Creativity, Inc.
Good to Great
The Lean Startup
Blue Ocean Strategy
Leaders Eat Last
The Innovator's Dilemma
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Lean In
The Power of Habit
Four Thousand Weeks
Creativity, Inc. Good to Great The Lean Startup Blue Ocean Strategy Leaders Eat Last The Innovator's Dilemma Thinking, Fast and Slow Lean In The Power of Habit Four Thousand Weeks
Keep your mind fresh with summaries of the best business books
Four Thousand Weeks
"Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals" by Oliver Burkeman challenges readers to make the most of their limited time on Earth. He argues that time management isn't just about productivity and efficiency, but also about finding meaning and purpose in life. Burkeman offers practical advice on how to prioritize what's important, reduce distractions, and cultivate a sense of gratitude for the time we have.
The Power of Habit
In The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg explores the science behind why we do what we do. He breaks down every habit into a simple three-step "Habit Loop"—Cue, Routine, Reward—and explains that the key to change is to substitute a new routine while keeping the original cue and reward. The book uses compelling stories from business and psychology to illustrate how understanding this loop, and leveraging "keystone habits," can empower anyone to rewrite their patterns and transform their life and organization.
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni presents a leadership fable that diagnoses the five common behaviors that prevent teams from succeeding. He outlines a pyramid of interrelated issues starting with an "Absence of Trust" and moving up through "Fear of Conflict," "Lack of Commitment," "Avoidance of Accountability," and "Inattention to Results." The book provides a powerful framework for leaders to identify and overcome these dysfunctions to build a cohesive and high-performing team.
The Lean Startup
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries provides a scientific methodology for building successful businesses by avoiding waste.The core of the system is the "Build-Measure-Learn" feedback loop, which cycles through creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), measuring how customers respond with actionable metrics, and learning whether to "pivot" or "persevere." This framework prioritizes validated learning over building things nobody wants, helping entrepreneurs navigate uncertainty and find a sustainable business model faster.
Superfans
In Superfans, Pat Flynn argues that the key to a successful business is not a massive audience, but a small, highly engaged tribe of loyal fans. He introduces the "Superfan Pyramid," a framework for guiding people from casual followers to passionate advocates. By creating "magical moments," learning your audience's "lyrics," and facilitating connections between members, you can build an unbreakable bond with your customers, making your business more resilient, profitable, and fulfilling.
100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People
100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People by Susan Weinschenk is a practical guide to applying the science of psychology to design. The book translates 100 key research findings about how people see, think, read, and remember into actionable design principles. It explains concepts like cognitive load, social proof, and visual attention to help creators build more intuitive, engaging, and effective products, websites, and applications by designing for how the human brain actually works.
One Million Followers
In One Million Followers, Brendan Kane demystifies rapid social media growth, arguing it’s a science, not a secret. He presents a systematic, data-driven methodology based on a loop of testing, analyzing, and scaling. The core strategy involves running hundreds of low-cost ad experiments to find the perfect combination of content, messaging, and audience. Once a "winner" is identified through data, you scale it aggressively. This book is a growth hacker's playbook for engineering explosive audience growth in a crowded digital world.
The Startup Owner’s Manual
The Startup Owner's Manual by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf is the definitive guide to the Lean Startup movement. It argues that startups are not small versions of big companies, but are temporary organizations designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. The book provides the four-step "Customer Development" process—a rigorous, evidence-based methodology that requires founders to "get out of the building" to test their hypotheses and find product/market fit before they scale.
The Book of Boundaries
In The Book of Boundaries, Melissa Urban provides a practical guide to setting limits that will set you free from burnout and resentment. She argues that clear, kind boundaries are essential for healthy relationships. The book offers a color-coded framework (Green, Yellow, Red) for escalating your boundaries and provides word-for-word scripts for common situations at work and home. Urban’s core message is that being direct and clear is an act of kindness that protects your time, energy, and mental health.
Dare to Lead
In Dare to Lead, Brené Brown uses extensive research to argue that leadership is not about power or control, but about the courage to be vulnerable. She outlines four teachable skills for "daring leadership": rumbling with vulnerability, living into your values, building trust through her "BRAVING" framework, and learning to rise from failure. The book is a practical playbook for any leader looking to build more courageous, empathetic, and innovative teams by shedding their professional "armor."
