proposition: Capture the Power of Your Business Building Ideas by Jack G. Hardy

Governance by Michelle Leder

• Tougher Boards for Tougher Times: Corporate Governance in the Post-Enron Era by William A. Dimma*
• Going South: An Inside Look at Corruption and Greed, and the Power of the HealthSouth Message Board by William Cast, M.D.
• Hedgehogging by Barton Biggs

Management by David Hurst

• From Resource Allocation to Strategy by Joseph L. Bower and Clark G. Gilbert, editors*
• The World’s Newest Profession: Management Consulting in the Twentieth Century by Christopher D. McKenna
• The Hare and the Tortoise: An Informal Guide to Business Strategy by John Kay
• Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-Based Management by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton
• The G Quotient: Why Gay Executives Are Excelling as Leaders…and What Every Manager Needs to Know by Kirk Snyder

The Business of Defense by Dov S. Zakheim

• A Bloody Business: America’s War Zone Contractors and the Occupation of Iraq by Colonel Gerald Schumacher
• Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror by Robert Young Pelton*
• Corporate Soldiers and International Security: The Rise of Private Military Companies by Christopher Kinsey

Fiction by Jonathan Weber

• Company: A Novel by Max Barry
• JPod: A Novel by Douglas Coupland
• Sex and the Single Zillionaire: A Novel by Tom Perkins
• Rome, Inc.: The Rise and Fall of the First Multinat
• ional Corporation by Stanley Bing*

Leadership by James O'Toole

• The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope by Jonathan Alter*
• Heroes: Saviors, Traitors, and Supermen. A History of Hero Worship by Lucy Hughes-Hallett
• Purpose: The Starting Point of Great Companies by Nikos Mourkogiannis
• Leadership Can Be Taught: A Bold Approach for a Complex World by Sharon Daloz Parks
• Why Should Anyone Be Led by YOU? What It Takes to Be an Authentic Leader by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones
• Leading through Conflict: How Successful Leaders Transform Differences into Opportunities by Mark Gerzon
• Reinventing Leadership: Strategies to Empower the Organization by Warren G. Bennis and Robert Townsend

Brand Autopsy's Best Marketing Books For 2006

John Moore announced his 2006 Brand Autopsy Marketing Book Awards today. Treasure Hunt won for Best Marketing Strategy Book, ZAG won for Best Marketing Book of the Year, and Adrian Zackheim of Portfolio (Penguin) was awarded The Phillip Kolter Vanguard Lifetime Achievement Award.

The 2006 Best of the 800ceoread Blogs

I went back through 593 blogs posts, 34 books excerpts, and 28 author interviews. You know what? We published some really great stuff. Here are the ideas that caught my attention from 2006:

• Charles Fishman/Wal-Mart Effect Interview - I could talk with him for hours.
• Doing Business Globally - HOW Magazine ran a list of books about helping you do business overseas
• Design Books For Novices - DWELL Magazine asked notable designers and architects what books would be good for beginners
• Bo Burlingham/Small Giants Interview - Bo and I went on so long about his book I had to break the interview into three parts
• The Big Picture - Six questions Ram Charan says you should ask to get to The Big Picture
• The Whole New Mind Rap - Fan Wyatt Jackson write a ode to Dan Pink's latest book
• Does This Post Plug John Bogle's New Book? - Tom pokes fun at a Wall Street Journal criticism
• Will Wheaton Likes ChangeThis - He does. Listen to the clip.
• Peter Who? - Proof why people need to read more business classics
• Toddcast #1 - Todd Berman from Harvard Business School Press joins me for a BookExpo round-up
• Future of the Book - Pip Coburn gives his take
• Get Back In The Box - I wrote a five part series on useful nuggets from Doug Rushkoff's book (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5)
• Banker To The Poor Excerpt - The book from this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner
• David Rock/Quiet Leadership Interview - Learn how to have more productive conversations in less time with those who work for you
• Listening To SH** - This is a sentiment that Jack and I identify with
• Mauboussin quoting Dr. Suess - a great way to start a book, using Suess as his hook
• Purpose: A Critical Biography - Short on things to read? Nikos provides thirty pages of bibliography in a very readable essay style.
• Tom's Essential Resources for Writers - This list came out of our Author Pow-wow in November

The Ehrenfeld Principle

A few weeks back we hosted an author pow-wow (pictures here). [I can't tell even begin to tell you how much is gained by personally knowing the people behind emails and phone calls.]

