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In his 1975 novel J R, William Gaddis predicted our excesses.

Business storyteller Annette Simmons explains how the right narrative can help leaders and listeners broaden their perspective and circle of concern.

A new book by two professors provides a tool kit for designers of customer, user, and employee experiences.

In his new book, Nobel-winning economist Robert J. Shiller emphasizes the importance of narratives.

Make economics germane again.

In the 19th edition of strategy+business's Best Business Books section, our writers identify the three most compelling reads in seven genres.

Trains, automobiles, and the plain impact of transportation.

Creating safe spaces for all.

Get real, be heard, grease the skids.

Strategy matters.

Speaking of code.

Thriving in a complex and expanding ecosystem.

Our picks for the best business books of 2019 in seven categories. See also the slideshow “Top shelf picks: Best Business Books 2019."

Writers at strategy+business pick the year’s best books in seven categories.

In his new book, historian Andrew Roberts delves into the experiences of wartime leaders to produce lessons for heads of business.

Lessons from the past may be the only available guide for navigating the present and future, but CEOs need to take them with a grain of salt.

Former Tata Group director R. Gopalakrishnan, who's written a new book, says the best leaders focus on building both a better business and a better world.

The classic Nikolai Gogol satire from 1842 provides keen insight into the endurance of charismatic financial hustlers.

In his new book, Transaction Man, journalist Nicholas Lemann describes the evolution — and failure — of competing attempts to manage the power of corporations.

The 1951 film, about to debut as a play, has much to teach us about the hazards of innovation.

In his new book, The Intelligence Trap, David Robson explains why intelligent people engage in unintelligent behavior.

Robert Wilson’s biography of P.T. Barnum seeks to balance the humbug and hucksterism with business success and good works.

Herman Melville’s short story Bartleby, the Scrivener provides lessons on how to deal with troubled colleagues.

In Priced Out, economist Uwe Reinhardt asks the most taboo question in American healthcare for the last time.

In The Next Billion Users, Payal Arora reports that the global poor have similar digital motivations to everyone else.

The legendary leader’s political successes were continually undermined by his financial and business failures.

In his new book, Michael O’Sullivan looks to the past to find a future for the post-globalization world.

In his new book, Neil Irwin finds that people who succeed in management careers do so by trying new things, learning from failures, and embracing changes in direction.

A selection of books perfect for your commute — or the beach.

Growing into a meta-leader gives you the tools to skillfully manage any situation.

James Vlahos’s new book, Talk to Me, is a good starting point for exploring how voice computing could disrupt your business.

In their new book on what makes high schools work, education experts Jal Mehta and Sarah Fine offer vital lessons for business leaders as well.

The author of Robinson Crusoe, who dealt with ups and downs as an entrepreneur, also penned one of history’s most useful business manuals.

In his new book, Range, David Epstein argues that although specialization has its virtues, businesses need people with wide horizons and ranges of interests in order to succeed.

In his new book, UNC-Charlotte professor Steven Rogelberg offers an evidence-based guide to holding better meetings.

In his new book, Globotics Upheaval, economist Richard Baldwin wrestles with the opportunities and perils brought about by globalization and robotics.

In his new book, Harvard Business School prof Gary Pisano offers senior leaders a three-part solution to the innovation challenge.

The brilliant poet Wallace Stevens spent his career in the insurance industry. To what extent did these two aspects of his life nourish one another?

In her new book, Allison Schrager argues that we can learn a lot about risk management, moral hazard, and financial safety from the dudes who tackle 80-foot waves on fiberglass boards.

A 1908 novel about the fate of two sisters in Victorian England has a great deal to teach us about the challenges women face in the business world.

In her new book, psychology professor Michele Gelfand explains some of the differences between social groups, and the conflicts that erupt among them.

In his new book, The Future of Capitalism, Oxford economist Paul Collier lays out a path to restore the ethical foundations of the free-market system in the U.S. and Europe.

Most companies that try to do well by doing good can’t make it last. Their leaders need to think more carefully about their philosophy and governance.

