PCWorld has a nice summation of Windows 7 reviews. Go to the full article to see the details. Some excerpts:

On Wednesday, New York Times tech columnist David Pogue gave Windows 7 the thumbs up as well, despite the fact that “it’s still copy-protected, it still requires antivirus software, and its visuals still aren’t consistent from one corner to another.” His bottom line: “looks like 7 is a lucky number after all.”

Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal had an early review on Windows 7 a couple of weeks back, and his bottom line is that “Windows 7 is a very good, versatile operating system that should help Microsoft bury the memory of Vista and make PC users happy.”

In a review released on Thursday, the folk over at IT Pro had a look at whether Windows 7 is fit for business. Their verdict: they are “more than happy to recommend Windows 7 … for business,” especially as “the user interface is attractive and good for productivity.”

Odd as it may sound, however, now is an especially good time to pick up business books. A delicate economy and stiff competition beg you to hone your skills, not ignore them. The list below represents a healthy mix of topics, with a few parables and a true-crime story thrown in to satisfy the urge for summer fun:

1. Atlas Shrugged
by Ayn Rand

What happens when the government takes control over private industry? Atlas Shrugged, first published in 1957, describes a dystopia that is especially relevant today. The Wall Street Journal’s Stephen Moore has an excellent description of the themes in Atlas Shrugged:

Politicians invariably respond to crises — that in most cases they themselves created — by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.

The 1,000+-page Atlas Shrugged describes Rand’s Objectivist philosophy through the allegory of protagonist Dagny Taggart, the VP of Operations for the world’s biggest railroad company. The government drives Taggart’s company into bankruptcy through red tape and taxes, compounding a national problem of disappearing industrialists. When the government finally drives industry into the ground, it calls on John Galt, a heroic businessman, to save the economy.

Though the book can be laborious at times, Rand’s eerily poignant descriptions will provide valuable perspective on life in America today.

2. 10-10-10
by Suzy Welch

Former Harvard Business Review editor-in-chief Suzy Welch challenges readers to ask three deceptively simple questions: What are the consequences of a given decision in 10 minutes? 10 months? 10 years? Welch describes how the 10-10-10 method crystallizes even the most difficult decisions, helping people make choices true to their values. This relatively short, engaging read uses anecdotes and Welch’s personal story to help readers harness 10-10-10 in work, love, career, child-rearing, and everyday decisions. A fun, worthy, and inspiring read.

3. The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression
by Amity Shlaes

Many accounts of the Great Depression highlight the heroism of FDR’s New Deal, while criticizing the bankers and Republicans behind the excesses of the 1920s. Shlaes, on the other hand, claims FDR prolonged the Great Depression through experimental, anti-business, and politically charged policies. Shlaes expresses her argument through stories of individuals during 1927-1940. By diving into the heads and hearts of policymakers, businessmen, economists, activists, and the victims of restrictive regulations—small businessmen—Shlaes brings a human element into an oft-dry topic. Any taxpayer who feels “forgotten” during today’s bailouts will benefit from the perspective this 433-page book offers.

4. The Informant
by Kurt Eichenwald

It’s hard to believe that this true crime story, starring agribusiness giant Archer Daniel Midland (ADM), isn’t a novel. The meticulously researched story recounts the six-year FBI price fixing investigation of the company that started in 1992. The FBI thought that star witness and ADM executive Mark Whitacre would seal their case against ADM, but soon discovered that Whitacre was manipulating them in order to cover up his own crimes. Eichenwald, a New York Times journalist, turns months of dry research into a page-turning thriller. ADM’s size and scope—their CEO, for example, singlehandedly ensured corn syrup became the national sweetener—make this exciting book both relevant and frightening.

5. American Lion
By Jon Meacham

This Pulitzer-winning book brings to life President Andrew Jackson, the famous face on the $20 bill. The story follows Jackson through his eight years in the White House, describing his motivations, character, and past in incredible detail. The author endears Jackson to readers not as a legend, but as a very human leader. For example, an excerpt from the prologue, typical of the book’s style, reads:

Jackson was fond of well-cut clothes, racehorses, dueling, newspapers, gambling, whiskey, coffee, a pipe, pretty women, children, and good company.

At 340 pages, the book is long, but its high entertainment value melts away the hours. An illuminating read for anyone curious about Jackson or American history in general.

6. Street Fighters: The Last 72 Hours of Bear Stearns, the Toughest Firm on Wall Street

Wall Street Journal writer Kate Kelly covered Bear Stearns’ collapse in three popular WSJ narratives. Street Fighters is the expanded version of those articles, detailing the financial giant’s collapse hour by hour. Her coverage of the individuals involved, from paralyzed CEO Alan Schwartz to former Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson, gives a potentially anonymous Wall Street catastrophe a human face.

7. Peaks and Valleys
by Spencer Johnson

This short, quick read uses the parable of a young man leaving his comfort zone (a steady, but boring valley) to explore new heights of success and satisfaction (peaks). Johnson, teaching through the wise old man who guides the young man on his journey, emphasizes that peaks and valleys are connected. Making wise decisions during valleys, or down times, will help create peaks, or good times. The converse—making bad decisions during good times—will lead to deeper valleys. Ups and downs are inevitable, but navigating them effectively makes for more peaks, less valleys, and a more fulfilling life overall. If you’re dealing with painful change, this book will help level your outlook.