One of our pow-wow-ees was John Moore. A takeaway from him is what he dubs "The Ehrenfeld Principle." [You may recognize the name from one of our regular contributors.] What's this principle?

That’s my name for something I learned from business writer Tom Ehrenfeld at the recent 800 CEO READ Author Pow-Wow. During one of the sessions, Tom outlined his "WHAT? | SO WHAT? | PROVE IT!" system to identify effective business writing.

The WHAT? is the content. The SO WHAT? is why the content matters. And the PROVE IT! provides the credibility.

It's a great way to simplify the selling of anything -- for authors, marketers, entrepreneurs, etc., etc. John used the principle to explain the new book The 12 Elements from Gallup Press.

Go help Guy.

Guy Kawasaki is seeking help with a title for his next book. As he says:

It’s been two years since The Art of the Start hit the streets, and I’m ready to write another book. I have some ideas, but I'd like to tap the “wisdom of the crowd� in order to ensure that it appeals to “the long tail� in this “Web 2.0� world. :-)

Have ideas? Go help him out here.

Rebecca's Best of 2006

2006 was, by far, one of the "changiest" years for me. I changed addresses, changed jobs, changed Internet providers. I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time. I bought an iPod. I spent a lot of time with my family and met a wonderful and hilarious new friend.

The most recent change was my move in November from the retail side of Dicken's Books Ltd. to the business division, 800-CEO-READ--a change that meant new and exciting opportunities for career growth, and also the chance to work with a great team of people.

One of the best perks of working for a bookseller is meeting lots and lots of authors. Through my adventures in the bookshops, I met a lot of interesting people this past year, including:

Paul Rusesabagina, Temple Grandin, Jonathan Safran Foer, Sara Gruen, Nando Parrado, Alan Alda, Lemony Snicket, Barack Obama, Anna Quindlen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jerry Kramer, John Updike, Alice Hoffman, John Hodgman, Ann Patchett, Elizabeth George, Elinor Lipman, and many more who I can't even remember right now.

I also got to hang out with cool Milwaukee authors like John Gurda, CJ Hribal and Liam Callanan.

During my first week at 800-CEO-READ, I met 22 business book authors at our Author Pow-Wow in Chicago. I can't wait to see Dan Heath again for his Milwaukee event (coming up in February).

I'm excited to read these business books that came out in 2006:

Citizen Marketers
Wikinomics
The Walmart Effect (coming out in paperback next week)

And here are a few of my favorites from the bookshop side:

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
The Thirteenth Tale by Dianne Setterfield
An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina
The Demon Under the Microscope by Thomas Hager

And, one of my favorite books in recent years came out in paperback (check it out--it's wonderful).

I hope 2007 is as great as 2006. It looks like it'll be off to a terrific start.

Globle and Mail's Top Ten of 2006

A couple of blogging business book authors pointed to Harvey Schachter's list in Toronto's Globe and Mail. You'll find this list has more of a management focus.

1. Hard Facts Dangerous Half-Truths & Total Nonsense by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton
2. Managing the Dynamics of Change by Jerald Jellison
3. The Ultimate Question by Fred Reichheld
4. Questions of Character by Joesph Badaracco
5. Leading Leaders by Jeswald Salacuse
6. Get Them on Your Side by Samuel Bacharach
7. Working With You is Killing Me by Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster
8. Questions That Sell by Paul Sherry
9. A Leader's Legacy by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner
10. The Box by Marc Levinson

Honorable Mentions:

• The Emperor Has No Hard Hat by Alan Quilley
• Leading at a Higher Level by Ken Blanchard
• The Long Tail by Chris Anderson
• Hit the Ground Running by Liz Cornish
• Dish by Barbara Moses
• Focus Like a Laser Beam by Lisa Haneberg
• Leadership Can Be Taught by Sharon Daloz Parks and Ron Heifetz

Kirkus Review's Best Books of 2006

Kirkus Reviews publishes around 5,000 books reviews a year. You will sometimes see them as one of the reviews on Amazon. Libraries often use Kirkus reviews to select titles for their shelves.