The Financier, an overlooked 1912 volume by iconic novelist Theodore Dreiser, has a great deal to teach businesspeople about hubris, adversity, and redemption.

Tuck School of Business professor Richard D’Aveni proposes a technology-driven vision of manufacturing dominance.

Scott Belsky’s new book offers inspiration to leaders slogging through the life span of a successful business.

The management philosophy of the CEO who disrupted Big Steel is as relevant today as it was 20 years ago.

Conflict resolution expert Donna Hicks explores the poorly understood and underutilized power of dignity.

In his new book, economist Joel Waldfogel argues that digitization is ushering in a golden age for both producers and consumers of entertainment.

Value-Added History. See also Top Shelf Picks: Best Business Books 2018.

American Tales. See also Top Shelf Picks: Best Business Books 2018.

Engagement Announcements. See also Top Shelf Picks: Best Business Books 2018.

Revising the Managerial Playbook. See also Top Shelf Picks: Best Business Books 2018.

Writers at strategy+business pick the year’s best books in seven categories.

Making the Leap. See also Top Shelf Picks: Best Business Books 2018.

Technology Emerging. See also Top Shelf Picks: Best Business Books 2018.

Marketing Is Dead! Long Live Marketing! See also Top Shelf Picks: Best Business Books 2018.

Our picks for the best business books of 2018 in seven categories. See also Top Shelf Picks: Best Business Books 2018.

In the 18th edition of strategy+business's Best Business Books section, our writers identify the three most compelling reads in seven genres. See also Top Shelf Picks: Best Business Books 2018.

The entrepreneurial credo at the heart of Stewart Brand’s underground publication has shaped our world.

In their new book, Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh explain why it often makes sense to prioritize growth over efficiency.

Professors Vijay Govindarajan and Ravi Ramamurti offer U.S. healthcare providers a prescription for reverse innovation from India.

Why books are the only form of physical media whose sales are growing.

In their new book, a trio of Rotman School professors demystify artificial intelligence for business leaders.

There are lots of whimsical ways to stay grounded, but simply walking around the workplace is still the best.

A new book argues that the global financial crisis that began in 2008 would have been much worse without American financial innovation.

In his exuberant new book, the management guru sums up 50 years of experience with exhortations to pursue excellence.

A selection of books perfect for your commute — or the beach.

In their new book, Eric A. Posner and E. Glen Weyl argue that rethinking the ownership of assets can lead to greater economic efficiency and equality. See also “Summer Reading: 8 Business Books – in Pictures”

The more complex and tightly coupled the system, say authors Chris Clearfield and András Tilcsik, the more urgent the need to manage the risk of meltdowns.

In his new book, Andrew Santella explores procrastination, and why it is that whenever there is a job to do, you can count on someone putting it off. See also “Summer Reading: 8 Business Books – in Pictures”

History professor Jerry Muller reminds us that not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. See also “Summer Reading: 8 Business Books – in Pictures”

Management guru Jeffrey Pfeffer argues that modern management practices are making employees sick.

In her book on inventive genius, Melissa Schilling delves into the personality traits that lead to breakthroughs. See also “Summer Reading: 8 Business Books – in Pictures”

In her book on gender disparity in the workplace, journalist Joanne Lipman challenges men and women to overcome unconscious bias. See also “Summer Reading: 8 Business Books – in Pictures”

Best-selling author Daniel Pink analyzes more than 700 studies to reveal the science of perfect timing. See also “Summer Reading: 8 Business Books – in Pictures”

Freek Vermeulen explains why unhelpful practices go unnoticed and suggests how rooting them out can help innovation.

In his magisterial new biography of the ultimate Renaissance man, Walter Isaacson provides important insights into the nature of creativity and innovation. See also “Summer Reading: 8 Business Books – in Pictures”

In her new book, Harvard Business School Professor Tsedal Neeley examines the challenge of establishing a lingua franca in global companies.

