Told from the perspective of President of Thedacare, Kim Barnas, this book covers the history and tactics of the Thedacare Lean Health Systems Transformation during the early 2000’s. Now considered lore on second only to Toyota’s own cultural transformation as it developed and improved the Toyota Production System, this journey for Thedacare is a great introduction to lean basics, cultural transformation, and some simple tactical tools that are lynchpins in a culture change to a people (patient/customer/provider) centric healthcare model in which problem solving is the centerpiece of the business and continuous improvement mindsets and results are pervasive across the organization (horizontally and vertically). Having come from aerospace and manufacturing, I found this easy read a refreshing reminder of lean tactics and principles but also a very useful exploration of continuous improvement, culture transformation, and lean in a VERY different industrial sector. I recommend this book for any healthcare professional but also for anyone in continuous improvement, no matter the industry.
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk!
This book is a classic of marketing and is recommend often among entrepreneurs and successful CEO’s alike. This book is compact and easily distilled to your particular situation. I found it VERY helpful to understand marketing in general but also as a lesson in organizational change as well. While it might not seem useful internally to an organization, this book is fundamentally about individual and group psychology, choice theory, influence, and customer satisfaction. When viewed from those angles these 22 Laws become VERY useful to a much broader audience. I recommend this book for leaders and managers, marketers, industry and market analysts, entrepreneurs, and startups.
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
Peter Thiel is more famously known for his part as a founder at PayPal as well as his work as a Venture Capitalist at Thiel Capital but this book is a great resource and insight into his thinking not only about business but history, political science, and his thoughts on the trajectory of history. This book is a collection lectures he gave at Standford on Startups, compiled by a student of his and then collaboratively edited into the final book. This book is probably in many of the Top 10 books for startups and entrepreneurs out there and for good reason. It’s choc full of macro, strategic thinking models as well as integration of fundamental aspects of nature like Power Laws and Network theory. Additionally, he brings into play societal level patterns and paradigms to help the reader understand what true change and earth shattering products, services, and business models really are. He has a straight forward style backed up with a thorough understanding of business, systems theory, economics, political science, and much more. I recommend this book for startups, entrepreneurs, innovators, strategists and more.
Crossing the Chasm, 3rd Edition: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers
Crossing the Chasm is a fundamental business and technology classic. Timeless in its analysis and understanding of human and societal change and adoption, this book will layout out the core elements of product marketing but also change management in general. This book has proven and well researched strategies to create massive adoption curves for new products, services, and organizational change. I recommend this book for technologists, product developers, marketers, and change agents.
Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance
Competitive Advantage is another classic from the great Michael Porter. This book is more internal and organizational focused than Competitive Strategy and provides the reader a rigorous and well thought out method for understanding the core of your advantage as an organization. He gets down to the simple truths of competitive advantage in this work. In the age of endless business school, executive, and consulting jargon on whatever dressed up version of technology, methods or tools are claimed to be competitive advantage, Porter will dispel all the myths for you and provide you a clear and cogent understand of the structure of your organization and how it delivers value in a sustainable and effective way. I recommend this book for leaders, strategy analysts, organizational effectiveness consultants, and also continuous improvement professionals. It is actually a great accompaniment to the “Value Stream Mapping” approach that will expand on that method and tool set to an organization wide and financial model point of view.
Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors
This book is truly a tome of Strategic Analysis and Strategy in general but it is also an incredible guide and reference for ongoing work. Michael Porter is considered the Grandfather of Strategy and Strategic Analysis in the 21st century. His various works are considered, in some form or another, as required reading in any MBA course on Strategy and leadership. I was first exposed in my Master’s of Science program at Purdue, through their partnership with Thunderbird School of Global Management. His article, included in Harvard Business Reviews “Top 10 Must Reads” On Strategy, titled “What is Strategy?” merely glosses the surface. Porter my brother as an Industrial & Systems Engineer by another Mother as this book is a thorough “systems thinking” analysis and framework of industry’s, markets, business structures, and ultimately understanding their evolution as well as where the profit (and power) currently resides in a market and where it is likely to reside in the future. I recommend this book for anyone seriously interested in the foundations of Strategic Thinking but also Industrial & Systems Engineers, Innovation Leaders and Leaders in General, as well as entrepreneurs looking to have a framework from which to understand the current and long term structure of their industries.
Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction
Tetlock and Gardner have created an endlessly entertaining but deeply practical work in Superforecasting. They each cover the fields of psychology, political science, and journalism and describe in detail the results of their analysis of historical research as well as applied experimentation to uncover what truly are the characteristics of people that can predict aspects of the future to a remarkable degree of accuracy, the timeframes predictions usually stay relevant, what makes for bad predictions, and what are the cognitive characteristics that defy common perspectives and use of so called “experts” in any given field. This book is a great read to understand our current time of endless “Talking Head Analysts” on cable television doling out political, financial, and other various forms of predictions but also as a useful guide in strategy planning, future forecasting, and risk management. I recommend this book for people generally interested in psychology and cognitive biases, but also to leaders, strategic planners, and innovators as well.
Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers
Business Model Generation is the third book in a collection of interrelated works (not all the same authors) of Startup Owners Manual and Value Proposition Design, all focused on innovation, business model design and development, the Business (or Organization) Model Canvas, and Value Proposition Design. This book is a deeper dive into examples of a wide variety of business models and a wide ranging exploration of the various ways these companies innovated their products, services, and business models to continuously pursue excellence but also better serve their customers in the end. I recommend this book for essential reading of entrepreneurs and product developers, but also participants in the startup world, organizational effectiveness consultants and leaders, and Innovation focused professionals.
How Will You Measure Your Life?
Clayton Christensen, more well known for his book Innovators Dilemma, writes clearly and with personal passion, about how he transferred his knowledge of what’s been successful in the business world into how he could be more successful and impactful in his personal and professional endeavors. He translates concepts like vision, mission, strategy, and tactics into how to envision, pursue, and adjust ones pursuits according to what one really wants out of life and work. This book played an important part in my own life, transitioning out of the Boeing Company, as well as pursuing the consulting model of “Life & Business Transitions” at Next Callings. I recommend this book for people of all disciplines and positions as well as mindsets.
Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae
Steven Pressfield does an amazing job displaying the figures and historical significance of this pivotal battle in Western History. I was completely drawn into the book, it’s imagery, and prosaic style. I have many more of Pressfield’s books on my future reading list!
The Clock of the Long Now: Time and Responsibility
Stewart Brand is one of the greatest thinkers of our time. Founder of the Whole Earth Catalog and the author of a host of other design and futurist oriented books, the Clock of the Long Now is a book fit for anyone seeking to understand underlying structures in our thinking, technology, and how those play out in the evolution of our societies. This book is great to understand some of the inherent drawbacks of the way we’ve pursued technological development, potential pathways for solutions, but also for a great exploration of Strategic Thinking in general, especially as it relates to design and societal ramifications of our technology. I recommend this book for techies but also for anyone wishing to expand their strategic thinking reading into a clear, outcomes oriented thought experiments.
On Grand Strategy
Gaddis lays out a comprehensive examination of Strategy that has been employed by the human race. While it’s described through historical examinations of military and political history, the lessons learned are applicable to any circumstance where you’re employing human effort and systems to increasingly large quantities of time, space, and scale (the books description). I found the “time, space, and scale” description THE most clear and concise description of what Strategies purpose and fundamental benefit is for business, politics, or even your personal life. I recommend this book for all leadership, strategy consultants, military professionals, and even Industrial & Systems Engineers to get a clear grasp of a systems tactical/tangible characteristics as well as it’s higher order structures. This book is in my Top 5 strategy books and a must read.
Factory Physics for Managers
Factory Physics for Managers is a clear, cohesive, and coherent summary of the fundamental nature of factory’s and productive systems in general. Ed Pound et. al do a great job in 1) Convincing the aspiring manager that while the book contains technical content and underpinnings, the investment in reading and digesting the material will pay immense dividends to their understanding of effective operations as well as provide them with the firepower to truly manage their systems in a strategic and effective way. If you understand these principles, apply them in your business, and continuously improve with them, you’ll find your profitability as well as the shear enjoyment of your work increase immensely. I’ve met and worked with Ed Pound on the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineering Work Systems Division Board of Directors and I know his understanding of this material and the science of factory management is deep, comprehensive, and tested time and again across almost every area of manufacturing. I recommend this book for Operations Managers, Industrial Engineers, Continuous Improvement Experts, Senior Leadership (C Suite), Supply Chain Experts, and anyone interested in the science underlying the production of goods and services.
On Strategy from Harvard Business Review's "10 Must Reads"
This compendium on Strategy from the Harvard Business Review is a classic, must read selection of their top articles on Strategy. Many of these authors have since gone on to publish books built from the core theses’ of their articles. Michael Porter’s “What is Strategy?” is a fundamental explanation of Strategy in a business industry setting, where the power is and where the profit is held. Each author lays out their framework for developing, understanding, analyzing, and implementing strategy in any organization, business, non-profit, or otherwise. If you want a clear and approachable primer to the fundamentals of strategic thinking, look no further than this classic as a launching point.