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.
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