In her new book, Leslie Berlin offers a group portrait of the unsung heroes who forged iconic companies — and a new industry — in the 1970s.

Seven books that will help you kick off 2018 on a sound footing.

Freek Vermeulen of the London Business School offers contrarian nuggets for innovation-hungry leaders. See also “Summer Reading: 8 Business Books – in Pictures”

Chip and Dan Heath explain how to add defining moments to your customer experience.

Crimes, Not Misdemeanors

In the 17th edition of our Best Business Books section, our crack team of reviewers has ferreted out the most inspiring, illuminating, and entertaining volumes of the past year. See also Best Business Books 2017 — in Pictures.

The Platform Competition

Animal Spirits

Our picks for the best business books of 2017 in seven categories.

Captains Courageous and Agile

Not-So-Great Expectations

Steady Progress

Mind Over Matter

Our writers’ selection of the year’s best business book in seven categories.

INSEAD professors W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne deliver the navigation chart needed to reach blue oceans.

In Lead Yourself First, Raymond Kethledge and Michael Erwin explore how solitude nurtures clarity, creativity, emotional balance, and moral courage.

In his new book, Face Value, Princeton psychologist Alexander Todorov explores our predilection for judging other people by their faces.

Wharton professor David Robertson defines a “Third Way” of creating new products and services.

A selection of books perfect for your commute — or the beach.

Chess champion Garry Kasparov replays his historic loss to Deep Blue to illuminate the potential of AI.

In his new book, Daniel McGinn investigates the ways people prepare themselves to perform, taking us beyond the clichés of yoga poses, centering exercises, and nap rooms.

In a new memoir,  Wall Street veteran Sallie Krawcheck recalls her career and her evolution into an entrepreneur and advocate for women in the workplace.

In his new book, Mistreated, former Permanente Medical Group CEO Robert Pearl diagnoses the woes afflicting one of the country’s largest industries.

Public policy professor Philip Auerswald takes on “the Great Man–Machine Debate.”

Author Kim Scott argues that managers who care personally and challenge their team directly can improve results.

The author of Hooked recommends four books for the leaders of consumer companies seeking to create habit-forming products and services.

Journalist Dan Ackerman untangles the complicated history of one of the world’s most popular video games.

Ira M. Millstein, a leading light in corporate governance for decades, makes his case…again.

The author of Emotional Agility recommends four books that leaders can read to better understand and harness their own and others’ emotions.

Journalist Julian Guthrie tells the story of the Ansari XPrize and of SpaceShipOne’s historic flights.

Author Tim Wu argues that the Internet’s descent into clickbait and trivia is only the latest chapter in a long history of advertisers grabbing our attention.

Beyond revenue, customers who are obsessed with a product don’t just provide valuable insight but are a conduit to new markets.

A veteran management professor at Cornell University’s ILR School recommends four books that can help leaders hone the ability to achieve their agendas.

Veteran journalist Joann Lublin chronicles the triumphs and travails of women rising to the C-suite.

Interviews with dozens of women who have risen to the C-suite illuminate triumphs, travails, and important lessons.

The executive director of the Institute for the Future calls out books that explore human nature and networks.

A Harvard Medical School psychologist explains how to manage your emotions and achieve your goals.

The remarkable gains in productivity in growth in the post–World War II years ground to a halt in the 1970s — and we’re still living with the fallout.

An author, speaker, and former CEO calls out books that will make you a better leader.

The former Federal Reserve chairman’s remarkable career offers insight into the links between politics and markets.

The “top shelf” picks in our Best Business Books 2016 roundup.

For the 16th edition of our Best Business Books of the year section, we've assembled a team of learned, expert, and stylish guides. See also Best Business Books 2016 — in Pictures.

The Human Function

Our picks for the best business books of 2016 in seven categories.

The Crisis Is Over: Welcome to the New Crisis

Thinking It Through

Turning Dreams into Reality

Pre-Suasion, Problem Solving, and Process Design

Big Marketing Gets Personal

Planning for Unpredictability

An MIT professor explores the powerful effects of open communication within a company.