8. More Mortgage Meltdown: 6 Ways to Profit in These Bad Times
by Whitney Tilson and Glenn Tongue

Fund managers Tilson and Tongue offer readers six easy ways to profit off investments, even during the worst of times. They start by explaining, in laymen’s terms, what caused the bubble, what happened when it burst, and why the global financial disaster isn’t over. Once readers understand the crisis’ dynamics, the authors describe how to take advantage of the crisis by value investing. They highlight their techniques using case studies, including Berkshire Hathaway and American Express. Overall, the book is a useful primer—and reminder—about value investing during difficult times.

9. How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In
by Jim Collins

Good to Great author Jim Collins spent four years researching why great companies fail. He discovered that most declines happen in five stages. Once leaders understand each stage, they can identify and arrest their company’s impending failure. Using case studies, including US and Bethlehem Steel, Motorola, and GM, Collins explains how and where specific giants went wrong. His messages: Companies can look outwardly strong, but be on the verge of a bad fall inside. Hubris, lack of discipline, and denial of risk lead to falls. The ability to rebound from setbacks, rather than the absence of them, defines strong companies.

If you want to learn the patterns of how eminent companies corrode from the inside, as well as lessons on avoiding that fate, this is a must-read.

10. The Box
by Marc Levinson

The topic matter sounds boring at first glance—shipping containers are decidedly unsexy—but Levinson crafts a fascinating story on the rise of globalization using the innocuous-sounding box as its vehicle.

Consider some of the consequences of the shipping container:

-Tearing open world markets
-Enabling exponential growth of business
-Making Asia the world’s manufacturing hub
-Killing some trading ports, while helping others burgeon
-Leveling an old union-driven way of life
-Restructuring the world economy

With these outcomes, the box actually becomes exciting. Levinson skillfully weaves in the story shipping container inventor Malcom McLean, adding life to business history. Divided into fourteen easily-digestible chapters, The Box is an illuminating, fun read.

11. Selling the Wheel
by Jeff Cox and Howard Stevens

Uses the parable of a man trying to sell a wheel in ancient Egypt, Selling the Wheel teaches that in order to be effective, companies need to tailor their sales tactics to different types of customers. The main message is that there is no such thing as a universally effective salesperson. Instead, companies need to provide value to one of four different kinds of customers, each with unique needs. Only then can they gain a true competitive advantage. Selling the Wheel is a short, engaging reminder that sales tactics truly matter, especially during times of stiff global competition.

12. Barack 2.0: Barack Obama’s Social Media Lessons For Business
by David Bullock and Brent Leary

Using social media to help win an election might be considered the pinnacle of the medium. Love it or hate it, Obama campaign’s brilliant use of social media helped catapult him to the presidency. Social Media Lessons for Business examines the campaign’s use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other applications as a case study on how businesses can effectively use social media. Obama’s real-life example will help businesses define an effective social media strategy. The short book’s step-by-step format makes strategizing easy.

HP sent us an Officejet Pro 8500 all-in-one wireless printer to review. We tested it with small- and home-based businesses in mind.

The Officejet Pro Wireless includes a printer, fax machine, copier, scanner, business graphic software, and photo processor. You operate it through a wireless connection or via a full-color touch screen on the device. It comes with a 250-sheet input tray, touchscreen color display, and two-sided print/fax/scan/copying.

HP lists specs here.

Order an Officejet Pro 8500 here.

Overall, the printer performs well. HP advertises it as an eco-friendly, cost-saving device that produces business graphics comparable to a laser printer. It lives up to this claim, with a few caveats.

Pros:

Prints professional-looking documents
Wireless connectivity
Intuitive controls and interface
Double-sided printing
All-in-one device
Green paper- and power-saving features
Quality compares to a laser printer
Comes with helpful software
Cost- and energy-efficient
Powerful enough for a business
Full set of features

Cons:

Some software quirks
Noisy
Slower than a laser printer
Too slow for big print jobs

Installation

The printer is easy to put together. It comes with ink cartridges, print heads, an installation CD, manuals, and a phone cable. The power supply jutting out the back of the printer and the paper tray in front make the printer take up a fair bit of space. The printer needs to be placed on a solid surface, otherwise it shakes.

Installation needs to be done both on the printer’s touchscreen and on a desktop. The machine’s software package requires an impressive 420 mb of space. You can reduce this amount by uninstalling some of the default programs that you don’t need.

Installation and calibration took us about half an hour.

Software

One of the machine’s perks is the software that comes with it. The HP Solutions Center is the most useful program in the package. It displays a control panel for operating the printer, fax, copier, and scanner. The interface also displays cartridge ink levels and the printer’s status. It allows you to change settings and troubleshoot the device in one place. User can forward documents to network folders, a nice organizational shortcut. Shop for cartridges from here, see special offers and tips.

The In-House Marketing button takes you to HP’s online Creative Studio, a marketing resource. You’ll find customizable marketing material templates here (for business cards, startup packages, brochures, posters, blogs, websites, logos, and more). Some designs are free, and they look professional.

Combined with the Creative Studio, the printer enables small business owners to design, customize, and print marketing materials, which saves a trip to the professional printer. It’s a valuable resource.

The HP Document Manager is also handy. It allows you to edit and annotate documents, attach them to emails, convert them into editable text, organize faxes/scans/desktop documents, and more. It’s a time-saving way to manage all the documents you want to involve with your HP all-in-one.

HP Photosmart Essential allows you to edit, organize, share, manage, and print photos. You can drag and drop to print photos, which is nice, but otherwise, Photosmart is comparable to other free photo software on the market.

HP’s default installation also comes with a couple of useless programs, like Shop for HP Supplies (which links you to the product sales page on HP’s website) and the HP Customer Participation Program. These programs need to be uninstalled so that they don’t eat up memory.

