Charles Goyette has spent much of his life thinking about money. He has contemplated how it works, how governments manipulate it, and how it stores value.

Goyette, a radio show host, precious metals pro, and libertarian, shares his views on fate of the US dollar in “The Dollar Meltdown.” In his four-part book, Goyette details where the US economy and dollar are now, how we got here, what might happen next, and how to protect your money.

The topics Goyette presents are necessary reading for anyone wanting a well-rounded perspective on the current US economy. Even if you don’t agree with some of Goyette’s strong libertarian viewpoints, his colorful writing and factual anecdotes make “The Dollar Meltdown” an interesting read.

As its cover might imply, “The Dollar Meltdown” isn’t a gentle introduction to the collapse of the dollar. Libertarians and Austrian school aficionados would feel most at ease with this book. Refreshingly, the nonpartisan author implicates both Democrats and Republicans as fiscal and monetary ne’er do gooders.

Goyette says “the body economic is shuddering from the relentless compulsions of meddlers.” Thanks to government intervention in money and markets, the US faces runaway inflation. Between Sept 2008-March 2009, US monetary base grew 199%. Add the domestic dollar supply to foreign dollar reserves—up to half of US dollar reserves are in foreign hands—and you have a potential oversupply.

The country’s debt situation is making holders of dollars, both foreign and domestic, nervous about the value of their greenbacks. Goyette writes that our national debt adds up to $42,000/person for the bailout (March 2009 numbers). On top of that, China owns $767 billion in US Treasury securities. That’s the equivalent of each individual American borrowing $3,300 from people in China.

If people start dumping dollars, all that extra supply will make it back to the US. Inflation will result. Several countries are already seeking other kinds of reserves—euros and gold, for example—to replace dollars.

Why isn’t the government quaking in its boots? Because, says Goyette, it has always pursued inflation as a policy. Authorities aim for mild inflation as a manageable economic state. The government tries to alter deflationary states into inflation to gain a sense of control of the economy. “Helicopter” Ben Bernanke is doing exactly that right now. Moreover, as the country’s biggest debtor, the government benefits most from inflation. For example, at 4% inflation, a debt of $12 trillion depreciates by $480 billion/year.

Economic gyrations actually work well for politicians, because they can capitalize off the consequences of inflation. They can campaign based on economic woes. Inflation can help them get reelected. It also helps the government increase its own power. After the government produces inflation, it will initiate wage and price controls. It will use inflation as a vehicle to move towards central command (total economic control).

Goyette, a free-market proponent, says authorities can never be one step ahead of the economy. Inflationary policies aren’t good for the economy. “Saying some inflation is desirable is like saying a few termites are a good thing…,” he remarks.

To combat the wealth-destroying effects of runaway inflation, Goyette recommends you put 25% of your portfolio into gold and silver, ideally physically held. He offers expert, detailed advice on how and where to buy it. Goyette’s chapter on buying gold is one of the most cohesive and useful chapters in his book. His expertise in the field shines through.

Subsequent chapters aren’t as well-defined, but do offer detailed background information on each recommended investment. The next chapter talks about silver. Chapters on investing in oil, natural resources, commodities, bonds (using a long inverse strategy), and foreign currencies follow.

Analysis

At times, I found the book dogmatic. For example, throughout the book, Goyette mentions that America is transforming itself into a central command economy. He says command economies produce poverty. Fair enough.

But isn’t China, increasingly prosperous as it is, still a command economy? Goyette addresses this by saying that “as China freed its command economy, growth came.” Yes, but that doesn’t mean China is free from command. Nor does it mean that America won’t stop the top-down action until it becomes the USSA. This tendency to polarize marks some of his claims. What’s more, Goyette later recommends buying an ETN (exchange-traded note) issued by the (socialist) government of Sweden. We hate central command, but we support it when it’s in our own interest?

If you can get over a couple of belief-system rabbit holes, and the occasional divisive language—Ron Paul fans would claim it as fact, but if your belief system lands on the outskirts, Goyette can shock—“The Dollar Meltdown” is a worthy read. It covers a perspective you need to know about in an entertaining, interesting way.

