I’ve long been a fan of Guy Kawasaki, and I’ve lost count how many times I’ve recommended his 10-20-30 speaking rule for those about to give presentations. By a long shot, The Art of The Start is my favorite Kawasaki book. I also like his memoir, Wise Guy which came out in 2019.
When Guy Writes or Speaks, I Pay Attention
I’m assuming you like reading favorite books of the influencers you follow. Who doesn’t?
Guy Kawasaki has shared his 10 favorite books in a recent post, and here is his list:
Number 1
Influence: Science and Practice by Cialdini. Guy states every sales and marketing person should read it. I’m adding that every financial leader should read it too.
Number 2
The Innovator’s Dilemma by Christensen. I like his choice, but the reading is heavy or not a light read. Personally, I’d much rather consume Christesen’s thoughts on these primary ideas in a classroom setting.
Number 3
The Effective Executive by Drucker. Good one. Every financial reader should read this. And then again, and then annually.
Number 4
Crossing the Chasm by Moore. While I bought this book in 2014, I still have not carved out the time to read it. However, many of us have heard and seen the mental model comprised of innovators, early adopters, the early majority, the late majority, and the laggards.
Number 5
The Hockey Handbook by Percival. Are you a hockey player? Have you read it? If not, an alternative read along these lines is The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance.
Number 6
Inevitable Illusions: How Mistakes of Reason Rule Our Minds by Piattelli-Palmarini.
Yes, I bought this because it’s on Guy’s list, but I have not read it yet. I’m predicting I’ll do a quick skim of this book which explores cognitive illusions.
Number 7
Uncommon Genius: How Great Ideas are Born by Shekerjian. I have not read it, nor do I plan to. Loonshots is in my stack of books to read right now which probably overlaps Guy’s selection.
Number 8
If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit by Ueland. I’m glad he included this title and I can understand why. If you like to write, my top pick is still Stephen King’s, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.
Number 9
The Chicago Manual of Style which comes as no surprise. My comparable favorite is still Strunk and White’s, The Elements of Style. If your company has a training department, they could quickly and easily build a short course in business writing using this book.
Number 10
Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation by Utterback was published in 1996. If you follow Kawasaki, you’ll know that he used to be a product evangelist for Apple and worked directly with Steve Jobs. At the time, this title was probably full of indispensable wisdom where few books existed on this topic.
I’m not putting this book on my wishlist, but I’m curious how much overlap there is with Christensen’s books.
Now It’s Your Turn
What’s your top 10? Be bold. Write about your top 10 in a LinkedIn article. I’ll be the first ‘high five’ it.
Photo Attribution – Special thanks to JD Lasica for this excellent photo and is published in this article under Attribution 2.0 Generic Creative Commons licensing.
Leave a Reply