10 Best Business Books 0f 2008
by Gretchen Glasscock on December 17, 2008
You know, I’m sure, these “10 Bests Business Books of 2008″ lists may vary. But whoever is creating the list, 
more than half of these books appear on just about every list.
My personal favorites are three of those on a list by by Drea, who also made some insightful comments in The 10 Best Business Books of 2008 | Business Pundit.
The Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth with Innovation by A.G. Lafley & Ram Charan, Crown Business. “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.”
Outliers: The Story of Success by by New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown)“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.” And Hardy Green books editor for BusinessWeek says: “Finally, for an upbeat read, consider Outliers: The Story of Success . Challenging common wisdom about achievers, he says it’s key to have the right opportunities at exactly the right time—and the presence of mind to seize them. Examples range from Bill Gates to sports stars. Gladwell ends by arguing for educational reforms that, he says, could broaden opportunity. His points are well worth pondering.”
For some reason, the following book didn’t make Drea’s list but made many others and I, for one, would never dream of not including a book by the ever prescient and insightful Thomas Friedman. His book did make Hardy Green’s list in Business Week,and Green has some thoughtful comments, as well.
Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America by Thomas Friedman, Farrar, Straus & Giroux. “Innovation is also vital to the nation’s revival, argues New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman. His Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) is a call to unleash creativity—and capitalism—on the challenges of energy and climate change. The author hops from Sumatra to Connecticut and China to document the interplay of trends.” And we know that’s always interesting : Friedman’s global hot spot hop, where we can see, at least vicariously, what’s really going on, the underlying dynamics and how they do or will impact us.
The Best Business Books of 2008 as selected in an article by Hardy Green, Business Week books editor – you decide which appeals to you….. there are a lot of lists out there:
The Trillion Dollar Meltdown by Charles R. Morris, PublicAffairs
The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder, Bantam
The Partnership: The Making of Goldman Sachs by Charles D. Ellis, Penguin Press
Hell’s Cartel: I.G. Farben and the Making of Hitler’s War Machine by Diarmuid Jeffreys, Metropolitan Books
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely, HarperCollins
The Gridlock Economy: How Too Much Ownership Wrecks Markets, Stops Innovation, and Costs Lives by Michael Heller, Basic Books
The Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth with Innovation by A.G. Lafley & Ram Charan, Crown Business
Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America by Thomas Friedman, Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China by Leslie T. Chang, Spiegel & Grau
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell, Little, Brown
Tagged as:
best business books 2008,
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Hardy Green,
Malcolm Gladwell,
Outliers: The Story of Success,
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions,
Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell,
The Gridlock Economy: How Too Much Ownership Wrecks Markets Stops Innovation and Costs Lives,
The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Here are two more books to add to the list. Both are free. Both can transform any business.
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The first is the “Criteria for Performance Excellence.” Its the book from the Malcolm Baldrige Award. Available for free PDF download at: http://www.baldrige.gov
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The second is “On The System: The End of the Disorganized-Organization.” Available for free PDF download at: http://www.onthesystem.com/Handbook.
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If you are a leader of manager who is serious about learning how to transform your disorganized-organization into a finely tuned machine, then these are the books for you.
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