Printer

Default (normal) resolution produces high-quality documents. Business cards, flyers, and standard business documents look professional at this setting. You can adjust a document’s properties through the Printing Shortcuts menu, a useful interface offering one-click brochure, two-sided, fast/economical, and other print settings.

The printer operates quickly on one-sided and black-and-white documents. Color printing is fast and good. But the machine prints double-sided color documents slowly. It prints one side, lets the ink dry, sucks paper back up, then prints the other side. The quality is excellent, but, due to slowness, may not be practical for large print jobs.

If you use photos in your posters and brochures, they may need tweaking before looking good in the printer. There’s no easy way to print a double-sided, full bleed brochure on the device. Once you print one brochure, you can duplicate it more quickly through the color copier than by printing.

HP designed the ink pigment to be water-resistant. It produces bold colors that work well for business graphic use. Most documents will look professional on this printer.

It is louder than a laser printer. The biggest paper size you can print is 8.5” x 11.” On the upside, the 250-sheet paper tray gives you plenty of time between paper replacements.
You can print photos directly from a USB stick or memory card (CF, MMC, SD, XD, MS/DUO).

Copier

The copier has a 50-sheet feeder on top. Copies come out quickly, with excellent quality. Two-sided color copies take longest to produce.

Fax

The fax machine has a couple of neat features. One, it lets you block junk fax phone numbers. Secondly, it allows you to send copies of faxes to a network folders instead of printing them on paper, which allows you to save paper. It also has a 125-page memory.

Scanner

Scans show up instantly on your computer screen. You can scan either through the flatbed or ADF (automatic document feeder). Scan quality is very good. It’s not optimal for high-resolution work, eg. with hi-res photos, but is good for everyday use. Like faxes, scans can be filed into network folders. The ADF makes multipage scans easy to execute.

Photos

Upload photos directly to the printer through built-in card readers that take all the standard memory cards and USB. There’s also a PictBridge slot through which you can connect your camera directly.

You can crop and adjust color/contrast using the touch screen. The Photosmart software gives you additional photo editing options.

The machine prints good quality photos. If you want excellent quality, try using the printer with HP paper and ink designed specifically for printing photos.

Additional Remarks

Its strong wireless system helps the printer communicate well from different rooms. It is easy to control jobs remotely. The printer takes about two minutes to check and clean itself whenever you power it on. Every time you activate it, the printer informs every computer on the network of its status, which is annoying for people not involved with the print job. It comes with a 1-year warranty.

Cost Savings

The HP 8500 saves money in several ways:

- It’s EnergyStar rated. One way it saves energy costs is by sleeping when not in use, then activating again when given a print job or by pressing the touch screen.
- It offers comparable quality to a laser printer, for a lower cost. Note that the quality is comparable, not identical, and that speed suffers in the 8500.
- Color cartridges can be replaced individually. HP also offers XL and combo ink packs that lower cost/page.
- It does small to medium-sized print jobs well, saving a potentially expensive trip to the professional printer.
- It saves you from using and maintaining three separate machines.
- A green perk: Send in cartridges for HP to recycle for free.

Final verdict: The HP Officejet Pro 8500 All-in-One Wireless is worth the price. Order one here.

HP has arranged a special offer for our readers to save 20% ($80) on the new HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One. Go here for the coupon code and terms and conditions. Visit here for more product information.

NetSpend offers prepaid Visa and MasterCard debit cards. The cards are especially useful for people without bank accounts or with bad credit. Rather than being linked to a bank account, they are reloadable, meaning that customers can head to a local Safeway, Winn-Dixie, gas station, or other participating establishment to load cash onto the card.

Netspend gives people the ease and convenience of a credit card without the required bank account or paperwork. Card usage is not reported to credit bureaus, so users do not build credit history by using them. Customers have also experienced longer-than-expected holds on funds and arduous identity verification procedures–byproducts of the relative anonymity involved in the card–so it does come with a potential price.

Also, watch out for fees: The card costs $9.99 to purchase, and $4.95 to reload.

It’s a good deal if you:

a) Don’t have a bank account, or cannot get one
b) Are prepared for some registration delays and holds on your funds
c) Are willing to pay to reload your card

If you live week-to-week, or rely heavily on having your money instantly (and can’t afford blocks on your account), you may want to consider other options.

He’s a man of international mystique. Businesses cower before him. Investors idolize him. Women…well, he’s no James Bond. But he’s so emblematic that few would bat an eye if his face appeared on a thousand dollar bill.

He is Warren Buffett. And Alice Schroeder, his authorized biographer, does a stellar job of revealing the man without exposing him; covering him in finite detail , faults and all, without sacrificing her deep respect for him. She captures the tycoon’s life from before he was born up to mid-2008, when he found himself shuffling, much to his own surprise, through stacks of undervalued bonds. Things change around Buffett, but his themes—picking extraordinary values, teaching, utter absorption in his work, and paradoxical variety of character traits—remain the same.

Style

Like Buffett himself, the book doesn’t entertain slouches. Schroeder does a fine job of idiot-proofing some of the more elaborate concepts in the book, such as derivatives, but the 800-odd page tome is rather large to swallow in a byte-sized world. This is a book that you need to make time for.

The author’s style is graceful and respectful. It is alternately informative and intimate. At times, it appears as though Buffett himself wrote parts; during other chapters, Schroeder the journalist comes out, favoring facts over poetry. The stylistic fluctuations are minor, however, and they work well.

If there are flaws in the book, they have to do more with the details than the overall story. For example, the author mentions Carnegizing quite a few times before finally explaining it to the reader on page 500. It would have helped to clarify that earlier. Also, Schroeder’s fine attention to detail sometimes borders on irrelevant, until you progress and realize that even the more obscure tidbits—Buffett’s first wife Susie’s childhood illnesses come to mind—do either provide depth to characters or bear on their future development. That’s a sign of good editing, something that endures throughout the book.

