5 Best Professional Business Books 

I’ve been thinking recently about the five books that have helped me the most professionally.  These books are sort of hard to classify under a single category but all of these books will broaden your outlook and breakdown operational silos that abstract the connections that exist between different business units.

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The best analogy I can think of would be a description of Pixar University I read about. At Pixar University, accountants, chefs, and any one who works at Pixar are encouraged to take drawing classes.  When questioned about the appropriateness of teaching accountants to draw, the head of Pixar University answered, “Why teach drawing to accountants? Because drawing class doesn’t just teach people to draw. It teaches them to be more observant. There’s no company on earth that wouldn’t benefit from having people become more observant.”

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

by Dan Ariely

This behavioral economics book offers a wide variety of experiments and explanations about why people act the way they do and more importantly, how to recognize subtle marketing tactics in everyday life.

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

by David Allen

The simple premise of this amazing book is that if you can close the endless thought loops in your mind then you will get more done by not over thinking (or maybe better put, redundant thinking).
Three simple steps:

  • One “inbox” with all the tasks/emails/projects that you need to analyze or want to remember.
  • Categorize the information, determine what you need to do to complete it, schedule it.
  • Forget about it.

A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future

by Daniel H. Pink

A broad base of ideas to help people become better problem solvers and thinkers. Encourages better communication and better ways to communicate. Explains why creativity can be beneficial to all professionals.

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

by Chip Heath & Dan Heath

If you have to give a speech, give a presentation, write a paper, write ad copy, COMMUNICATE, read this book. The principles and conclusions in this book make presenting ideas (that will be remembered) straight-forward and easy.

Permission Marketing : Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers

by Seth Godin

Seth Godin is a marketing genius. This book is widely accepted as how marketing should be done in the 20th century. People don’t want to be sold to. But people want information about products and companies they are already interested in. This book tells businesses, step-by-step, how to build relationships with customers online, as well as, in real life.

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