Five Business Book Recommendations

Pulled from Past Editions of The Saturday List...

Our Month-long Content Extravaganza Continues!

Over on the Area 224 website, we launched this Month of Content idea on December 1. And we continue it…here, today, on the Substack.

I went back and looked at the spreadsheet from The Saturday List — which, hey, let me pat myself on the back, because I’ve published 14 of the past 19 Saturdays! — AND I’ve noticed that I have recommended a few books in the “What I’m Reading” portion of the program.

Why not go back and revisit those books? Let’s go!

Influence, by Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D.

This Summer, when I launched The Saturday List, this was the first book I chose to recommend. And, back then, I admitted I was re-reading it for “maybe for the fourth or fifth time.”

The book is one of the must-reads for PR practitioners; Cialdini breaks down the “Principles of Persuasion:”

• Reciprocation

• Commitment and consistency

• Social proof

• Liking

• Authority

• Scarcity

• Unity (which was added in the “New and Expanded” edition, published in 2021).

Atomic Habits, by James Clear

This, for me, has become a coffee-table book: I need to have it nearby.

Funny enough, I just referred to this book on Monday’s post announcing the Month of Content:

And here’s what I said about it in August:

“I’ve seen variations of the ‘never miss twice’ concept seemingly everywhere. Trying to build win streaks — in my case, going to the gym, even when I don’t feel like it — can be tough; but if you avoid building losing streaks, the improvement will stack up.”

I’m getting better — about the gym, about writing, and a few other things I’m working on — and this book is helping.

Here’s an Amazon link to the book: Atomic Habits.

The Predictioneer’s Game, by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita

Mysterious-sounding concept? Check.

Complex last name? Check.

This book was right up my alley when I first picked it up — and, to be totally honest, it was a Twitter (sorry, X) friend who said it was worth a read for the first chapter alone.

The first chapter IS worth picking up the book, as it walks you through how to turn the tables on the dealer the next time you buy a car.

The upshot of that chapter AND the entire book is that we all act in our own self-interest. Okay, sounds basic…but once you use that fact to your advantage, you can start to understand game theory — and that’s the field of study that Bueno de Mesquita champions — and best predict what will happen in a variety of areas.

Bonus: here’s a few minutes of Bruce chatting about “The Five Rules of Power Politics,” from another book of Bruce’s, The Dictator’s Handbook.

Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know, by Ronald Bailey and Marian L. Tupy

This is less of a business book — though, to be fair, if you work in any variety of industries, the concepts the authors talk about will likely impact your work — and more of what I would call a Mindset Book.

Here’s what I mean: if you go into the book thinking that the world is running around “like a car with square wheels,” (that’s an Alan Alda quote), your mindset will certainly change after just skimming the book.

Upshot: fewer people live in abject poverty, women and girls have more opportunities, the world has more trees than maybe ever. And I could go on, but you should just grab the book and refer to it when you need a shift in your own mindset.

The Go-Giver, by Bob Burg and John David Mann

It’s a fun parable, you can finish it in an afternoon, and the message will stick with you for a long time.

Trust me on this one.

Okay, that’s today’s post. A Month of Content continues here on Substack and over at Area224.com, too.