The book hooks readers with an intimate portrait of Buffett in his office, then a description of Herbert Allen’s exclusive high-roller event in Sun Valley, Idaho, which introduces readers not only to the caliber of Buffett’s peers, but gives a glimpse into a world rarely uncovered by outsiders. After that, the book flows more or less in chronological order, from a biography of Warren’s parents all the way through to mid-2008.

Financial Lessons

Schroeder doesn’t teach you how to invest, but she does give readers a sweeping tour of American financial history through Mr. Buffett’s life, facilitating a sharper understanding of the US investing landscape before this past year’s dramatic fallout.

Warren Buffet was something of a child investing prodigy who has spent his lifetime building on his substantial natural skills. At the age of 10, he knew more about investing than the average American. He was a seasoned businessman and property owner by the age of 15. He can do his income taxes in his head.

Buffett’s childhood ventures into finance, which included forays to the racetrack and his father’s brokerage firm, offer an opportunity to see finance from a bright child’s eyes, then from a brilliant young man’s—Buffett’s time at Columbia with Benjamin Graham, his forays into Wall Street, and his eventual migration away from that “abhorrent culture”—then from an ever-maturing tycoon’s perspective. The aggregate result is a pleasing and insightful storyline of the discipline (finance) through the man (Buffett).

Snowball’s glimpses into the world of financial moving and shaking offer pleasing insights for anyone interested in finance in general. Schroeder weaves in an array of classic quotes, including:

Debt is no good
Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful
Uncertainty is a friend of the buyer of long-term values
You pay a very high price in the stock market for a cheery consensus

In addition, Schroeder’s coverage of certain significant events in American financial history offer pleasing insights to students of the overall discipline. Her play-by-play of the 1991-92 Solomon Brothers Crisis especially stands out.

The Man

Warren Buffett is brilliant, passionate, hardworking, persistent, and notoriously absorbed in his craft. Was he always like that? Snowball, in a word, says yes. But Buffett wasn’t only born, he was also made, shaped by a dysfunctional mother and regimented, idealistic father, a childhood exposed to politics, markets, and voluntary parsimony, and a natural shyness that drew him not towards people, but numbers, order, and control.

Schroeder explores Buffett’s key character traits while respectfully highlighting his paradoxes as well. Buffett’s investment style is coldly rational, but Buffett the teacher is folksy and accessible. He won’t eat anything “a three-year-old doesn’t eat,” but doesn’t hesitate to feast at elite socialite dinners. The man’s complexity ensures that readers can recognize, but not pigeonhole him. The truth is that all of his characteristics, no matter how much at odds they are with one another, are the real Warren Buffett.

Insight into America

Another facet adding value to the book is its coverage of modern American financial history. From the Depression to World War II to Vietnam to the shaky post-9/11 decade, Snowball touches upon eras in intermediate but informative depth. This makes it accessible to readers of all generations.

The book offers pleasing insights related to America’s business elite. Warren Buffett, over the course of his life, was either intimately or remotely connected to a number of business tycoons, including the Annenberg family, furniture dynamo Rose Blumkin, Washington Post chief Kay Graham, and Bill Gates and his family. Snowball maintains focus on its subject while looping in fascinating details about family members, friends, and peripheral characters.

Read It!

Even if you’re not a Buffett connoisseur or even fan, Snowball is the tome to pick up for 2008. No business book has been more far-reaching, revealing, and comprehensive. This thick, entertaining masterpiece will doubtless add value to your memory banks.

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

We all seem to be broke these days. Why would anyone in their right mind want to donate money during a financial crisis?

Easy. Because the person you’re donating to feels the economic crisis, too. The difference is that while you may lose your house, they may lose their lives.

The financial crisis has resulted in drastically reduced commodity prices. That’s good for us, but not so good for the farmers in the developing world who sell the things we consume. For them, tumbling prices mean higher odds of starvation, losing educational opportunities for their children, perishing from health problems, or turning to prostitution to survive.

50% off is not always pretty.

When you give a microloan, you’re not just helping someone out. In bad global economic situations like the current one, you could save someone’s life.

Kiva.org offers microloans to select entrepreneurs around the world. Through donations, the organization helps lend tiny amounts of capital to entrepreneurs who would otherwise not have access to funds at all, or be subject to loan sharks.

Most recipients are women. Their businesses run the gamut from car repair shops to small farms. Business owners generally take their loans very seriously and repay them as soon as they can.

Loan applicants are featured on Kiva’s website, allowing lenders to connect to them as people as well as lenders. When website users decide to lend money—usually a few hundred dollars—the money goes to a microfinance institution, which then hands the money to the entrepreneur.

Loans aren’t risky–defaults are at 1.4%. And Kiva is totally hip. Here are some of Kiva’s most recent statistics, from their website:

Total value of all loans made through Kiva: $45,292,510
Number of Kiva Lenders: 343,694
Current repayment rate (all partners): 98.62%
Average total amount loaned per Kiva Lender (includes reloaned funds): $131.69

If you’re a traveler, Kiva certainly beats giving money to begging children. If you have a big heart, browsing through entrepreneurs’ profiles is enough to convince you that the program works.

Entrepreneurs usually take up to a year to repay loans. Kiva donations start at only $25.