Full disclosure: We were sent a free copy of The Dollar Meltdown.

How do you sell something? Do you start with “I want to tell you about _____?” Do you introduce yourself by your job description, then try your best to keep eye contact as your audience’s attention wanders?

If you do, stop. The people you’re addressing don’t care about you or your offerings. Until you revamp your way of thinking, planning, and communicating, they’ll continue to ignore you. In “So What,” Mark Magnacca shows you how to communicate with your audience in an efficient, effective way.

The key, as the book’s title suggests, is addressing the so what? factor. According to Magnacca, a sales expert and business building coach, your audience—whether they’re prospects, existing clients, colleagues, or acquaintances–need to know how your product or service benefits them. Without knowing what’s in it for them, your audience won’t truly listen to you. You waste time and energy on sales tactics that don’t work.

In his brief, useful book, Magnacca coaches readers through the process of solidifying a So What? mentality. You finish the book knowing how to make a pitch resonate, regardless of audience. The end result? Better returns, a bigger customer base, and improved communication skills.

Magnacca outlines 3-4 simple lessons in each chapter. Chapter 1 tells you to adapt a new (So What?) way of thinking. Chapter 2 describes how you need to put the needs of your audience first. Subsequent chapters cover how to find out what’s most important to your audience, how to structure a presentation around that, how to properly prepare for a presentation, how to position yourself, how to present yourself, and how to keep yourself relevant. Although some lessons seem tangential—for example, “be authentic” seems like a superfluous reminder—the overall techniques in the book are helpful.

The author crafts each chapter in a way that convinces you the techniques work. Each chapter starts with a story, covering movies, sports stars, companies, politicians, Magnacca’s own experience, and other scenarios. The stories illustrate why the lesson in the chapter is effective. Magnacca also infuses chapters with additional examples of how So What techniques have made real-life business communications more effective. The end of each chapter summarizes a list of key points, and how you can apply them to your situation.

The book is written to teach. It’s simple and useful. You can breeze through it, but if you want to let Magnacca’s sales techniques gain traction, you need to put some time and practice into his lessons. If you need a sales boost, a new perspective, or just new ideas, grab a copy.

For more on “So What?”, go here.

Full disclosure: We were sent a copy of the book to review.

In 2008, the Boston Consulting Group ran a lifestyle survey of 12,000 women in 22 countries. Their survey findings inform the conclusions in Women Want More, a book that details the burgeoning women’s consumer market.

Each chapter includes statistics, company stories, and anecdotes from individual women. Readers finish the book with an idea of how women behave as consumers, and how to gear their products for success in the female economy.

Authors: BCG Senior Partner Michael Silverstein, who wrote Trading Up (2003) and Treasure Hunt (2006). Co-written with BCG Partner Kate Sayre.

Recommended for: Corporate leaders and marketers who want to tap the growing women’s consumer products sector.

Background

Women comprise a huge potential market for companies. They control almost $12 trillion of the $18.4 trillion in worldwide consumer spending (65%). By 2028, they will control 72%. Over the next five years, they will gain $5 trillion in earned income. The result? A consumer market bigger than China and India.

That’s just the beginning. So far, 80% of unemployment growth has been male, making the term he-cession ring true. Women own 40% of US businesses—and that number is growing. Women make most of the household decisions about travel, cars, and electronics. Many control household finances.

With economic potential like that, companies need to think seriously about catering to discerning females. “Making it pink” just won’t work.

The Survey

After reviewing the results of their survey, the authors came up with some noteworthy findings. Some of it is familiar: People have either researched and concluded it before, or it sounds like common knowledge:

1) Most women are employed.

* 71% of US mothers are in the labor force (2006 stats)
* 56% have children under one year old (2006)

2) At the same time, women still do all the housework.

* 88% are responsible for grocery shopping
* 85% make all the family meals
* 84% do the laundry
* 84% do most of the housecleaning

3) As a result, they’re stressed.

