The Book on Innovation

Business books are big business. Occasionally, they are even helpful to readers. Recently, a panel of experts assembled by Forbes named the 20 most influential business books of the past 20 years. Here’s the list:


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

  2. Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, James C. Collins, Jerry I. Porras

  3. Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution, Michael Hammer, James A. Champy

  4. Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco, Bryan Burrough, John Helyar

  5. Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, Michael E. Porter

  6. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, Malcolm Gladwell

  7. Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Technology Products to Mainstream Customers, Geoffrey A. Moore

  8. The House of Morgan, Ron Chernow

  9. The Six Sigma Way, Peter S. Pande et al, Robert P. Neuman, Roland R. Cavanagh

  10. Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, Stephen R. Covey

  11. Liar’s Poker, Michael Lewis

  12. The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail, Clayton M. Christensen

  13. Japan Inc., Shotaro Ishinomori

  14. Den of Thieves, James B. Stewart

  15. The Essential Drucker, Peter F. Drucker

  16. Competing for the Future, Gary Hamel, C. K. Prahalad

  17. The Buffett Way: Investment Strategies of the World’s Greatest Investor, Robert G. Hagstrom

  18. Jack: Straight from the Gut, Jack Welch, John A. Byrne

  19. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t, James Collins

  20. The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story, Michael Lewis

Moderator’s Comment: What business/management books
are on your must read list? Why?


Here’s our top 10. The common theme that links these works
together for us is that they (to varying degrees) connect a vision to execution.



  1. Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful
    Lessons in Personal Change,
    Stephen R. Covey

  2. Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies,
    James C. Collins, Jerry I. Porras

  3. Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior
    Performance
    , Michael E. Porter

  4. Raving Fans, Kenneth Blanchard, Sheldon M. Bowles

  5. Selling the Invisible, Harry Beckwith

  6. The Myth of Excellence: Why Great Companies Never
    Try to Be the Best at Everything


    Fred Crawford, Ryan Mathews

  7. Stewardship, Peter Block

  8. Perspectives on Strategy, The Boston Consulting
    Group

  9. Reclaiming Higher Ground, Lance Secretan

  10. Permission Marketing, Seth Godin
    [George
    Anderson – Moderator
    ]



BrainTrust

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