Sound good? Advanta now offers a credit card that will match 100% of your Kiva grant donation of up to $200/month. Additional perks include:

–A 5% credit on all grants made to Kiva, other charities, and some qualifying purchases. Hitting the limit of $1,200 nets you $60 in credit each year.
–15 months of balance transfers at 0% APR.
–APR is fixed at 7.99%.
–No annual fee.
–It’s called a business card, but individuals can apply, too, if their credit rating is very good.

The card is a simple way to do serious good. If you can pay it off, try it out.

Business Pundit sifted through numerous categories and resources to come up with this list of the 25 Best Business Books Ever. We didn’t concern ourselves with categories (management, sales, etc.) or timeliness of subject matter. Instead, we focused on the following question: Based on prominent reviews, academic use, and popularity, which business books would be considered “classics?” Of those, which are the best?

We think that really smart, successful businesspeople know that their education is lifelong and diverse. Nevertheless, while many corporate leaders will cite Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince as invaluable business tomes, we stuck with books written for a business-minded readership.

25. The Wealth of Nations
by Adam Smith
1991

First published in 1776, this broad-ranging exploration of commercial and economic first principles laid the philosophical foundations for modern capitalism and the free-market economy. Smith’s central thesis is that capital can best be used to create both individual and national wealth in conditions of minimal government interference. He believed that free-market competition advances both the vitality of commercial activity and the ultimate good of all a nation’s citizens.

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24. The Functions of the Executive
by Chester I. Barnard
1968

This collection of Barnard’s lectures on management, though dated in its language, remains relevant, notably in his promotion of clear, short communication channels and managerial morality. A successful executive himself as well as a theorist, Barnard broadened the managerial role from one that assesses, controls, and supervises, to one that nurtures the organization’s values and goals, and translates them into action, thereby defining a purpose and moral code that pervades the organization.

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23. The Principles of Scientific Management
by Frederick Winslow Taylor
1911

In its day, this book advanced management as a discrete field requiring formal training, and systematized human work into rigorously measured, optimizable processes.

Arguing that the “inefficiency in almost all of our daily acts” can be remedied by “systematic management, rather than in searching for some unusual or extraordinary man,” Taylor aimed to determine the best practices for every job. His principles influenced working methods and managerial attitudes for most of the 20th century, particularly in mass-production industries—companies that emphasize quantity over quality.

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22. The Human Side of Enterprise
Douglas McGregor
1960

Psychologist McGregor revolutionized human relations management by distinguishing the two ways managers view employees and consequently manage them, ultimately producing the accordant behavior in them. Theory X assumes that workers are inherently lazy and need to be motivated and supervised; Theory Y assumes that people are self-motivated and self-directed. “McGregor’s fundamental principles,” says author Gary Hamel, “underlie the work of modern management thinkers from Drucker to Deming to Peters, and the employment practices of the world’s most progressive and successful companies.”

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21. Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of the Industrial Enterprise
by Alfred D. Chandler
1962

A business historian, Chandler was one of the first scholars to systematically examine the corporate structure of large companies. Considered a theoretical masterpiece, this book—namely, its now-debated conclusion that strategy should drive structure—played a leading role in the profitable decentralization of leading corporations in the 1960s and 1970s.

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20. Organizational Culture and Leadership
by Edgar H. Stein
1992

Organizational development pioneer Schein introduced, into the management debate, culture as a constantly changing force in an organization’s life—and one that must be understood for there to be successful change. In successive editions of this book, the author draws on contemporary research to redefine culture, including the notion of subcultures, and shows how to transform this abstract concept into a practical tool for understanding and influencing organizational dynamics.

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19. The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations
by James Surowieki
2004

First developed in his “Financial Page” column of The New Yorker, Surowieki’s ideas contradict the long-held distrust of masses and groupthink: “Large groups of people are smarter than an elite few, no matter how brilliant—better at solving problems, fostering innovation, coming to wise decisions, even predicting the future.” The author animates his rigorous argument with pertinent anecdotes and case studies from business, social psychology, sports, and everyday life. Author Po Bronson insists, “This book should be in every thinking businessperson’s library. Without exception.”

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18. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
by Thomas L Friedman
2005

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman presents this timely, indispensable update on globalization, its successes and shortcomings, with the same urgent curiosity, panache, and illumination that has earned him three Pulitzer Prizes. With his incomparable ability to elucidate complex foreign policy and economic issues, Friedman explains how the flattening of the world happened at the beginning of the 21st century, and what globalization—both an opportunity and a threat—means to countries, companies, communities, and individuals. In his 2006 hardcover update, with 100 pages of revised and expanded material, Friedman makes specific recommendations about the technical and creative training he believes will be needed to compete in the New Middle class.

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17. Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco
by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar
1990

This narrative has been called one of the most influential business books ever, as the definitive account of the largest takeover in Wall Street history at that time: the landmark leveraged buyout of the RJR Nabisco Corporation for $25 billion in 1988. Cinematic and gripping, yet remarkably judicious, this book by two skilled journalists has sold more than 500,000 copies and inspired an HBO movie. Its graphic portrayal of how financial operations at the highest levels are conducted is considered must-reading for those who want to know how the world really works.

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16. My Years with General Motors
by Alfred P. Sloan, Jr.
1963

Sloan’s “as told to” opus still stands as the most cogent expression of the managerial philosophy that dominated American business for most of the 20th century. With insightful authority, this fabled CEO chronicles General Motors’ resurrection, under his leadership, from a nearly bankrupt enterprise in the early 1900s to the world’s greatest industrial corporation when he retired in 1956.

Particularly striking is this book’s unintentional expression of a value system: a relentless commitment to the engineering worldview of efficiency as paramount. Sloan’s simultaneous decentralization of manufacturing and centralization of corporate policy and financial controls became the basis for an organizational model that dominated American industry for more than half a century.

