General Business Books

Here are some books on a variety of business topics.

Economics Book List

I really love reading books on economics.  This list includes some traditional economics, but there are also some fascinating looks at lots of social implications beyond money supply and taxes.

Financial Management Book List

I spent fourteen years working on Wall Street, so I got a lot of education about finance – both corporate and personal.  It is a topic I am quite passionate about, because many people are not very knowledgeable about finance and money management.  I believe it is a subject we should teach in school (in most schools education about money stops after we teach children how to count change), both the tools and uses of money and how to think about it.   Here are some books on finance.

Innovation & Creativity Book List

Innovation and creativity are the holy grail of businesses.  For years CEOs were talking about execution, but getting more efficient doesn’t bring in new revenue.  New ideas do, though.  So why is that so hard?  Well, it’s risky, and corporations are designed to be risk averse.  Still, companies recognize that we need to enable new thinking so companies can continue to meet the changing needs of customers.  Here are some books to help you encourage creativity – your own and that of others.

New Product Development Book List

The ability to successfully develop and launch new products is critical to organizations, and is often a really big challenge.  Companies expect, on average, most of their growth will come from new products, but often there is a lack of real breakthrough products and even other releases are a struggle.  Here are some great books to help bring some powerful shifts to your ability to  develop new products and bring them to market.

Organizational Behavior Book List

Problem Solving Book List

Problems are the bane and boon of business – they intrigue us and frustrate us, and give us a reason to go to work.  Here are some books about solving problems.

Quality Management Book List

In the 80’s and 90’s, people in business spoke about quality management with a smirk and rolled eyes, but we have finally recognized how critical quality management is to business.  Here are some classics and some modern books on quality management thinking.

Stress Management Book List

We know that stress can be a killer, but we need some stress to keep our brains engaged and effective.  Here are some books about developing resilience and helping teams (and ourselves) keep stress optimal and deal with unhealthy stress in the workplace.

Success In Business Book List

There are many, many books that provide a view of the magic of success in business.  These are some that I found to be helpful in understanding how to create success in business.

Team Building Book List

Helping people work together effectively is incredibly challenging, particularly in the US where we are culturally oriented toward individualism and competition rather than cooperation.  Here are some books for developing teams and helping teams work effectively together.