From income inequality to gridlock, progress is coming from some unlikely sources.

The “Jane Bond of Innovation” recommends a reading list for value creation.

A look back at a classic study of 1950s-era corporate culture sheds light on how companies can make the workplace more hospitable to strivers of all genders.

Innovation and superior performance aren’t just for Silicon Valley disruptors and global giants.

Economist Kenneth Rogoff argues that getting rid of paper money will lead to a more secure economy and effective monetary policy.

As machines grow smarter and capture more of the value associated with work, how will people continue to keep busy and thrive?

An expert on teaming from Harvard Business School shares three books for leaders who want to encourage collaboration in their organizations.

If you hire this book, Clayton Christensen says you’ll be a better innovator.

The eminent expert on leading change describes how three classics — including one of Freud’s major volumes — influence his thinking.

Can simultaneous exploitation and exploration resolve the innovator’s dilemma?

Before the Internet, the telephone, and the telegraph, the U.S. Postal Service revolutionized communications.

A Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur whose ideas inspired the lean startup movement shares some of his favorite books.

A new book examines star chef Ferran Adrià’s systematic pursuit of technological and culinary reinvention.

Former NBC Universal CEO Bob Wright looks back on his two decades at GE — and forward to a post-broadcast, post-cable media world.

Can we train ourselves to stop ignoring the obvious dangers we face?

The chief executive officer of AARP discusses the books that have contributed to her worldview.

A new book argues that companies can thrive by focusing on the human development of their employees.

The legendary management guru believes burying your nose in a book can be the most effective strategy for succeeding in business.

A veteran executive calls out the books that most influenced him in a career driven by innovation.

In his new book, evolutionary biologist Joseph Henrich argues that culture and behavior can have an important impact on evolution.

People committed to common purposes and goals can change key elements of a company’s culture when they set strong ground rules that allow people to feel confident.

In Small Data, Martin Lindstrom recounts his adventures in brand building.

In his new book, Arun Sundararajan paints a rosy picture of the revolutionary companies and platforms that are altering the nature of work.

The president of the Rockefeller Foundation discusses the best books for understanding and nurturing organizational resilience.

In his new book, Charles Duhigg demonstrates that making the right choices is the key to boosting personal productivity.

Superbosses examines the talent practices of those rare leaders whose protégés go on to dominate industries.

Mohamed A. El-Erian argues that the world’s masters of monetary policy have reached the peak of their ability to influence the course of the global economy.

A leading light of the corporate responsibility movement calls out a reading list for building a sustainable economy.

In his new book, Douglas Rushkoff reacts to rising inequality and the threat of automation by proposing a new social operating system that distributes wealth more equitably.

Has American economic history proved that pragmatism is the most effective ideology?

In Agile Talent, Jon Younger and Norm Smallwood lay out a system for getting more from external talent.

The legal scholar and coauthor of Nudge calls out four must-reads on decision making.

In The Happiness Track, Emma Seppälä describes six strategies that will make you happier and more successful at work.

The most farsighted enterprises have mastered five unconventional practices for building and using distinctive capabilities.

The CEO of Imperative recommends three books that explore purpose from individual and organizational perspectives.

There’s no scientific method for coming up with brilliant new ideas. But the authors of a new book argue that a set of habits can help foster innovation.

The entrepreneur-in-residence for the City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Office recommends three books to stimulate organizational entrepreneurship and innovation.

In On Inequality, Harry Frankfurt argues that, in and of itself, economic inequality doesn’t matter.

A Columbia Business School professor suggests a reading list for leaders struggling to hold on to competitive advantage.

In their new book, Nobel Prize–winning economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller argue that free markets can allow unethical business practices to thrive.

In his new book, Wall Street Journal veteran Greg Ip makes the counterintuitive argument that the preventive efforts that makes us safe can encourage dangerous risk taking.

Why we read business books, and why we write them.