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15. The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization
by Peter M. Senge
1990

Based on 15 years of experience putting the ideas into practice, this bestselling classic popularized the concept of the learning organization, a holistic approach that prioritizes learning—new and expansive patterns of thinking—as both an individual and a group experience. Senge argues that “changing individuals so that they produce results they care about [and] accomplish things that are important to them” faster than the competiton does is, in the long run, the only sustainable competitive advantage.

Because the learning organization requires managers to surrender their traditional spheres of power and control, and because it demands trust, involvement, and the allowance for experimentation and failure, it has rarely been converted into a reality. Nevertheless, Senge’s ideas have affected the rewards and remuneration strategies of many companies.

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14. The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Business Don’t Work and What to Do about It
by Michael E. Gerber
1985

This underground bestseller dispels the commonplace assumptions surrounding starting and running a successful small business. Two of Gerber’s most incisive observations are that (1) many entrepreneurs know considerably more about producing what they sell than about operating their business, and (2) the entrepreneur must “work on your business, not in your business.” This book intelligently and comprehensively charts an approach to systematizing a new business so that it grows beyond the capacities of its creator.

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13. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
by Malcolm Gladwell
2000

Drawing on a fascinating array of research findings and real-world examples, Gladwell presents a concise, elegant, erudite analysis of mass behavioral change that is strikingly counterintuitive. Regarded among marketing and sales professionals as one of the best books on the economics of popular culture, this entertaining read is, says author Jeffrey Toobin, “one of those rare books that changes the way you think about, well, everything.”

Click here for more information on The Tipping Point

12. Competing for the Future
by Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad
1994

This definitive book on contemporary business strategy criticizes the narrow mechanistic view of strategy and calls for an approach that is multifaceted, emotional as well as analytical, and concerned with meaning, purpose, and passion. The authors say their work “provides would-be revolutionaries with the tools and concepts they need to challenge the protectors of the past.” They argue that too many leaders, stuck in the day-to-day details of running their businesses, fail to prepare their companies for the future, and that crafting a strategic architecture around a company’s core competencies is the solution.

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11. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t
by Jim Collins
2001

Measuring sustained results over a period of 15 years, Collins identifies, from an original list of 1435, 11 well-established companies that made the leap from being “good” to being “great.”

Applicable to entrepreneurs as well as corporations, this carefully researched book singles out what Collins calls Level 5 Leadership—“a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will”—as the critical factor in those transformations. Such natural leaders “channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company,” which begins with getting the right people—those with discipline and resolve—in the right positions. Challenging the conventional notion of the outgoing, high-profile CEO, an effective leader moves with selfless determination, inspiring average performers to become great producers.

There’s been a lot of controversy about this book on Business Pundit. Is Good to Great too general, too philosophical? Is its research flawed? Have Fannie Mae and Circuit City proven Level 5 principles wrong?

The book still found its place on this list based on our selection criteria. When we compiled these books and scrutinized Good to Great, we realized that it’s not the only classic subject to pointed—and valid–critiques. If we removed Good to Great from the list based on BP’s prior post, we’d have to remove a whole bunch of other books, too.

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10. Out of the Crisis
by W. Edwards Deming
1982

This classic on quality management reflects Deming’s experience introducing statistical methods for quality measurement and improvement to Japan in the 1960s. Aiming to transform the U.S. style of management and governmental relations with industry, the author blends statistics and common sense to challenge American business practices at almost every point, launching the quality revolution here. Citing poor management, not lazy workers, as responsible for most quality problems, this book, in simple, direct language, offers a theory of management based on Deming’s notable 14 Points of Management, and explains how to apply them to boost quality.

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9. Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution
by Michael Hammer and James Champy
1993

Though based on the relatively dry field of operations research, this book became a prominent bestseller in its heyday, replacing much of the received wisdom of the last 200 years of industrial management with a radical prescription for rebuilding businesses wholesale to achieve dramatic performance gains.

Unfortunately, this pioneering book garnered some controversy, largely because corporate cost-cutters used the concept of reengineering to justify mass layoffs. Acknowledging that reengineering can be difficult to launch and to sustain, the authors provide clear and specific guidelines, numerous examples, and in-depth case studies.

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8. Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
by James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras
1994

Drawing on six years of innovative research, Collins and Porras identify 18 exceptional, long-lasting companies and directly compare each with one of its top competitors, over time. With entertaining case histories, they discredit the longstanding beliefs that a successful business is founded by a charismatic, visionary leader and begins with a great product. Rather, they argue, enduring organizations demonstrate core values and a core purpose that remain fixed, while their business strategies and practices adapt endlessly to a changing world. Organized into a coherent framework of practical concepts that can be applied by managers and entrepreneurs at all levels, this book provides a master blueprint for building a great and enduring company.

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7. The Practice of Management
by Peter F. Drucker
1954

Considered the foremost management and business thinker of the 20th century, Drucker was the first to depict management as a distinct function, a separate responsibility in the workplace: the work of getting work done through and with other people. This still-relevant book holds that management was one of the major social innovations of the last century, and it poses three now-classic business questions: What is our business? Who is our customer? What does our customer consider valuable?

According to author Gary Hamel, “No other writer has contributed as much to the professionalization of management as Peter Drucker. … [He] bridges the theoretical and the practical, the analytical and the emotive, the private and the social more perfectly than any other management writer.”

Click here for more information on The Practice of Management

6. Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors
by Michael E. Porter
1980

Now in its 63rd printing in English, with translations in 19 languages, this modern classic filled a void in management thinking, transforming the theory, practice, and teaching of business strategy. Strikingly accessible, Porter’s analysis of industries captures the complexity of industry competition in three generic strategies and five competitive forces that have been internalized and applied by managers, investment analysts, consultants, students, and scholars throughout the world.

