November 21, 2006

Finished Business Books

by Piers Fawkes

Business BooksApologies to all those folk who have sent in their business books for review. We’ve had a bit of trouble finding people to review them. There are 65 people in the office space  we share and when we asked last week if anyone would like to do a review of one of 9 business books on our desks, only 1 got taken.

Are business books today too long? Are we so submerged by a mass of snippets and hurried in the need to scan everything and anything that we avoid deep books that offer more of the same - in fact, a dated version of more of the same. Why are these books so long?

Also why do these books take so long to print? We are looking forward to Anastasia’s book on digital youth next year, but as she put it to bed a few months you can;t help from wondering if some of the information will be out of date when it gets released. It’s not Anastasia’s fault - it’s the publishing world not responding to what we want - shorter, more helpful books. Ones we can read in a single flight.

What do you think? Anyone FINISHED a good business book recently?

Article categories: Media & Publishing, Work & Business

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7 Responses to “Finished Business Books”

  1. Anastasia
    Posted from: 71.198.68.69

    November 21st, 2006 at 3:53 pm

    Hey Piers. Thanks for the shout out. Totally Wired is a book written primarily for parents, although business folks (especially those who are parents) should be able to get something out of it, too.

    As for freshness, it deals with blogs, social networking, parent/teen relationships, technology in education and youth created media. So unless teens stop blogging and hanging out on social networking sites, texting, etc. I don’t think it will be dated.

  2. Seni Thomas
    Posted from: 128.122.253.229

    November 21st, 2006 at 4:11 pm

    You hit it on the head. Books are too long and most of the information is rehashed from other authors or filler to make it seem as if you got your moneys worth. Business books need a new distribution method that decreased time to market and makes it more relevant to us. Perhaps even an episodic book where you pay $10 extra for constant updates or the like. I never have the time to read an entire book on top of the media onslaught from blogs like this one, general news sites, and magazine that pile up on my table.

  3. Nichelle
    Posted from: 69.86.136.2

    November 22nd, 2006 at 2:37 am

    I am a big fan of “Never Eat Alone” by Keith Ferrazzi, and I like “Gut”
    by Karen Salmansohn. Both are more self-help/business advice.

  4. Andy
    Posted from: 143.65.99.20

    November 22nd, 2006 at 9:27 am

    Most business books are rubbish - an HBR article padded out with flabby interviews and case studies. However, I’ve just finished “Let my people go surfing” by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia. Best ‘business’ book in ages, but more a meditation on how he grew the business.
    Patagonia really do look like a model for responsible business and Chouinard is in turn both self-effacing and pretty dogmatic about what he does and why he does it.

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Let-People-Surfing-Education-Businessman/dp/0143037838/sr=8-1/qid=1164205355/ref=pd_ka_1/203-1839750-9891160?ie=UTF8&s=books

  5. Rob Fields
    Posted from: 71.247.37.187

    November 23rd, 2006 at 2:42 pm

    One of the best books I read this year is Grant McCracken’s “Flock and Flow: Predicting and Managing Change in a Dynamic Marketplace”. Grant provides a useful framework for understanding how change moves across the cultural landscape. More importantly, he looks at how organizations will have to adapt in order to better leverage change for competitive advantage.

    http://www.amazon.com/Flock-Flow-Predicting-Manging-Markeplace/dp/0253347599/sr=1-1/qid=1164310876/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-0872666-7868657?ie=UTF8&s=books

  6. Daniel Schutzsmith
    Posted from: 68.199.147.25

    November 26th, 2006 at 8:58 pm

    I agree with Nichelle, Never Eat Alone is an amazing books and definitely one that has helped me rethink and reshape my naive understanding of what the business world is.

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    Posted from: 80.81.208.66

    April 7th, 2007 at 5:00 am

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