* 47% say that demands on their time are the “big stress in their life”
* 45% don’t have enough time for themselves

4) Finally, in an unrelated vein of womanhood, they don’t feel skinny or pretty.

* 68% think they’re overweight
* 44% of women rarely or never feel beautiful

Sayre and Silverstein also uncover some tidbits that you may not have heard before:

* Women’s happiness, as correlated with age, is a V-shaped curve. That means women are happiest when they’re young and old, but not so much in between.

* Love, health, honesty, and well-being are the four most important values to women

* When asked what makes them extremely happy, women said:
1) Pets (42%)
2) Sex (27%)
3) Food (19%)

Sorry, guys.

The authors claim there are still a lot of first-mover advantages in the female market. Overall, women fell pressured for time and stressed. They’re constantly looking for products that meet their specific needs (unlike men, who are more loyal to brands). If you create a product that saves women time, feel in control of their finances, or offers other key features as defined in the book, you, too, can capture your piece of the femme pie.

Archetypes

To learn exactly how to address women’s needs, you need to consider the archetype your target market belongs to. The authors divide women into six archetypes. They’re based on economic class, age, and family status:

Fast tracker: 24% of population, 34% of earned income
College-educated, career-minded, makes a lot of money

Pressure cooker: 22% of the population, 23% of earned income
Middle-income, middle-aged, never enough time in the day

Relationship focused: 16% of the population, 13% of earned income
Young, single, adopting brands

Fulfilled empty nester: 15% of the population, 16% of earned income
Money in pocket, enough time, likes leisure and travel

Managing on her own: 10% of population, 9% earned income
Divorced/widowed, making a lot of decisions by herself

Making ends meet: 12% of the population, 5% of earned income
Low income, less education. Low-paying jobs or unemployed. Dissatisfied.

Companies need to understand exactly who they’re trying to serve, and refine from there.

Although the archetypes serve the purposes of this book well, they don’t take culture, lifestyle, and other important market aspects into consideration. They’re a starting point for companies, but not a definitive guide for defining a market segment.

Features of Each Chapter

After explaining the archetypes, the book explores different categories of products that women care about. Each chapter is devoted to a category. Food, fitness, beauty, and apparel make up the first four categories. Financial services and healthcare, which women perceive negatively, make up the next two.

The authors cover how women perceive each product category, how they spend their money on it, and how archetypes react to it. Quotes, statistics, and anecdotes about individual women add flavor to the chapter.

The authors also describe commercial opportunities in each category, illustrating them with major corporations that “got it right.” These include Whole Foods, Curves, Olay, Banana Republic, and several other large corporations.

Next, the book talks about women in low- and high-growth global economies. The former include Japan and Europe. The latter include BRIC, Mexico, and the Middle East. Readers learn more about the characteristics of women in those countries, and how to cater to them.

Before concluding the book, the authors detail women’s attitudes towards charity and giving.

Analysis

The book is well-written, even fun to read. The statistics, stories, and quotes in each story engage readers with the subject matter. Some topics might feel familiar—of course women don’t have enough time—but the book adds value to previous assumptions by going into specifics.

Sadly, several of the characters in the book aren’t original. One was sourced from Wikipedia; another came from a blog. BusinessWeek reporters uncovered this irritating fact in September. The authors have agreed to make revisions.

Also note that the book targets leaders of large, consumer-goods corporations (who might, incidentally, read the book and hire BCG consultants). It doesn’t go into depth with regards to service industries, outside of financial and healthcare services. It doesn’t give readers refined tips, or schedules on how to revise their product offerings. One assumes that’s where the consultants come in.

The book provides a general reminder to capture a growing market. It gives a deeper definition of who inhabits that market. And, as far as business books go, it is conventional. It covers established companies and brands. It does not mention burgeoning industries (eg. the green industry) or edgy innovations.

The material is in-the-box and focused on big companies. Undoubtedly, that serves a purpose. Just know that the business wisdom within won’t push many boundaries.

In sum: Useful and fun to read, but not groundbreaking.