This seminal book changed conventional thinking around strategy, offering a method whereby a company can examine not just its particular industry but its place in it, that is, its essential differentiation from its competitors that can be sold to the customer. Author Gary Hamel says, “[I]t is an unfailing guide to whether some particular strategy, once articulated, can be counted on to produce worthwhile profits.”

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5. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
by Stephen R. Covey
1989

Having developed the concept of this groundbreaking, long-term bestseller by studying literature going back more than 200 years, Covey bases his approach on relatively immutable personal human values. Unlike many a self-improvement author, however, he doesn’t promise a quick fix; rather, he calls for a paradigm shift—a revolutionary change in one’s perceptions and interpretations of how the world works. And with different thinking comes different actions that will profoundly affect one’s productivity and effectiveness.

Be proactive. Begin with an end in mind. Put first things first. Think win/win. Seek first to understand. Synergize. Renewal. With penetrating insights and cogent anecdotes, Covey presents a highly structured, holistically integrated methodology for creating balance, and hence success, in one’s personal and professional lives.

Click here for more information on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

4. The One-Minute Manager
by Kenneth H. Blanchard and Spencer Johnson
1981

Millions of managers in Fortune 500 companies and small businesses around the globe have followed the timeless principles of this first mega-bestselling business book, presented as a parable. Concisely elegant, this narrative reveals three practical management secrets: One-Minute Goals, One-Minute Praisings, and One-Minute Reprimands—a concept that has spawned numerous “One-Minute” titles, for endeavors from parenting to golfing.

Blanchard and Johnson ground their ideas in studies in medicine and the behavioral sciences to explain why the one-minute techniques work with so many people, in so many environments.

Click here for more information on The One-Minute Manager

3. How to Win Friends & Influence People
by Dale Carnegie
1937

Having sold more than 15 million copies, this seminal self-improvement book continues to guide managers in the universal challenge of face-to-face communication.

A master of human nature, Carnegie advises that “[w]hen dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudice, and motivated by pride and vanity.” He argues that success is only 15% professional knowledge; the remaining 85% is “the ability to express ideas, to assume leadership, and to arouse enthusiasm among people.”

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2. The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
by Clayton M. Christensen
1997

Examining a variety of leading well-managed companies that have failed to capitalize on innovative technologies, Christensen explains, with striking clarity and style, how to manage breakthrough products successfully when customers may not be ready for them.

His argument that overdependence on customer needs, or on the most profitable products, can damage a company’s success challenges the marketing and customer service books that put customer focus at the top of the corporate agenda. Considered a paradigmatic marketing visionary, Christensen highlights the problems inherent in what appears to be sound decision making, and rigorously demonstrates that companies will fall behind if they fail to adapt or adopt new technologies that will meet customers’ unstated or future needs.

Illustrating his points with anecdotes of historical figures, business leaders, and ordinary folks, Carnegie instructs the reader in how to change people, how to win them over to your way of thinking, without causing offense or resentment, and without making them feel manipulated. He teaches these skills through the underlying principle that people want to feel important and appreciated. Carnegie was the first to create a flourishing, credible, long-term business out of his ideas.

Click here for more information on The Innovator’s Dilemma

1. In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies
by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr.
1982

Highly influential when global competition, largely from Japan, had brought Western business to a low, this quintessential business book describes eight enduring management principles that made the forty-three companies surveyed “excellent.” The authors focus exclusively on big companies, namely big manufacturers, but ironically condemn the excesses of modern management practice and advocate a return to simpler virtues. They have since come to feel that their ideas are better embodied in smaller companies.

Through lively case studies, this very readable classic forces a look at the fundamentals, at “first principles” that give a company its soul: Attention to customers, an abiding concern for people (productivity through people), the celebration of trial and error. A driving force in the subsequent deluge of business books, this trailblazer established customer service as a key form of differentiation and advantage, and launched the author-as-consultant/speaker/celebrity phenomenon.

Click here for more information on In Search of Excellence

Sources: Perseus Publishing’s The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Management Books You’ll Never Have Time to Read, Forbes, Business Week, U.S. News & World Report, a variety of lists located around the Web, and our own subjective reading experiences.

Thanks in part to tech companies like Google, office environments are becoming less pristine and more like playgrounds. Plastic action dolls and disarming signs complement–and sometimes replace–mahogany and philodendrons.

Business Pundit researched ten items that straddle the gap between professional and fun. Some items, such as the digital picture frame, are adaptable enough even for the Department of Motor Vehicles. Others, like the Omni bean bag, might require a more relaxed environment.

One thing’s for certain. Housing one or more of these office items in your cube will bring you back from the dead, even on the slowest of summer afternoons. Here they are, in order of necessity:

10
ROCK GARDEN

Life-giving element: Oxygen. Plants recycle carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen, making them essential for life.

Cube use: Recycle the stale air in your work-box with only a minimal commitment by cultivating a rock garden like the one above. Unlike some indoor plants, this little garden will survive weekends and holidays.

9
DIGITAL PHOTO FRAME

Life-giving element: Memories. Rotating pictures of your friends and loved ones remind you that you have a life outside of your cubicle and department meeting room.

Cube use: Load your digital frame with pictures of family, vacations, wild nights, and other memories that make you feel good. Best-case scenario: Motivation to work hard in the name of weekends and vacations. Worst-case scenario: Minutes of wistful pining.