The Four Hour Workweek
The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss is a manifesto for escaping the 9-to-5 grind by re-engineering your life and work. Using the "DEAL" framework (Definition, Elimination, Automation, Liberation), Ferriss provides a blueprint for maximizing output in minimum time. By applying principles like the 80/20 rule and Parkinson's Law, creating automated "muse" businesses for passive income, and negotiating remote work, the book argues you can achieve a lifestyle of freedom and "mini-retirements" now, not later.
Blue Ocean Strategy
Blue Ocean Strategy, by Kim and Mauborgne, presents a systematic approach to making competition irrelevant by creating uncontested market space. The book contrasts bloody "red oceans" of competition with wide-open "blue oceans" of new demand. The key is "value innovation"—the simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low cost. Using the "Four Actions Framework" (Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create), companies like Cirque du Soleil can reconstruct market boundaries and create a new, powerful value curve.
The Six Sigma Way
The Six Sigma Way demystifies the powerful data-driven methodology for eliminating defects and improving business processes. The book breaks down the core principles, including the five-step DMAIC framework (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) and the goal of achieving less than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. Using examples from Motorola and GE, it shows how any business can use this systematic approach to solve persistent problems, reduce costs, and dramatically increase quality and customer satisfaction.
Good to Great
In Good to Great, Jim Collins presents a data-backed framework for why some companies make the leap to enduring success. After a five-year study, he found that great companies are led by humble "Level 5 Leaders," get the "right people on the bus" before setting a direction, and develop a simple, focused "Hedgehog Concept." They achieve breakthroughs not through single miracle actions, but by relentlessly pushing a "flywheel" of disciplined action until it builds unstoppable momentum.
Freakonomics
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner is a mind-bending exploration of the hidden side of everything. Using the tools of economics, the book argues that incentives are the key to understanding human behavior, from cheating sumo wrestlers to real-estate agents. It debunks conventional wisdom with data-driven analysis on topics like crime rates and parenting, teaching readers a new, skeptical, and powerfully insightful way to look at the world and its complexities.
The First 90 Days
In The First 90 Days, Michael D. Watkins provides a systematic roadmap for succeeding in any professional transition. He argues that leaders must first diagnose their situation using the STARS model (Start-up, Turnaround, Accelerated Growth, Realignment, Sustaining Success) before acting. The book outlines a clear, week-by-week plan for learning the organization, aligning with a new boss, securing early wins to build momentum, and making critical team and strategy decisions within a crucial three-month window.
The Go-Giver
The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann is a business parable that argues the secret to success is giving, not taking. It introduces the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success, which teach that true worth comes from providing more in value than you receive in payment. By focusing on value, serving more people, placing others' interests first, being authentic, and staying open to receiving, individuals can achieve extraordinary results.
The Happiness Advantage
In The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor uses research from positive psychology to argue that happiness is not the reward for success, but the fuel for it. The book outlines seven actionable principles for training your brain for positivity, which is scientifically proven to make you more creative, resilient, and productive. By changing your mindset, building good habits with the "20-Second Rule," and investing in social connections, you can create a powerful competitive edge in work and life.
The One Minute Manager
The One Minute Manager by Blanchard and Johnson presents three simple secrets to effective leadership. The framework is built on: 1) setting clear, mutually agreed-upon "One-Minute Goals" to eliminate ambiguity; 2) delivering immediate and specific "One-Minute Praisings" to reinforce good behavior; and 3) using "One-Minute Re-Directs" to correct mistakes while reaffirming a person's value. This timeless parable offers a practical guide to boosting morale and productivity in just minutes a day.
The Ride of a Lifetime
In The Ride of a Lifetime, longtime Disney CEO Bob Iger recounts his ascent from studio assistant to the helm of one of the world’s most beloved brands. Mixing behind-the-scenes stories—Pixar’s make-or-break merger, Marvel’s unlikely courtship, the birth of Disney+—with hard-won lessons on creativity, courage, and integrity, Iger offers a candid leadership blueprint for anyone determined to build culture, embrace change, and bet boldly on the future.