Learn more about the book here.

Full disclosure: BCG sent us a free copy of the book to review.

Ingram, the founder/CEO of VA-based executive search and IT staffing firm Capital TechSearch, probably sleeps better now. The company’s revenues increased 63% in 2008, earning it a place on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies—the second time the company had been honored.

Yet this successful entrepreneur hasn’t taken his learning curve for granted. “When I was in such a bad spot several years ago, I wish that I had a book like this one to reassure me and help me stave off insomnia.”

He didn’t have the right book, because the market didn’t offer him one. So Ingram proceeded to do what entrepreneurs do best: He created the product. The book, released in late September 2009, presents fifteen real-life business challenges, many from Ingram’s own experience. He covers the story, implications, and resolution of each challenge in every chapter of the book. At the end of each chapter, he presents readers with a short list of questions to help them work out similar challenges in their own companies.

Essentially an advice book, 15 Bedtime Stories covers important lessons that every entrepreneur growing a business from a startup to a platform (self-sustaining) organization should know. Each chapter presents a real-life business challenge, from cash flow to ethics. The human resources-related chapters were especially strong. This is not surprising, given Ingram’s industry focus on people.

One of the book’s most endearing qualities is its frankness. Ingram isn’t afraid to address the thorny stuff. One chapter recounts Ingram’s friend John’s experience of choosing to implement company health benefits after heavy deliberation. Soon afterward, John hired an employee who was diagnosed with cancer the same day the company brought him on. Another chapter tells the story of how a company’s top sales performer brought the rest of the team down, confronting the CEO with a difficult firing decision.

Ingram doesn’t gloss over things, but he doesn’t discourage you, either. In fact, he encourages you to learn from his mistakes rather than making those same mistakes yourself. His detailed descriptions and resolutions of business issues make the book a valuable reference source. Ingram could easily compile a longer book of lessons, for entrepreneurs to keep around as a desk reference.

If you’re curious about entrepreneurship, in the midst of it, and or just looking to improve your general business-running skills, 15 Stories is for you. Even seasoned vets can learn something from this fun and valuable book. Business Pundit recommends it.

I saw two amazing women speak this week about mistakes that men don’t make.  They presented eight ways that women sabotage their own credibility and results in their business and personal lives. I wish I could recommend a book on the subject by Carol Spieckerman and Lisa Carver, but they’re too busy in being retail experts. They wrote Ready, Set, Whoa! Are You Really Ready for Retailers that leads new vendors through a series of questions to determine if they are ready to meet with retailers.

I’m no retailer, but as Spieckerman and Carver reminded me yesterday, we’re all in sales.

This is going to be a series based on eight mistakes women make. Here’s the short list:

1. Seeking Validation

2. Hoping for the Best

3. Avoiding Confrontation

4. Resisting Duality (this one’s very interesting….)

5. Blending In

6. Diminishing

7. Making It Personal

8. Taking It Personal

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be sharing what I learned and some examples from my own failures (and successes). I hope you’ll join in the conversations. And guys, while these mistakes are made more often by women, you’re not immune. I promise if you come back with an open mind you’ll learn something too!

Image Credit: Truth Went Trendy

Publishing experts preoldict that the week of September 14th could be a historic week in the publishing industry. Boosting sales will be Oprah’s book club pick #63, the debut of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, and the publication of Ted Kennedy’s memoir, True Compass.

Oprah Winfrey tweeted this on Monday:

Hey all you BookClubbers. Tune in Friday, September 18th to find out what my new book club pick is–never made a selection like “this”

And the Winner Is….

Based on that “mysterious” Tweet, Oprah’s history, and a quick Amazon search, I’m predicting the she’ll announce This, by Sri H.W.L. Poonja as her next Book Club winner pick. Why This? Her cute Tweet was an easy clue, and the first pages of This on Amazon are all about the self and its nothingness and everythingness and how we’ll all return to the everything and the nothing - the THIS – eventually. It reminded me of a recent program on Discovery that tried to explain how the universe is actually made up of more nothing than something. It also reminded me of another of Oprah’s picks, Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth.