In a new book, a group of scholars delves into the many ways people find their missions — at work and at home.

In his new book, Roger Lowenstein describes how financial crises and political tensions spurred the creation of the U.S.’s central bank.

Our annual review of the year’s best business books. See also Best Business Books 2015 — in Pictures.

An Expensive Breakdown in Communications

Leading by Biographical Example

The Machine Age

What a Character!

Capturing Attention – and Data – in a Digital Age

The (Very) Political Economy

The Search for Innovation

Our annual review of the year’s best business books.

This photo gallery is part of the article “Best Business Books 2015.”

In his new book, Stephen Witt offers a compelling tale of how music industry executives, technologists, and pirates upended the business of selling recorded music.

The master algorithm will invent everything that can be invented.

In her new book, journalist Gillian Tett convincingly shows how companies can be constrained by silos that inhibit collaboration — and how they can break out of them.

One of the world’s most influential business thinkers talks about the books that shaped his approach to his career.

If you know your company’s progress up the levels of human evolution, you can help its culture advance to the next stage.

Ever-smarter computers may be poised to steal the jobs of a rising number of people. In a new book, Geoff Colvin argues that humans can deploy a secret weapon: their ability to care.

A new book describes how Israel has relied on technology and smart incentives to turn a water deficit into a liquid surplus. Can California and other arid areas learn the same lessons?

A leading business author talks about the books that shaped his thinking and career.

Michael Wolff on the resurgence of TV in the digital age.

Former CEO Bill George argues that leadership is a journey that requires a special compass if it is to be authentic.

In a new book, leadership expert Ira Chaleff argues teaching employees to disobey orders is an essential management safeguard.

The Stanford professor calls out four books that illuminate the often-dark paths to power.

A collective intellectual effort offers self-help for a nation struggling to adapt to a new global climate.

The entire history of management ideas can be seen as a series of answers to a few pragmatic queries.

In Holacracy, Brian J. Robertson proposes we replace the corporate hierarchy with a bossless system.

The b-school professor recommends three books that support the development of value-based leadership.

The top-ranked executive coach recommends four books that will make you a better leader.

Since its introduction in 2008, bitcoin has enjoyed a rapid and tumultuous rise. Is the digital currency built to last?

The world’s most eminent executive coach demonstrates the high level of discipline needed for sustainable leadership development.

In a new biography of the brothers who invented the airplane, David McCullough describes the frustrations and triumphs involved in getting aviation off the ground.

In his new book, marketing guru Philip Kotler identifies debt-supported consumer spending as a flaw of capitalism — along with 13 other shortcomings.

KIND has sold a billion snack bars and clusters. Daniel Lubetzky, its founder and CEO, has bigger things in mind.

The eminent — and controversial — economist offers a set of cures for the ills of global poverty. It’s not clear the medicine works.

Should you make your company in your own image?

Addressing climate change with a sense of urgency isn’t a matter of morality, two economists argue. It’s about managing risk.

The Berkeley professor and his coauthor say companies can no longer afford to treat failure like a dirty secret they have to hide.

New York Times reporter David Gelles investigates the rising use of meditation in corporate America.

Thriving amid rapid change, authors Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler argue, requires a fearlessness that borders on hubris.

The CEO of a leading recreational marijuana company argues that the industry is green in more ways than one.

Negotiation guru William Ury argues that self-knowledge is a crucial tool for deal making.

Veteran management guru Fred Kiel uses hard data to prove that soft factors like integrity, forgiveness, and compassion energize employees and customers — and deliver better returns.

Economic historian Barry Eichengreen finds telling parallels between the botched responses to the stock market crash of 1929 and the financial crisis of 2008.

To reach your true leadership potential, writes INSEAD professor Herminia Ibarra, push yourself outside your comfort zone.

In his new book, Lawrence A. Cunningham says that Berkshire Hathaway’s corporate culture will enable it to survive without Warren Buffett.

The 1990s mania surrounding plush toys tells us as much about irrational behavior as the coincident dot-com bubble.

