This is the time of year when I compile the list of best business and management books. But before I go ahead with the list for this year, let me be candid in admitting that the following list is based only on my personal observations and viewpoints. I am not sure what criteria does Amazon and Businessweek have for shortlisting the books, however, mine is pretty simple. I have read 35 books in this year and of those, the ones that will enrich the readers with knowledge, informations, insights and that hone readers' wisdom feature on this list.
Year 2008 kicked off on a resounding note with global economy booming and spectre of recession yet to raise its ugly head. No sooner did the inevitable begin to happen than the bookstores were deluged with books on sub-prime mortgagel crisis, need for new economic models in the wake of crisis, deleveraging, etc. But before all this gloom, there was sunshine.
'What the Customer wants you to know' was one of the best books to hit the book-shelves this year. Authored by formidable Dr. Ram Charan, 'What the customer wants you to know' sheds light on the art of strategic-selling. Dr. Charan puts forth the concept of 'Value Creation Selling' and calls upon the top executives to embark on organization-wide 'sales' transformation. In his inimitable style, Ram Charan breaks down the whole Value creation agenda into eight chapter and enriches each chapter with examples from real organizations while using a fictitious company 'Sturgis Corporation' as a prop, throughout the book. Charan's hand-drawn templates only add to the interest and induce a rather subliminal satisfaction.
It's an acknowledged fact that no topseller list can be complete without a title on 'Leadership'. However, Leadership gurus Warren Bennis and Noel Tichy thought different and touched upon a facet of leadership that uptil now had remained under the wraps. 'Judgment - How winning leaders make great calls' is undoubtedly one of the books that I would love to place in my 'Hall of Fame' of all-time great books. History is glutted with horrible ramifications of bad judgments and year 2008 had to add quite a substantial bit to that record. The half-knowledge with which top executives of Merilly Lynch, Bear Stearns, Lehmann Brothers unleashed the monsters of Greed, Leverage, get-rich-quick-schemes and what you have upon themselves resulted not only in their downfall but also in the annhilation of centuries-old pillars of US Inc. In a way, many monumental bloopers in history have had their roots in bad judgment. 'Judgment' i s a bible for building and honing one's judgment capacity. The framework propounded by two authors is as comprehensive as it is far-reaching. Book is full of real cases from companies like Best Buy, GE, P&G, and so forth. This book is recommended to anyone who is faced with the challenge of making judgment calls day in and day out.
In a world fraught with geopolitical tumult and economic uncertainty, Prof Jeffrey Sachs couldn't have been more on time with his new book 'Common Wealth: Economics for a crowded planet'. This book picks up from where 'End of poverty' had left off. In his last book, Sachs had called upon the developed countries to contribute a morsel of their grand GDPs to the development of least-developed countries including most of sub-saharan Africa. Plus, there was an agenda of Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) that Sachs had very strongly put forth in 'End of Poverty'. Not much has changed since his last book. This book is an au courant update on world's problems and solutions, of course. Many of his contemporaries have branded his thoughts and solutions to the world's problems as utopian. Regardless of that, no other economist has shown the same passion and commitment as Sachs in his quest to solve world's problems. This books is recommended to anyone who is interested in knowing about the macro problems our world is plagued with.
If issues such as global poverty and environmental disasters depress you, you can chose from other topics. Ram Charan returns to the list with P&G's Chairman A.G.Lafley as his co-author for 'The Game-changer: How you can drive revenue and growth with Innovation'. I initially dismissed it as a book written to panegyrize P&G. Yes, this book has P&G's current CEO as one of its authors, but it's hardly a book about the conquests of his company. On the contrary, it's a book on Innovation Leadership and how it could be integrated into everyday work life. 'The Game-changer', undoubtedly, is a C-suite book, nevertheless its significance for almost anyone who wants to be more than a cog in the machine can't be emphasised more.
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