I could be wrong, but just as with the lottery, it’s fun to speculate.

More Good News For Books

As if Oprah, Brown, and Kennedy weren’t enough, the President of the United States is contributing to book sales as well. It seems the publishing lobby got to the Obama administration. How else can we account for headlines about Obama’s vacation reading? The list includes:

• The Way Homeby George Pelecanos
• Lush Life by Richard Price
• Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Tom Friedman
• John Adams by David McCullough
• Plainsongby Kent Haruf

I guess it helps to have Secret Service agents to carry your books. And entertain your kids while you soak up the rays and relax with a few good books.

Do your part for the economy – buy a book.

Image Credit: sapphireblue, Flickr

It may be the end of an era, but General Motors will live on. In a way, the history of a mammoth American corporation is like the history of America itself. Check out these titles to learn more about GM.

My Years with General Motors, by Alfred Sloan – Personal account of Alfred P. Sloan Jr., CEO of General Motors from 1923 to 1946. Originally published in 1964. Sloan is considered to be the father of modern systematic organization and management. It’s no modern memoir. This book is the account of Alfred P. Sloan Jr. the professional manager, not the man, but it’s a perenial bestseller and if you like to read business school lessons you’ll love it.

Billy, Alfred, and General Motors, by William Pelfry – This biography of the two founders of General Motors, Billy Durant and Alfred Sloan, takes the reader back to the good old days when what was good for General Motors was good for America. Pelfrey keeps the story modern by comparing the early days of the auto business to Silicon Valley where money flowed freely and fortunes were made. This is the story of two men – Durant, who died penilessin penury, supported by old GM partners while attempting to launch a bowling and fast food empire, and Sloan, who’s name graces a major business school. Publishers Weekly calls Pelfrey’s book “an engrossing account of the fledgling days of the American auto industry; a bumpy, surprising and entertaining ride.” 

On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors, by Patrick J. Wright – This book details John DeLorean’s rise through General Motors, and his ultimate exit. It’s a classic tale of corporate mismanagement, inefficiency, illegal tactics and blatant disregard for the public interest. Written in 1990, this book reveals the inner workings of General Motors and is applicable to many corporations. It delves into DeLorean’s thought processes, how he ran two divisions at GM, turning around errors and problems intelligence and common sense.

The Art and Color of General Motors, by Jonathan Stein – Very cool photographic history of the car maker with over forty GM cars photographed by Michael Furman. This book covers the history of GM’s Art and Colour Division, which was started in 1927 by Alfred Sloan with Harley Earl in charge of styling.

Image Credit: Amazon

Are you too busy to shop? If you’re a woman, the answer is yes. That’s the premise of a new book by marketing expert Kelley Murray Skoloda. 

“Too Busy to Shop: Marketing to Multi-Minding Women” is based on research, interviews, and Skoloda’s experience in brand marketing to women. The title grabbed me because I am definitely too busy to shop. I find myself, a diehard store brand purchaser and price comparison shopper, reaching for what is convenient, what is familiar. Maybe all those brand messages are becoming more important.

In the book, Skoloda teaches marketers and business owners how to reach female consumers. Because women are still the shoppers. According to Skoloda, women control 85% all consumer purchases and a growing number of business purchases. Properly target women, and sales will improve. From Skoloda’s website:

“Too Busy to Shop” leads readers on a journey to new and better ways to market to women. To lag behind and do less with today’s powerful, techno-savvy, multi-minding female consumer will eventually erode your bottom line. 

In “Too Busy to Shop” Skoloda uses the term ‘multi-minding’ to describe the mental juggling act women are performing today. Commercial messages are lost between family, career, and self-care decisions. The old ways of marketing don’t work anymore.

“Women in the South and all across the world are busier than ever juggling their lives at work and at home; they don’t respond to the tried-and-true marketing approaches,” said Skoloda. “And given their buying power, if marketers aren’t targeting women effectively, they’ll lose.”