Kirkus published a Best Books of 2006 report and starts by talking about how difficult it is to do best-of's:

Consider Mitch Albom: The literati line up to denounce his efforts as risible pabulum—and yet nearly 700,000 readers have snapped up his latest, For One More Day, in just the three months since it was published, according to Nielsen BookScan. So, there you go: The pages you hold in your hands are guaranteed to be full of wrong information, according to somebody. To Kirkus, however, this is the selection of the titles we’ve felt strongest about throughout the year.

Of the 30 titles they highlight, there are only three that apply directly or indirectly to this audience:

• Pulse: The Coming Age of Systems and Machines Inspired by Living Things by Robert Frenay (got alot of great press, the whole book is available online now)
• The Producer: John Hammond and the Soul of American Music by Dunstan Prial (this is for Jack, he talked about it earlier this year)
• Apex Hide The Hurt by Colson Whitehead (this a satirical tale of a nomenclature consultant hired to rename a town, it was a Fast Company pick)

Did I miss something?

On Wednesday, I posted my favorite books of 2006 and Tom McManus left a comment. He remembered us putting a lot of promotion behind Prepared Mind Of A Leader and was surprised the book had made Jack's list or mine.

Here was my response:

That is a fair question.

I liked the the book. I was a big fan because I knew it was not going to get the love it needed from the media.

It was on my list of 22 books.

It didn't meet my first critera of changing the way I viewed the world. Prepared Mind reinforced what I already believed about leadership. I think that was the reason I got excited about it.

For the honorable mentions, the books naturally fell into those three categories of firecrackers, companies, and big think. Prepared Mind didn't fit there either.

What I need to do is go back and add one more category on Nuts and Bolts. There are a couple of books that belong there.

Thanks for catching our glaring omission.

So, if you go back to my best of 2006 list, you will see a new category called Nuts and Bolts. These books are for those who need help keeping the organization running.

New entry on Excerpts blog

There's a new excerpt up! It's taken from Changing How the World Does Business: FedEx's Incredible Journey to Success -- The Inside Story by Roger Frock.

Once thought to be on the verge of crisis, FedEx took an incredible turn for the better during its second decade, and today is at the forefront of operations. Roger Frock describes the obstacles FedEx overcame to eventually influence how the world does business.

Click here for the Excerpt.

Jack Covert Selects: Andy Grove: The Life and Times of an American

Andy Grove: The Life and Times of an American by Richard Tedlow, Portfolio Press, 550 Pages, $29.95 Hardcover. November 2006, ISBN 1591841399

Andy Grove was the first employee hired by Moore and Noyce when they started Intel. He, along with Gates and Jobs, has been one of the front men in computers. Also a prolific writer, Grove has penned a world class textbook and over forty technical articles, a memoir that was called a "major literary achievement" and two best selling books on business in '86 and '93. It seems Grove has the midas touch, even indirectly, becuase this book, a biography of Grove by Richard Tedlow, is one of the best biographies I have ever read.

A great biography is made up of three critical ingredients. First, the subject must be an interesting person with an interesting life. Check. But if the writer can’t convey the story in an engaging manner, well, an interesting life only goes so far. Tedlow’s book, Giants of Enterprise was one of my best books of 2001. Great writer? Check. And a great biography must be well-documented. There are 100 pages of notes, bibliography and index here.
Check.

