Recommended by: Seth Godin’s blog
Seth Godin brings together several of his ideas about how to survive in our changed economy. His main premise is that non-thinking “factory” work is no longer the road to security. “Factory” is in quotes because he uses it to include any job which involves following the rules and [...]
Recommended by: Robert Sutton blog post (via Twitter)
It’s a rare business book that focuses on warmth, kindness, and peaceful, loving environments. This compassionate little book, subtitled Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t, does so with clarity and conviction.
In this book, you’ll find:
A definition of assholes (also known as jerks, bullies, tyrants, [...]
Recommended by: Spirituality bookgroup, and several others.
Lynne Twist recounts her fundraising for The Hunger Project non-profit, including anecdotes about her encounters with both desperately poor and despairingly wealthy people.
She also shares her own journey from oblivious, superficial spending to heart-centered use of funds.
She explores the effects of our toxic myths of scarcity (there’s not enough, [...]
Recommended by: Bob Poole
A highly structured analysis of how to sell with integrity. The sales process is divided into Approach, Interview, Demonstration, Validation, Negotiation, and Close, creatively abbreviated “AID, Inc.”
Selling skillls are broken down into goal clarity, achievement drive, emotional intelligence, and social skills.
Building relationships, listening, and caring are presented as the key to [...]
Recommended by: Tshombe Brown
Seth Godin specializes in pithy marketing advice for this new era of marketing with permission rather than blanket advertising. In fact, he created the phrase “permission-based marketing,” and Purple Cow’s mission is to convince marketers that the era of blanket advertising is over.
Seth Godin’s points:
In the old days (a few years [...]
The guiding metaphor of this book is a lighthouse, which is most effective when it is standing firm in one place shining a light for ships at sea, but would wreck navigational havoc if it were running up and down the beach looking for ships.
In the same way, Hall and Brogniez propose that businesses are [...]
Recommended by: Jessie Upp, Biznik comment
Harry Beckwith, head of a marketing firm for 23 years, explains how marketing a service differs from marketing a product, and why it matters.
This book was published in 1997, so some of its claims to modernity ring hollow in 2008, but it still has a lot to offer. The [...]