I feel like I always need to accomplish six things at once. Apparently marketers do to. Skoloda emphasizes the importance of consumer co-brand management. In addition, the book contains insiders’ views of some of the most successful marketing-to-women campaigns of recent times.

For insight, pick up a copy of Too Busy to Shop on Amazon.

For tips on doing those six things at once, check out Skoloda’s blog Too Busy to Shop.

We offer a lot of book lists here at Business Pundit. Business books give you access to some of the most successful business minds. You can read them at your own pace relatively inexpensively. And no matter what education you pursue, reading makes up a huge part of the learning. This is the logic behind the PMBA (personal MBA), which is essentially a huge list of great business books.

What is a PMBA?

Developed from an original list of books recommended by Seth Godin the Personal MBA is designed to help you educate yourself about advanced business concepts on your own time and without going into a classroom or into debt.

According to the PMBA site:

The PMBA is more flexible than a traditional MBA program, doesn’t involve going into massive debt, and won’t interrupt your income stream for two years. Just pick up one of these business books, learn as much as you can, discuss what you learn with others, then go out into the real world and make great things happen.

How Far Can You Go With Books?

I’m a huge fan of experiential learning. I really think most people need to get out there and get their hands dirty to fully understand something. So what good is reading a bunch of books? Presumably a person who’s going after this PMBA is highly motivated to learn the subjects the reading list covers. And presumably this person has a job – and it could be almost any job – that will allow at least some application of the new knowledge being acquired.

You don’t have to be the head of HR to apply the techniques of team building to your current position. And you don’t have to be a CEO to practice strategy planning. Taking on challenging roles in the job you have now, or even in volunteer opportunities, can build experience into the PMBA.

What do you have to lose?

Oliver Roland at Books That Can Change Your Life is already a successful entrepreneur. He’s set a goal to read 52 books off the PMBA list in 52 weeks, and he’s blogging the experience. I dare you to take a look at this post and not be inspired to read more. Maybe you don’t need to commit to the whole list, but maybe you could do 12 of the books on the list in a year.

So what? Who cares if you study your way to a PMBA? If you don’t value knowledge and education for its own sake, just imagine the conversations you could start with – oh I don’t know – hiring managers?

Times have a’changed. The sordid details don’t bear recounting in this post, but some of the books on this list reflect issues more characteristic of 2008’s tarnished second half, when social networking became safe, and the 401K became a figment. If these books don’t cover every event of the year, they certainly cover the thought processes that trace through it:

10. The Trillion Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High Rollers, and the Great Credit Crash
By Charles R. Morris

The definitive guide to the 2008 credit crisis. Though gloomy, Meltdown gives readers a detailed understanding of the thinking, trends, and historical precedents for today’s credit crisis. Starting with the crisis’ epistomological origins–the Chicago School and Keynesian economic thought–the author provides a detailed timeline leading to the current meltdown, offering crucial details that are hard to find in the mainstream media. It could also be called prophetic: Morris submitted the book in late 2007. After educating yourself with Meltdown, you can follow the crisis in real time more intelligently.

Click here for more information on The Trillion Dollar Meltdown

9. Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business
By Jeff Howe

Howe argues that large interest communities–Wikipedia, for example–can, if given the right incentives, outperform traditional organizations in terms of cost and effectiveness. Crowdsourcing allows people to concentrate their talents in one area, resulting in a talented, specialized, ultra-productive workforce where performance counts more than appearance or background. Howe explains the implications and inevitability of this shift. Crowdsourcing is essential for understanding the future of human productivity.

Click here for more information on Crowdsourcing

8. The Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth with Innovation
By A. G. Lafley and Ram Charan

Growing and sustaining profits is fundamental to any business, period. It’s also the focus of 98% of business books out there. What makes The Game-Changer different is that it’s written by Proctor and Gamble Chairman/CEO A. G. Lafley, whose company is doing astoundingly well relative to its global counterparts. Now, Lafley and consultant Ram Charan share the tricks to using innovation to thrive, including revitalizing your business model, creating new customers and markets, and mainstreaming innovation into your management style.