This paragraph, I believe, is a perfect reflection of success in all the above categories:

“Noyce and Moore did not have to find the first of the “good employees� they hired. He found them. That, of course, was Andy. Just as Noyce could not have been Noyce without Moore, Moore could not have been Moore without Grove. No one could have known this in July of 1968, but Grove was both able and willing to make the transition from technologist alone to technologist and business manager. Moreover, he became not only a manager, but a strategist second to none. He became as good at business as he was at technology. What would have happened to Intel without Andy? In all probability the company would have failed.�

Andy Grove is an amazing man who continues to shape our world, and Tedlow’s well- written account of his life is a terrific read from start to finish.

Kate's Best of 2006

For the last two weeks, I've been thinking about this blog post; well, maybe that's too specific. For the past two weeks, I've been thinking about 2006. It's been another great year full of new beginnings and changes. We started the year with our nose to the grindstone working on a print piece that describes everything we do. We found our core is that:

We sell books but we're really in the business of moving ideas.

 

Of those ideas, these are my best ofs 2006-- a lot of which you may have seen on Jack and Todd's best of lists).

Books

• Mavericks at Work

I read this book on vacation; it was that good. The best lesson is that it takes guts to be a maverick but as any finance major would say, the more risk, the greater chance of reward. This past October,Bill visited us.The energy shared by the audience was exhilarating. I think it's the only business event I've ever been to where people stayed for two hours afterwards just talking. Before he visited, Bill did an interview with one of our local media. I just looked through it again and thought this comment to be very appropriate for all those new year's resolutions:

I'd never suggest that my definition of success should be anyone else's definition, but here's how I think about it: Can I make use of my natural talents to do work that means something to me, that makes even a little bit of a positive impact in the world, and that creates something of value in the marketplace? I firmly believe that there is an iron-clad connection between the values you believe in and fight for -- as a company or as an individual -- and the economic value your create. That's how you do your best work -- and how material success also feels like "real" success.

Of course, there's also the ChangeThis manifestoBill and Polly did.

• Purpose

I have to admit that I haven't read the entire book yet. I keep peeling it apart bit by bit while juggling the multitude of other books lying near my nightstand. But I remember getting the first draft of the ChangeThis Manifesto; I dug right in. While I still cannot pronounce Nikos' last name, the man is sharing everyone should know. It's the idea of moving, living and working for a purpose. What is it that inspires your company and are you aligned with that?

• The Butterfly Hunter

Maybe it's just the glamor of these stories that appeal to me. This book tells of unique jobs by using the workers' stories. One example is an eyeball artisan; the art of fake eyeballs. Amazing and that's just one of the stories.

• Radical Edge

When I put this book down, all I could think was how can I make a difference?

• The Ultimate Question

Simply a great tool for marketers. Some argue it's merit on whether it actually measures company growth. But I have yet to see a better/simpler way to understand your company's value in your customers' eyes.

What about you; what books have you read and enjoyed this year? Have a wonderful holiday season and great new year!

Jack Covert Selects: Citizen Marketers

Citizen Marketers: When People are the Message
by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba, Kaplan Business, 224 Pages, $25.00 Hardcover, December 2006, ISBN 1419596063

My business philosophy has always been simple: provide great customer service. I sell books, the same product innumerable companies all over the country sell. To differentiate our company, we focus on service--just ask folks around here how I feel about the phone ringing more than two times. It has always been my belief that people treated well will tell others about their experience. Whether you call it word-of-mouth or customer evangelism, I am a big believer.

Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba wrote the book on customer evangelism in 2003. This month, their new book, Citizen Marketers, goes a step further. What happens when your customers, those same fans you’ve been working to engage, start producing commercials that are as good as the ones you are paying to have made? What happens when your employees are gathering in online forums to critique your latest products? 

The world is changing and marketers are losing control of their message. Here is one story the authors tell of how the relationship is changing between companies and their customers.

In Albany NY lives an independent PR consultant who has a passion for the retailer, Target. She (aka Red Cart Romance) started a blog called Slave to Target which chronicles her addiction to the store's products. Red Cart shares both praise and criticism in her writings and this distinctive commentary gained the notice of readers (100,000 visitors per month), the media (Forbes named it "Best Shopping Blog") and Target itself. Red Cart became the talk of the company. The relationship between Red Cart and Target quickly changed, however, from idol/fan to company/sales tool. Or at least Target tried. The blogger started to receive press kits and email from employees about new products. But, Red Cart says, irritated by the attempts to sway her posting, "They don't care what I have to say....They're just a bunch of suits."