Author Andrew Keen offers a stirring guide to how the Internet has changed everything — mostly for the worse.

The author of a new book says it’s more productive to integrate your career with your passions, talents, and service to others.

Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, describes how to build the capacity to survive disastrous events.

In Leading with Sense, Professor Valérie Gauthier defines leaders as genuine, generous, generative — even poetic.

Apple’s former chief evangelist talks about the books that most contributed to his success.

In Citizen Coke, Bartow Elmore serves up a snarky environmental history of Coca-Cola Company.

Walter Isaacson, CEO of the Aspen Institute and author of Steve Jobs, plumbs the history of digitization to get to the roots of successful innovation.

In Against the Tide, retired rear admiral Dave Oliver examines the management techniques of Hyman G. Rickover, the father of the nuclear navy.

Thomas Koulopoulos and Dan Keldsen argue that companies should bridge gaps among various age groups, not reinforce them.

In The Reciprocity Advantage, Bob Johansen and Karl Ronn argue that the most successful partnerships start with sharing, not protecting, your intellectual capital.

Jeff Sutherland, codeveloper of scrum, explains how to raise the success rate of your company’s initiatives using the software development method.

High-tech blogger Nir Eyal describes a positive feedback loop for getting customers hooked on your products and services.

In The Glass Cage, Nicholas Carr reminds us that almost every business decision involves tradeoffs.

Brian Wansink explains how to help employees make healthy choices in Slim by Design.

Witold Rybczynski, author of How Architecture Works, introduces a lesson in how the design of our buildings can bolster employee productivity, from The Best Place to Work, by Ron Friedman.

Michael Schrage proposes a fast, cheap, experiment-driven approach to boosting the bottom line in The Innovator’s Hypothesis.

Jason Jennings, author of The Reinventors, introduces a lesson in leveraging existing capabilities from How to Kill a Unicorn, by Mark Payne.

All Things Being Unequal

Tomorrow’s Bottom Line

Greasing the Skids of Invention

Economist Russ Roberts explores Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments, a 255- year-old guide to the good life.

The Nothing That’s Everything

The Human Factor

A favored position creates authentic leadership only when it is tempered by accountability.

Brand Diving

Our annual review of the year’s best business books. See also Best Business Books 2014—in Pictures.

To the Nimble Go the Spoils

Our annual review of the year’s best business books. See also Best Business Books 2014—in Pictures.

Richard Branson’s books demonstrate how an entrepreneur’s drive and verve can turn seemingly crazy ideas into reality.

Nicholas Carr, author of The Glass Cage: Automation and Us, introduces a lesson in generating deeper insights from The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload, by Daniel J. Levitin.

Aligning Strategy and Sales is the best sales book of the year — and one that senior executives should read.

Modern Mercenary is a fascinating look at the free market for force and the companies that profit from it.

Former BP CEO John Browne argues that self-disclosure is the right course for LGBT employees in The Glass Closet.

John Elkington and Jochen Zeitz’s new book proposes how to achieve the triple bottom line of planet, people, and profits.

Barry Nalebuff, coauthor of Co-opetition, introduces a passage on when to—and when not to—believe what others say, from The Power of Noticing, by Max Bazerman.

Wharton marketing professor David Bell explores how the real world affects the success of internet companies.

IMD professor Mikolaj Jan Piskorski describes three concepts that can help companies craft more effective social strategies.

Nick Morgan, author of Power Cues: The Subtle Science of Leading Groups, Persuading Others, and Maximizing Your Personal Impact, introduces a timeless lesson about crafting clear messages from Supercommunicator: Explaining the Complicated So Anyone Can Understand, by Frank J. Pietrucha.

A new book argues that the dangers of risk aversion often outweigh the risk of making mistakes.

In A Bigger Prize, former CEO Margaret Heffernan argues that the corporate world has an unhealthy obsession with winning.

Michael Schrage reviews two notable books by veteran Silicon Valley journalists that seek to explain collaborative charisma.

