Welcome to day 2 of my 30 Posts in 30 Days challenge.
68 Must-Read Books for CIO’s (And Everyone Else) in 2021
How many books a year do you read? What are your reading goals? How do you plan to achieve your goals?
In 2019 I read 80 books. In 2020 50, and 2021 my goal is to read 50 books. If you’re interested in learning how I read 50+ books a year and applying them to achieve your reading goals, leave me a comment of send me a note.
However, if you’re like most Americans, the answer is very few. According to a Pew Research Center study, about 25 percent of American adults said they haven’t read a book in a year. According to Readers Digest, in general, the average person reads about 12 books a year.
Contrarily, if you look at the reading habits of the Forbes 400 list of the world’s wealthiest people, you will find that they have one thing in common, an appreciation for reading. Warren Buffet, the world’s most significant investor, spends 80% of his day reading. In 2015 Mark Zuckerberg invited the entire world to join him on his quest to read a book every two weeks.
Not everyone can put aside 80% of their time to read like Warren Buffett or can be like Bill Gates, who reads 50 books a year.
If you’re wondering, could I read like Warren Buffett or Bill Gates? Try this link for some helpful tips. Are you wondering what to read?
Below are 68 books I’d recommend everyone from Apprentice to CIO to Zookeeper have in their digital device, bookshelves, or as an audiobook.
“Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary.” – Jim Rohn
Shoe Dog
Phil Knight
Bruce Lee: A Life
Matthew Polly
Rework
James Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson of Basecamp
It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy At Work
James Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson of Basecamp
The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups
Daniel Coyle
The Art of Business Value
Mark Schwartz
A Seat at the Table
Mark Schwartz
Great at Work: The Hidden Habits of Top Performers
Morten T. Hansen, PhD
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
James Clear
High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way
Brendon Burchard
The Power of Habit
Charles Duhigg
The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win
Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford
Everyday Chaos: Technology, Complexity, and How We’re Thriving in a New World of Possibility
David Weinberger
Simplify: How the Best Businesses In the World Succeed
Richard Koch and Greg Lockwood
The Power of Moments
Chip Heath & Dan Heath
Switch
Chip Heath & Dan Heath
Made to Stick
Chip Heath & Dan Heath
Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs
John Doerr
Data Driven: Harnessing Data and AI to Reinvent Customer Engagement
Tom Chavez, Chris O’Hara, Vivek Vaidya
Data Driven Business Transformation: How to Disrupt, Innovate and Stay Ahead of the Competition
Caroline Carruthers and Peter Jackson
Leading the Transformation: Applying Agile and DevOps Principles at Scale
Gary Gruver and Tommy Mouser
Making Work Visible: Exposing Time Theft to Optimize Work & Flow
Dominica DeGrandis
B State: A Roadmap for Bold Leadership, Brave Culture, and Breakthrough Results
Mark Samuel
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
Angela Duckworth
Change the Culture, Change the Game
Roger Connors and Tom Smith
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Daniel Kahneman
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
Carol S. Dweck, PhD
The Talent Code: Greatness isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How.
Daniel Coyle
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop
Susan Cain
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, Or How to Build the Future
Peter Thiel
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
Cal Newport
Originals
Adam Grant
Think Again
Adam Grant
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Robert B. Cialdini, PhD
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
David Epstein
Radical Candor
Kim Scott
Blue Ocean Strategy: Expanded Edition: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant”
W. Chan Kim
7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Stephen R Covey
The Daily Stoic
Ryan Holliday & Stephen Hanselman
Start With WHY
Simon Sinek
Find Your Why
Simon Sinek
Leaders Eat Last
Simon Sinek
The Infinite Game
Simon Sinek
Change by Design
Tim Brown
Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise
Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool
The OZ Principle: Getting Results through individual and Organizational Accountability
Roger Connors, Tom Smith, Craig Hickman
Boost: Create Good habits Using Psychology & Technology
Max Ogles
The 48 Laws of Power
Robert Greene
Triggers: Creating Behavior That Last, Becoming the Person You Want to Be
Marshall Goldsmith
The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy
Chris Bailey
Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen
Dan Heath
Good to Great
Jim Collins
Built to Last
Jim Collins
The Wealth of Nations
Adam Smith
Steve Jobs
Walter Isaacson
The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution
Walter Isaacson
The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter
Michael Watkins
Your Next Five Moves: Master the Art of Business Strategy
Patrick Bet-David
When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing
Daniel H. Pink
Drive
Daniel H. Pink
To Sell is Human
Daniel H. Pink
The Innovation Ultimatum: How Six Strategic Technologies Will Reshape Every Business in the 2020s
Steve Brown
The Effective Executive
Peter F. Drucker
Accelerate: The Science Behind DevOps
Nicole Forsgren, PhD, Jez Humble, and Gene Kim
Linchpin
Seth Godin
The Dip
Seth Godin
The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America’s Leading Design Firm
Thomas Kelley and Jonathan Littman
Do you have a book that you feel should be on this list, leave me a comment or send me an email with it.
“Read 500 pages…every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.” – Warren Buffett
Now the choice is yours. Will you accept the challenge and prove Warren Buffett wrong or correct? As an avid reader with an appetite for learning, I know my choice; what will yours be?
You can view. recap of the list below along additional bonus books. Happy Reading!
Okay, that is it; day two is in the “books”. Now it’s time to get ready for day three.
