BusinessWeek ranks business books that are the most recent bestsellers and provides a short summary.
1. Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America
by Thomas L. Friedman. New York Times columnist Friedman offers an urgent plea to unleash U.S. creativity—and capitalism—on the challenges of energy, climate change, and world population growth. “I am convinced that the public is ready,” he writes—“they’re ahead of the politicians.”
2. 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.
3. 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 oursourcing your job and getting cheap airfare. Discover your dreams and live them!
4. Six Disciplines® Execution Revolution: Solving the One Business Problem That Makes Solving All Other Problems Easier
by Gary Harpst. A blueprint for creating a strategy and executing it, from a software executive and small-business coach.
5. The First Billion Is the Hardest: Reflections on a Life of Comebacks and America’s Energy Future
by T. Boone Pickens. The legendary oil man and corporate buyout artist here describes how he overcame personal crises, including exile from Mesa Petroleum and the loss of 90% of his investing capital, to stage a comeback. He also spells out his plan for how America can deal with the energy crisis.
6. Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions
by John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber. A simple fable about animals who face devastating change-and can’t bear to deal with it. Does this sound familiar? This year’s Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life
maybe? Anyway, skip the story about icebergs and penguins and go directly to page 130 for the authors’ “eight step process of successful change.” Then, spend the time you’ve saved mulling over how these commonsense suggestions can be put into place at your organization.
7. A Sense of Urgency
by John P. Kotter. Most attempts at organizational change fail, says Harvard B-school emeritus professor Kotter. Why? Kotter asserts here that if the sense of urgency is not high enough at the beginning of any project to change a company, complacency will win out. A Sense of Urgency provides a guide for successful transformation.
8. The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. You probably don’t realize it, but life is a series of highly improbable yet earthshaking events. That’s the argument of The Black Swan, which in many ways is a re-do of the author’s 2001 best-seller, Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
. The highly entertaining new book, though, is longer, better-grounded, and with more advice about how to live in the presence of deep unpredictability. The core of The Black Swan argues that economists, journalists, and corporate planners behave as if they’re living in predictable “Mediocristan” when they’re really in “Extremistan.” It’s a richly enjoyable read with an important message.
9. The Gone Fishin’ Portfolio: Get Wise, Get Wealthy…and Get on With Your Life (Agora Series)
by Alexander Green. The biggest obstacle to success is not bad markets, says this former investment adviser—the investor’s chief problem is likely to be himself. Increase your stock-market exposure during downturns, Green advises.
10. The One Minute Manager
by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. First published in 1981, The One Minute Manager helped to create the now flourishing genre of business fables: simple, instructive stories involving fictional characters. Here, an unnamed “young man” learns from an enlightened manager about three practical managerial techniques, all built around the idea that people must come first. “The people that he worked with felt that he was honestly on their side from the very beginning. And that made all the difference.”
11. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
by Dan Heath. Calling Malcolm Gladwell: Just remember, it’s the sincerest form of flattery. In this “complement to The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
,” the brothers Heath set out to define just what makes some ideas stick in the mind while others melt away. They discover six principles that are essential to getting people to pay attention to, believe, and care about an idea. With a host of stories involving everyone from baseball great Leo Durocher to venture capitalist John Doerr, there’s plenty to keep marketing directors entertained during their next plane trips.
12. Debt Cures “They” Don’t Want You to Know About
by Kevin Trudeau. If you’re deep in debt and struggling to get out, this book offers fundamentals on what to do. Trudeau, author of The Weight Loss Cure They Don’t Want You to Know About
has a low opinion of credit card companies and expends a good deal of rhetoric denouncing it. But if you’re looking to improve your credit score, the basics are here.
13. Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism
by Kevin Phillips. Former Nixon campaign aide turned critic of capitalism Kevin Phillips is back with a book that links the current “global crisis of American capitalism” to the politics of peak oil, the rise of financial mercantilism, the triumph of market fundamentalism, and even the spread of religious conservatism. Philips’ thesis is one that’s now being trumpeted by a bevy of other writers: The financial disaster signals the moment when the U.S. empire begins to follow past powers, from Rome to Britain, into long-term decline.
14. The World Is Curved: Hidden Dangers to the Global Economy
by David M. Smick. Financial crises have become ever more global, observes consultant Smick, who is also publisher of the quarterly newsletter The International Economy. And today, the “incredible shrinking central banks” may no longer have the power to save us, he says. Smick offers a tour of how today’s risky environment came into being and considers just how back things could really get.
15. Crash Proof: How to Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse (Lynn Sonberg Books)
by Peter D. Schiff with John Downes. Think foreign securities, gold—and plain old cash, urges investment adviser Schiff, dubbed “Dr. Doom” by CNBC. Protect your assets with a variety of bull moves.
