Amazon.com updates its list of the bestselling books every hour. Here is a snapshot of what is hot right now, August 15, in the “Organizational Behavior” section of the “Business and Investing” category.
1. Read This Before Our Next Meeting by Al Pittampalli. Explains what’s wrong with “the meeting,” and meeting culture, but suggests how to make meetings more effective, efficient, and worthy of attending.
2. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss. Ferriss isn’t shy about tooting his own horn: He says he “speaks six languages, runs a multinational firm from wireless locations worldwide, and has been a world-record holder in tango, a national champion in kickboxing, and an actor in a hit television series in Hong Kong.” Is this the sort of person you really want to be taking advice from? Anyway, Ferris offers recommendations and resources for everything from eliminating wasted time to outsourcing your job and getting cheap airfare.
3. Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life by Spencer Johnson and Kenneth Blanchard . This story is about adjusting attitudes toward change in life, especially at work. Change occurs whether a person is ready or not, but the author affirms that it can be positive. His principles are to anticipate change, let go of the old, and do what you would do if you were not afraid.
5. The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox. Alex Rogo manages a failing manufacturing plant. When his district manager tells him that profits must increase or the plant will be closed, Alex turns to Jonah, a former professor. With the help of the enigmatic Jonah and the plant staff, Alex turns the plant around while at the same time abandoning many management principles he previously thought were ironclad.
6. Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis. A behind-the-scenes look at a unique and turbulent time in American business. From the frat-boy camaraderie of the forty-first-floor trading room to the killer instinct that made ambitious young men gamble everything on a high-stakes game of bluffing and deception, this is an insider’s account of an unprecedented era of greed, gluttony, and outrageous fortune.
7. The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels by by Michael Watkins. Whether challenged with taking on a startup, turning a business around, or inheriting a high-performing unit, a new leader’s success or failure is determined within the first 90 days on the job. This hands-on guide offers proven strategies for moving successfully into a new role at any point in one’s career.
9. Leading Change by John P. Kotter. The methods managers have used in the attempt to transform their companies into stronger competitors — total quality management, reengineering, right sizing, restructuring, cultural change, and turnarounds — routinely fall short, says Kotter, because they fail to alter behavior. This book identifies an eight-step process that every company must go through to achieve its goal, and shows where and how people — good people — often derail.