If you want to become a better deal-maker, start by examining who you are at the table.

Cynthia D. McCauley, coeditor of Experience-Driven Leader Development: Models, Tools, Best Practices, and Advice for On-the-Job Development, introduces a career development lesson from It’s Not the How or the What but the Who: Succeed by Surrounding Yourself with the Best, by Claudio Fernández-Aráoz.

Soccer, says Ignacio Palacios-Huerta, is a perfect laboratory for testing economic theory.

Your summer vacation is the perfect time to relax, lie back, take in some sun, and learn something new about leadership.

Innovation expert Scott D. Anthony has a toolkit for surviving the wreck-strewn entrepreneurial journey, from initial concept to reality.

Itamar Simonson and Emanuel Rosen describe new patterns in consumer decision making that are shaking up traditional marketing strategies.

Economist Don Thompson says a product’s value can rise if it’s accompanied by a compelling backstory, reputation, or buying experience.

Susan Cramm, author of 8 Things We Hate about I.T.: How to Move beyond the Frustrations to Form a New Partnership with I.T., introduces a lesson in assessing bosses from The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Getting Ahead: Dos and Don’ts of Right Behavior, Tough Thinking, Clear Writing, and Living a Good Life, by Charles Murray.

Elizabeth Economy and Michael Levi argue that China’s demand for natural resources is unlikely to result in further price shocks.

Two decades after Jeremy Rifkin predicted that private sector jobs would disappear, his controversial view sounds far more likely, and far less ominous.

In The Son Also Rises, UC Davis economic historian Gregory Clark tracks surnames over hundreds of years to better understand social mobility.

Les Leopold, author of How to Make a Million Dollars an Hour: Why Hedge Funds Get Away with Siphoning Off America’s Wealth, introduces a passage on the debilitating effects of mass firings from Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t, by Simon Sinek.

Two new books suggest that how salespeople respond to “no” is a primary determinant in their success.

In Can China Lead? a trio of business school professors argue that unless the Chinese Communist Party loosens its grip, the China “miracle” cannot be sustained.

In Thanks for the Feedback, Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen argue that the smart investment is not teaching managers how to give feedback, but rather teaching employees how to receive it.

Journalist Brad Edmondson’s recounting of the Ben & Jerry’s story, Ice Cream Social, focuses on the difficulties of living up to high-minded corporate mission statements after new owners take control.

In The Craft Beer Revolution, Steve Hindy traces an industry disruption that gives beer drinkers reason to cheer.

In The Second Machine Age, two MIT professors show how the exponential growth of new technologies is remaking the world.

In A More Beautiful Question, Warren Berger says that asking “why, what if, and how” can help companies become more efficient and creative.

In Reinventing American Health Care, professor Ezekiel Emanuel predicts that the benefits of reform are still years away.

Douglas Stone, coauthor of Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well (Even When It Is Off-Base, Unfair, Poorly Delivered, and Frankly, You’re Not in the Mood), introduces a cautionary lesson in assessing others from Embodied Leadership: A Somatic Approach to Developing Your Leadership, by Pete Hamill.

John Kotter and Rita Gunther McGrath both argue that change will inevitably overwhelm hierarchical management systems, but their solutions differ.

Legacy companies looking to increase agility and collaboration can take a few lessons from new firms.

In The Hard Thing about Hard Things, VC Ben Horowitz offers a creative solution for resolving conflict among organizational silos.

In What Works for Women at Work, Joan C. Williams and Rachel Dempsey identify four, often unrecognized, patterns of discriminatory attitudes toward women.

In The Watchdog That Didn’t Bark, Dean Starkman rebukes the business press for missing the epic fraud that led to the Great Recession. 

After reading the International Handbook on the Economics of Mega Sporting Events, it’s hard to see how Russia will benefit from hosting the Winter Olympics.

Roger Martin, coauthor of Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works, introduces a lesson on the proper foundation for core competencies from Compete Smarter, Not Harder: A Process for Developing the Right Priorities through Strategic Thinking, by William Putsis.

