The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the Wall Street Journal with data from Nielsen BookScan on November 1.
1. StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup’s Now, Discover Your Strengths
by Tom Rath. Are you unsure where your true talents lie? Do you feel that you are both a person who gets things done and someone who offers penetrating analysis? Well, you can discover whether you are truly an “achiever” or an “analytical” by completing the online quiz. Then, the book will give you “ideas for action” and tips for how best you can work with others. More of a patiencetester than Strengthsfinder, the quiz/book is probably best for those who have lots of time on their hands.
2. Spend Shift: How the Post-Crisis Values Revolution Is Changing the Way We Buy, Sell, and Live
by John Gerzema and Michael D’Antonio. The consumer values expert and Pulitzer prizewinning author document the rise of a vibrant, values-driven post-recession economy. Through in-depth observation, proprietary data from Young & Rubicam, and interviews with experts, the authors analyze the changing consumer psyche, document the five shifting values and consumer behaviors that are remaking America and the world, and explain what it means to businesses and leaders.
3. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose
by Tony Hsieh. The visionary CEO of Zappos explains how an emphasis on corporate culture can lead to unprecedented success.
4. Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future
by Robert B. Reich. The author argues that the real problem with our current economic crisis is structural: it lies in the increasing concentration of income and wealth at the top, and in a middle class that has had to go deeply into debt to maintain a decent standard of living.
5. The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
by Michael Lewis. The sequel to #1 best-selling Liar’s Poker
examines the issue of who understood the risk inherent in the assumption of ever-rising real estate prices, a risk compounded daily by the creation of those arcane, artificial securities loosely based on piles of doubtful mortgages.
6. The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness
by Dave Ramsey. Debt reduction and fiscal fitness for families, by the radio talk-show host.
7. Debunkery: Learn It, Do It, and Profit from It-Seeing Through Wall Street’s Money-Killing Myths
by Ken Fisher. The author debunks 50 common myths and outlines the most common—and costly—mistakes investors make.
8. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t
by Jim Collins. The author of Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
examines the question “How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness?”
9. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable
by Patrick Lencioni. The author targets group behavior in the final entry of his trilogy of corporate fables. When the instructional tale is over, Lencioni discusses the “five dysfunctions” (absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results) and provides a questionnaire for readers to use in evaluating their own teams and specifics to help them understand and overcome these common shortcomings.
10. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
by Dan Heath and Chip Heath. The Heath brothers (coauthors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
) address motivating employees, family members, and ourselves in their analysis of why we too often fear change.