For a company unprepared to navigate this new world of marketing, losing control of its message can be disasterous. So, let me suggest something to you. Turn on your computer and google your company's name. See what people are saying about you. And when you find those not-so-flattering blog entries (oh yes, they are there if you look hard enough), it might be a strong signal to go buy Citizen Marketers.

Jack Covert Selects: China Shakes the World

China Shakes the World: A Titan’s Rise and Troubled Future—and the Challenge for America
By James Kynge, Houghton Mifflin Publisher, 280 Pages, $25.00 Hardcover, October 2006, ISBN 0618705643

Confession time: I really wanted to dislike this book. When I saw China Shakes the World on the short list for the 2006 Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year award, I had never heard of it, though I loved the other four titles mentioned. I saw it as the list's ugly stepsister. Was it because there are so many other books about China on the market currently? I'm not sure, but I ordered a copy despite my lesser inclinations (I actually had to BUY the book because the publisher didn't even send me a copy!).

I soon learned that the book is utterly brilliant, head and shoulders above any other available on the subject. (Previously I had recommended Tim Clissold's Mr. China.) The author lives in China, was the bureau chief in Beijing for many years, and, as such, he gives us a distinctive look at what is really going on in that country. This particular paragraph shows a new way to look at China as a market.

“But if foreign businessmen arrive in China transfixed by size and scale, many of them depart haunted by the concept of share. They envisage being able to sell their products to a multitude of Chinese and then watch as the hoped-for multitude is sliced and diced into morsels. Only certain sections of society are willing buyers of most products, and reaching them is made difficult by layers of local protectionism. When a market is finally found, aggressive domestic competitors have usually got there first. The fabled billion-person market is frequently reduced to a fraction in the figment of a dream.�

Even with the economy growing at 10%+, the China is several million jobs short of the required 25 million new job applicants. That is a significant reason why China needs to grow at such extraordinary rates. The author explains that “…if the growth rates were to drop dramatically, the convulsions that would happen would intensify. As economists in Beijing are fond of saying, China is like an elephant riding a bicycle. If it slows down, it could fall off, and then the earth might quake.�

This book tells the real story of the giant that is China. China Shakes the World is my “must read� for the fall of 2006. And should be that last minute addition to your Christmas list.

800ceoread's Holiday Gift Giving

Rather than give you some list of books that we think you should buy for holidays, we thought it would be more authentic to tell you what we have purchased for our family and friends.

	This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women, Edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman, with a foreword by Studs Terkel, produced in association with National Public Radio
	Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
	Acme Novelty Library #17 by Chris Ware
	Children's Hospital by Chris Adrian
	What Is The What by Dave Eggers
	U2 by U2
	The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour: The Adventure Stories Volume 4 by Louis L'Amour
	Denyse Schmidt Quilts: 30 Colorful Quilt and Patchwork Projects by Denyse Schmidt, Bethany Lyttle
	The Road by Cormac McCarthy
	Avenue Q: The Book by Avenue Q and Zachery Pincus-Roth
	Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the U.S.S. Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors by James Hornfischer
	The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2006 by by Art Spiegelman (Illustrator), Matt Groening (Introduction), Dave Eggers (Series Editor)

BusinessWeek's Best Business Books of 2006

The December 18th issue of Business Week replaces their weekly book review with a year in review in business books. You can click-through for their commentary. Here is the list:

• The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller & the World Economy Bigger by Marc Levinson
• Hershey: The Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams by Michael D'Antonio
• Andrew Carnegie by David Nasaw
• The Sack of Rome: How a Beautiful European Country with a Fabled History and a Storied Culture Was Taken Over by a Man Named Silvio Berlusconi by Alexander Stille
• Andy Grove: The Life and Times of an American by Richard Tedlow
• Innovation: The Five Disciplines for Creating What Customers Want by Curtis Carlson and William Wilmot
• The Long Tail: Why The Future of Business is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson
• The Poker Face of Wall Street by Aaron Brown
• Why Most Things Fail: Evolution, Extinction, & Economics by Paul Ormerod
• More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places by Michael Mauboussin

Todd's Best of Business Books 2006

I started with a list of 22 books that I thought deserved year-end honors. The narrowing of the list was the hard part. I quickly marked the ones I knew should be on my list and looked to see if they had something in common. What I saw was each of the books changed the way I looked at the world. I went through the list again with that criterea and found three more books.

Here are my six favorite books of 2006:

*The Origin of Wealth by Eric Beinhocker

This is my favorite book of the year and you will not have seen me talk about it anywhere on the site. How is that possible? It is a hard book to talk about in 100 words. Beinhocker has taken all of the literature on complexity theory and put it into one book. The information is accessible and the research explained through extended stories. More importantly, Origin of Wealth is written for a business audience. What many are going to find daunting is the book is 512 pages. My solution: take three books off your night stand and replace them with Origin of Wealth.

What I Learned: The complex nature of the universe makes it impossible to predict. What makes it worse is that our brains are not wired to see the complexity in the world and we often make poor decisions because of it. The only thing you can do to survive is keep trying new things (and understand that most will fail). I know that sounds obvious, but are you doing it?!

*The Number by Lee Eisenberg

The book was released with high hopes from Free Press and the book never meet the expectations of the publisher. Adrian Zackheim, the publisher at Portfolio, said that people don't want to read about how they are not going to have enough money when they retire. I agree with him. Eisenberg takes you on a emotional roaster coaster ride through what it is going to take to deal with the second half of your life. It has been a long time as since I have been that depressed from reading a book. My reaction came from his vivid storytelling and the stark realities he forced me to face.

What I Learned: The magnitude of your number is driven by future lifestyle. People struggle is how they are going to spend their post-workforce years. Your life needs purpose and meaning whether you are 38 or 88. Calculate accordingly.

*The Ultimate Question by Fred Reichheld

Fred has been talking about customer loyalty for years. I remember when The One Number You Need to Grow ran in Harvard Business Review in 2003. Kate says it was a part of her coursework. I felt Net Promoter Scores (NPS) finally put some numbers to the power of word of mouth. Companies like GE and American Express have created corporate initiatives while others question if NPS really predicts corporate growth [WSJ - sub. needed].

What I Learned: In one question, I could find out the most important thing I need to know about my customers - would they recommend me to friend. This is not the sort of thing that can be corrupted. 800ceoread adopted the NPS philosophy when the book came out and believe wholeheartedly its effectiveness. We found out (and continue to find out) what matters to our customers. All you have to do it ask.

*The Change Function by Pip Coburn

Pip advises the investment community on technology. For him, technology is not about earnings per share and software release dates. It is about whether people will adopt it. It is about change. The book is a quick read with great examples. If you are in IT and you want to know why the functional groups around you are implementing their own solutions, this book is for you.

What I Learned: All you have to think about is whether the crisis greater than the pain of adoption. If the answer is no then nobody is going to buy. And this applies to all sorts of change like moving from PC to Mac or lowering your cholesterol. Simple, but powerful.

*Purpose by Nikos Mourkogiannis

I wrote my love letter to this book yesterday.

*D.I.Y. (Design It Yourself) by Ellen Lupton (editor)

I saw this book showing up on a number of design websites in the last year, and it piqued my interest. The book gives you some thoughts on the craft of design, but the cool part is Ellen and her students showing you how to make stuff. D.I.Y has instructions on how to make t-shirts, books, business cards, wall-graphics and more. Knowing what is possible help you be more creative.

What I Learned: You can make it yourself. You don't need to go to the store and choose the least worst. I made a batch of t-shirts for a side project that turned out great. My annual Christmas CD turned out wicked cool with some pre-silkscreened CDRs and slick jewel cases. I am already plotting my D.I.Y. projects for next year.