8
HANDY WIPES

Life-giving element: Hygiene. Keeping your hands clean helps you stay healthy. Keeping crumbs off your desk helps you feel like less of a slob.

Cube use: Hands, coffee rings on desk, crumbs on keyboard, finger grease on mouse–Handy Wipes are good for just about everything. Except for your face.

7

CHOCOLATE-COVERED ESPRESSO BEANS

Life-giving element: Energy. Instant, tasty energy that doesn’t come in brown liquid form. Satisfying crunching sound when chewing. Candy with benefits.

Cube use: Good for hijacking afternoon slumps and getting buzzed before meetings.

6
AFRICAN DWARF FROGS

Life-giving element: Pets. When people think of low-maintenance aquatic creatures, they think of goldfish. Dwarf frogs are infinitely more interesting, but require almost as little care as the standard goldfish.

Cube use: All these fascinating little critters require is a small, filtered tank like this one, an aquatic plant or two, and food. They like to hang out upside down and stare into space, creating an ideal distraction for long days in front of the computer.

5
PLUSH MICROBES

Life-giving element: Uniqueness. Teddy bears are so played out–why not get a stuffed E. Coli to mix things up?

Cube use: Hang or place your favorite microbe (the deadlier, the better) in a peripheral place, such as the entrance of your cube. it will catch you by surprise and invoke a giggle when you least expect it.

4
SUMO BEAN BAG

Life-giving element: Rest. Of course, you don’t ever do that at work. Right?

Cube use: Lean this rectangular bean bag against your wall or under your desk. Its shape-shifting qualities allow you to stash it in a variety of places. Then, at an acceptable time, use the Sumo as a chair, a sleeping mat, a pony, or any other shape that comes to mind. (Ed.: Sumo sent Business Pundit an Omni to try out. We loved it, both as a cube toy and a cure for the common, circular bean bag.)

3
CLIMBER’S PUTTY

Life-giving element: Relief. Climber’s putty is another form of the common office squeezy toy, an ideal way to reduce tension.

Cube use: The stuff stores in a large plastic fist, making it an interesting decoration with utility. Bust out the putty when your clients, direct reports, boss, and/or colleagues have you ready to beat down your cube wall.

2
REARVIEW MIRROR


Life-giving element: Safety. Nobody–no employee, no client, no boss–can sneak up on you when you have the advantage of a mini-mirror.

Cube use: Clamp your little friend on a flat-screen monitor, desk, or any other jutting corner. If your back faces the entry to your cube, this mirror will be invaluable.

1
DEMOTIVATIONAL POSTERS

Teamwork: There’s No “I” in Drunk

Life-giving element: Satire. If you can’t make fun of your surroundings, what can you make fun of?

Cube use: Decorate your walls with one of these de-spiring posters. Here are just a couple of the many messages waiting to be tacked onto the padded walls of your cube (via ThinkGeek):

–Customer Disservice Because we’re not satisfied until you’re not satisfied.
–Consulting. If you’re not a part of the solution, there’s good money to be made in prolonging the problem.
–Give Up. At some point, hanging in there just makes you look like an even bigger loser.

*

Once you secure all the items on the list, add a couple of employee recognition awards and a really complicated project chart. You’ll be set for success–and quality distraction–in no time.

I knew Charlie Ayers back in the day. As a corporate peon for Google, I would rejoice when lunchtime came around and I could finally extricate my eyeballs from the computer screen. (We each had two monitors. Made us work faster, supposedly.)

So I’d wait in line along with hundreds of other worker bees. We’d grab Google-colored trays, forks, cups, whathaveyou, and shuffle impatiently towards the cramped buffet. Charlie would inevitably appear somewhere from behind the wall of low wall of food dividing his elite cadre of cooks from the working masses. “One piece of meat only!” He’d holler. Or something like that. The cooks ran a ship tight enough to make even the Phish blaring from the cafe loudspeakers sound a little aggressive.

But the food was good. I mean, 98% of it was really, really friggin’ good. 2% of it, like the goat sausage stew or tofu burger sushi roll, was culinarily over my head. But wow, that man could make a heirloom tomato salad sing ecstatic showtunes. His fried chicken made me wish I had a Southern grandma.

The Charlie team even had us all drinking wheatgrass, arguably one of the most disgusting substances on the planet.

So now Charlie, probably the most famous corporate chef in history, has released his first recipe book. Food 2.0, Secrets from the Chef Who Fed Google, brings Charlie’s expertise to organic foodies across the country.

The book’s layout makes it surprisingly accessible. Charlie peppers his sustainable eating philosophies throughout the beginning, while breakfast-through-dinner recipes make up the second half. Saving time and health, he says, don’t have to be mutually exclusive. He includes pages of “Smart” tips on how to select good produce, grind your own spices, make simple condiments, and freeze special flavor cubes for future use.

Then, there are his recipes. Apple brie wraps, broiled salmon-pesto-tomato bundles, screwy rabbit (that’s a drink), and a range of others–many of them Northern California hippy-inspired–made a drool string slip out the corners of my mouth.

I tried a couple of recipes. They proved as tasty as Charlie’s Google fare of yore. Simple ingredients and preparation made them a joy to cook. This is good stuff if you’re not skimping on expensive food (I wouldn’t exactly call his recipes recession-proof.)

These recipes also fueled the humans behind the Google machine in its early, wildly successful years. They’re worth trying if you believe you are what you eat, and you would desperately like to become a Googlite.

Charlie had some other secrets to success, but if I told you, I’d have to kill you. Or they would kill me.

I have no doubt that the Charlie book is a worthy contribution to the world of cooking. Whether its recipes are affordable is another question, but if you work at Google, you don’t have to worry about stuff like that…