In a rapidly changing world, innovation is the only way to survive. This book tells you what you need to do, from the mouths of leaders who have been there.

Click here for more information on The Game-Changer

7. Outliers: The Story of Success
By Malcolm Gladwell

The brilliant Malcolm Gladwell strikes again, this time claiming that individual inspiration has little to do with success. Instead, circumstance, luck, timing, and culture explain why some individuals, such as Bill Gates and Mozart, are able to rise above others with similar talents. Gladwell’s trademark refreshing style makes you realize your traditional perspectives may be cliched; as in his other books, he deftly explores surfaces rather than digging into back-end methodologies.

Click here for more information on Outliers

6. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness
By Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein

No, it’s not another Gladwell book. In fact, Nudge has more to do with Obama than underlying realities. It delves into how governments and interest groups can become more effective by manipulating the “status quo bias,” which says that people won’t choose a new alternative to the situation that fits their status quo unless that alternative choice is attractive enough to risk foregoing what they are used to.

The authors offer ways to manipulate this “choice architecture,” nudging people towards more desirable outcomes through default choices or product arrangements that encourage people to behave in a certain way. One example is making saving for retirement a default option for individuals rather than a secondary choice.

Nudge offers insight into both the existing mechanisms of human behavior and possible social engineering implications. Rather than promoting government paternalism, the authors explain how things could be done while emphasizing that people should always be given a real choice.

Click here for more information on Nudge

5. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
By Dan Ariely

MIT economist Dan Ariely explores the old idea that although we think we’re rational, the fact is that we’re anything but. Ariely argues subtle forces, including emotions, societal norms, and expectation contribute to our irrational behavior. For example, why do we regularly overpay for coffee and gourmet meals while scrimping on cheap items like soup? Ariely uses experiments and everyday anecdotes to illustrate the biases that affect us every day. This highly readable book promises to be a new business classic.

Click here for more information on Predictably Irrational

4. The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures
By Dan Roam

A picture is worth a thousand words…and hours of time saved during meetings and brainstorm sessions. Back of the Napkin inspires new ways of thinking and communicating, ways that outperform even the ubiquitous PowerPoint.

Dan Roam, a management consultant, makes the case that diagramming is an easy, efficient way to communicate with all levels of audiences. Visuals clarify complicated business ideas, making even rudimentary napkin sketches extremely powerful communication devices. A worthy read in an age where images, dialog boxes, and byte-sized info nuggets take precedence over long monologues.

Click here for more information onThe Back of the Napkin

3. A Sense of Urgency
By John Kotter

Nobody knows the dynamics of change in business quite like Harvard professor John Kotter. In 208 readable pages, Kotter explains why a sense of urgency is the single most valuable element to introduce to any business undergoing change. He reviews the eight phases necessary for a business to undergo successful change (which he elaborates on in his 1996 book Leading Change) while educating readers on the nature, characteristics, and requirements of true urgency.

Click here for more information on A Sense of Urgency

2. The Big Switch: Rewiring the World from Edison to Google
By Nicholas Carr

Every so often, technology evolves in a way that fundamentally alters commerce, communications, and identity itself. The last time this kind of shift occurred was when electricity became cheap. Now, the Internet–cheap computing–is ensuring that it happens again. Carr draws historical parallels to make the case that cheap computing will fundamentally alter the way society works, from job loss to a shallower culture.

This far-reaching overview gives readers a valuable understanding of Web 2.0, cloud computing, and how they will fundamentally change the way we exist in the world.

Click here for more information on The Big Switch

1. The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life
By Alice Schroeder

This carefully-researched tome reveals the mind, character, and life of Warren Buffett. It even exposes his secret weapon, which is…drum roll…himself. Buffett was a born business prodigy, but his quirks make him very human. As difficult as it may be to know the Oracle of Omaha, Schroeder brings readers darn close. In many ways, Buffett is business, he is history, and he is the economy. This book is a must-read for anyone wanting an overview of American business, period.

Click here for more information on The Snowball