Inspired by Barry, here are the best books I read in 2011.
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
pre-ordered the iBook, read mostly on my iPhone
Lots have been written about this book, but what I’ll tell you is that I’m conflicted. The book itself was great and I have no qualms with Isaacson and his style. The question is that of Steve himself. Having read the book, I now respect Steve less because of the way he treated others. Yet, I respect him more, because of the insight he brought and the rigor he demanded of Apple products.
The Myth of the Garage by Chip and Dan Heath
free pdf download, read mostly in the iBook app on my iPad
A quick read full of their articles written over the last year. Funny, entertaining, and insightful. From the chapter Loving the Slog: Why True Grit Matters in the Face of Adversity: “Grit is not synonymous with hard work. It involves a certain single-mindedness. An ungritty prison inmate will mound a daring new escape attempt every month, but a gritty prison inmate will tunnel his way out one spoonful of concrete at a time.”
You will also enjoy the chapter: The Inevitability of $300 Socks.
Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis by Al Gore
purchased app, split reading between iPad and iPhone
Can you “read” an app? I’d say yes. This book was a delight to read. The interactive parts were thoughtfully put together, and my 8-year-old flipped through the whole book just to try them all out. Gore doesn’t just clearly lay out the issues – and explain why they are important – but he puts together a multifaceted and thoughtful solution. The trick is that it will take nearly all of us pulling in the right direction to pull it off. I believe this is one of the biggest challenges facing our generation.
The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton
purchased used book, read the old fashion way
This is an older book, but I wanted to read something by Sutton since I’ve been following his blog for a few years. The examples were understandably older, but the message was clear. Action, even in the face of uncertainty, is the engine that helps improve a company:
“One of the most important insights from our research is that knowledge that is actually implemented is much more likely to be acquired from learning by doing than from learning by reading, listening, or even thinking. There is a limit to what we can do for you in this book, regardless of the insights we have acquired. One of our main recommendations is to engage more frequently in thoughtful action. Spend less time just contemplating and talking about organizational problems. Taking action will generate experience from which you can learn. “
Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Happy and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal
purchased iBook, read mostly on my iPad
I had the opportunity to not just read the book, but to hear Jane speak at SxSW. She has such a positive and contagious outlook on games. Games are not distracting us, she says, they are preparing us to solve the biggest problems the world is facing. That is to say, when a problem can be approached as a game to solve, progress towards the solution happens faster and with more purpose. She noted that after playing games like Guitar Hero, 67% of the gamers were inspired to pick up a guitar for the first time and 73% spent more time playing the instrument they already had.
Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson
purchased new book, read the old fashion way
“Innovation” is such a dirty word. No one knows what it means, but everyone claims that they’ll know innovation when they see it. Steven takes a broad view of history and discusses where innovation occurred, what events lead up to it, and what the environment was that made it possible. It’s a great study, and has molded my thinking around fostering innovation. He summed it up on page 61: “the most productive tool for generating good ideas remains a circle of humans at a table, talking shop.”
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