******

I was going to stop there, but I think there are some others titles that our dear readers need to make sure they considered. Consider these my honorable mentions.

-Firecracker Category (everyone needs a little inspiration):

Small Is The New Big by Seth Godin (best of his short writings)
Radical Edge by Steve Farber (another killer business novella)
Mavericks At Work by Bill Taylor and Polly LaBarre (the energy of Fast Company returns)

-The Company Books (read about the companies shaping how business is done):

The Wal-Mart Effect by Charles Fishman (best book on the company. Period.)
The Elegant Solution: Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation by Matthew May (spent time inside to find out what makes them tick)

-Thinking Cap Category (time to start thinking differently):

More Than You Know by Michael Mauboussin (this one is really about making better decisions)
One Great Insight Is Worth A Thousand Good Ideas by Phil Dunesberry (describes and illustrates the power of insights)
Are You Ready To Succeed? by Srikumar Rao (self-help for business people)
Undercover Economist by Tim Harford (economics are all around you, Tim show you where)
Questions of Character by Joe Badaracco (uses fiction to teach lessons in leadership)

-Nuts and Bolts Category (things to help run the organization better)

Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense by Jeff Pfeffer and Bob Sutton (based your decisions on evidence, not conjecture)
The Prepared Mind of A Leader by Bill Welter and Jean Egmon (matches my view of leadership)
Setting The Table by Danny Meyer (the NYC resturanteer share his brand of managing)
12: The Elements of Great Managing by Rodd Wagner and James Harter (ten million Gallup interviews can't be wrong)

Good To Great For Social Sectors on Audio

If you haven't read Good To Great For Social Sectors, there is not much of an excuse. The monograph is only 42 pages and a great summary to the book.

"Well, I don't have time to read."

Yeah, I hear that one all the time. Releasing today is the audio version of this little book.

No more excuses.

This year instead of FRUITCAKE!

If you need a “stocking stuffer� for your business friend check this out.

Jeffrey Gitomer is a phenomenon. He is the hardest working man in the business of motivation. I have known Jeffrey for well over a decade. In fact, the updated version of The Sales Bible still carries my name on the cover. Weird but true. Jeffrey called and asked if I would give him a plug for the hard cover of the book and I did (and that is why my quote is on the cover).

For the past two years he has been flooding the market with a series of brilliant books on laser focused issues. The Little Red Book of Selling started things, and that book was quickly followed by The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, then The Little Black Book of Connections (read my review here), and now The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude.

The reason I decided tell you about this library is that I spent some time with the YES book and loved it. So I went back to the other books and found that there is a reason that Jeffrey is the only person, that I know of, who has every had three different books on The Wall Street Journal weekly best seller list during the same week.

Now, what makes his books so special? They are a perfect size. They fit in your hand and feel comfortable. The pages are four color. The takeaways in each book are bite-sized and just perfect to read on an airplane—that is why you have seen these books stacked on the shelves at airport bookstores. Jeffrey's writing is extremely conversational and fun to read. Plus, the books have rounded edges and those cool ribbon page markers. They also lay open without breaking the spine. What’s not to like about that?

These books are the perfect gift for the business person in your life. Honest!

Amazon's Top Ten Business Books for 2006

Here is editors' list from Amazon for the best business books of 2006.

1. The Long Tail by Chris Anderson*
2. Making Globalization Work by Joesph Stiglitz
3. Success Built To Last by Porras, et al.*
4. The Starfish and The Spider by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom*
5. Knowledge and The Wealth of Nations by David Warsh
6. Origin of Wealth by Eric Beinhocker
7. Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert*
8. Mavericks at Work by Bill Taylor and Polly LaBarre*
9. Changing Minds by Howard Gardner
10. Setting The Table by Danny Meyer*

*Six of these books were also chosen as Jack Covert Selects in 2006.

Zoom Zoom Zoom

Toyota is everywhere.

There is a great article written in Fast Company this month by (of course) Charles Fishman called