Weekly Bookmarks
08 – March 31, 2019
1. What I’m Reading
- Unless I’m reading a book similar to Phil Knight’s Shoe Dog, I find that business books are easy to put down. That’s because the purpose of most business books is to inform. I’m currently reading Your Strategy Needs a Strategy. Hard to put down. Don’t have time to read the book? The author’s TED talk is excellent. This 2012 HBR article provides a summary of the key points too. You’ll learn that big is not necessarily beautiful.
- Annie Duke’s Thinking in Bets is not a book about winning at poker. Duke takes us down the path of how we make decisions. Fascinating read if not a slight mind bender.
- I never knew what the job title Product Evangelist meant until I started reading about Guy Kawasaki. No, he’s not the Rich Dad, Poor Dad guy (er, Guy). My favorite Kawasaki book is still The Art of The Start. But Wise Guy: A Memoir will be a 2019 stocking stuffer this Christmas for my adult children.
2. What I’m Writing
I am a frameworks fanatic. I build them each day I’m working with clients, especially with COOs. Later this week, I’ll be publishing a fun article which includes video on well-known frameworks. For instance, did you know that SWOT was not the first-ever framework introduced? It was born in 1969 and first written about in 1970 by Bruce Henderson of BCG. If you are familiar with PEST, did you realize it was introduced 2 years earlier? Stay tuned, more to come on frameworks.
3. What I’m Reading Beyond Books
Jim Collins wrote an article for Fortune in 2003 listing his 10 Greatest CEOs of All Time which you can read here. There are notable exceptions to the list (Bezos, Page, Bethune, Gates, Eisner, and Iverson to name a few).
My favorite inclusion is Sam Walton where Collins writes that he was arrested for being on his hands and knees measuring store isles at a retailer in South America. Talk about attention to detail, he cared about the small things.
4. What I’m Watching
If a young intern wrote a Strategic Management Report for your company, would it look like this one? Nicely done by a college student.
My favorite visual is the Brand Onion on the far right of pages 18-19. Consider sharing this link with your marketing team and the CEO.
5. Homework Assignment
Earlier, I mentioned frameworks. This article introduces the reader to 4 widely-known if not overly-abused business frameworks. Which of these frameworks have you used at your company? Which ones are used inappropriately? Which ones are missing? More importantly, have you thought about crafting your own frameworks to help guide your work?
Thank You!
Thank you for reading. If you like the above and the posts at CFO Bookshelf, may I ask a favor? Feel free to share this with other readers along with commenting on your favorite blog posts in LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.
Take care and have a great week. Always be learning.
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