Consultant and author Tim Halloran thinks it’s time to inject some romance into brand marketing.

A personality-driven history of economic forecasting by business historian Walter Friedman points up the limitations of the prediction business, then and now.

David Hurst reviews Professor Lawrence Freedman’s magisterial new history of strategy, which underscores the discipline’s central elements and limits.

A review of Mass Flourishing: How Grassroots Innovation Created Jobs, Challenge, and Change, by Edmund Phelps.

Nancy Scola reviews Joel Gurin’s Open Data Now, the first book to detail the rich business opportunities in open data and the challenges in capturing them. 

Scott Berkun’s chronicle of his stint as a team leader at WordPress.com offers insights for companies with distributed structures.

According to the authors of The Decoded Company, it’s time to know your employees better than your customers.

Steve Yastrow says improvisation is a far more effective sales tool than the hackneyed pitch—but there are limitations.

If the authors of Does Capitalism Have a Future? are right, this year’s WEF attendees should take a hard look at business as usual.

Bruce Poon Tip, author of Looptail: How One Company Changed the World by Reinventing Business, introduces a passage from Richard Sheridan’s Joy, Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love on how to build an employee-centric corporate culture.

Former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski paid an unjustly high price for the crime of losing perspective, according to a new book by Catherine S. Neal.

A study guide for aspiring gurus.

A new year should herald new ways of thinking about business.

An IT services firm has developed a business model that it believes delivers joy to both employees and customers.

Successful collaborations create transformational value, according to BP executive Luc Bardin.

A new biography of Apple design chief Jony Ive offers valuable lessons to leaders seeking to develop strategic capabilities.

In The Circle, novelist Dave Eggers creates a techno-dystopia that does a better job of  driving home the dangers of digitization than any nonfiction polemic to date.

Harvard Business School professor Anita Elberse argues that making a few big gambles may be a safer long-term strategy than sticking to small investments.

Lessons in Failure

Our annual review of the year’s best business books. See also Best Business Books 2013—in Pictures.

Rebuilding the Temple Mount

Our annual review of the year’s best business books.

Is Your Brand Experienced?

Here Come the New Competitors

Three Harbingers of Change

Influence, Inquiry, Action

Running the Detroit Three

Lewis P. Carbone, author of Clued In: How to Keep Customers Coming Back Again and Again, introduces an excerpt on how to eliminate negative cues from The Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty, by Matthew Dixon, Nick Toman, and Rick DeLisi.

Mark Hatch, the CEO of TechShop, is betting that the new wave of high-tech DIY will bolster innovation and the growth of this nascent industry.

According to scholar Maurizio Viroli, leaders cited The Prince as a rationale for unethical behavior for far too long. Accomplish something great instead.

Tom and David Kelley of IDEO show readers how to channel the creativity they never knew they had.

Journalist and author Rose George recounts her voyage on a container ship, transporting goods across the globe.

Keith Ferrazzi, author of Who’s Got Your Back: The Breakthrough Program to Build Deep, Trusting Relationships That Create Success—and Won’t Let You Fail, introduces a passage on the value of connecting with co-workers from The Necessity of Strangers: The Intriguing Truth about Insight, Innovation, and Success, by Alan Gregerman.

Edgar Schein can teach you to be a better helper and more effective questioner—skills that are essential to your leadership success.

Adam Penenberg’s new book examines how video games are being used to enhance organizations and improve lives.

In his new book, John Weir Close recounts the modern era of hostile takeovers.

How G Adventures’s founder Bruce Poon Tip built a successful business by following his bliss.

How the “vocal silence” used to communicate professorial mores at HBS can make a difference at your company.

Rita Gunther McGrath, author of The End of Competitive Advantage: How to Keep Your Strategy Moving as Fast as Your Business, introduces a passage about when—and when not—to demand excellence from Tipping Sacred Cows: Kick the Bad Work Habits That Masquerade as Virtues, by Jake Breeden.

Disney legend Marty Sklar’s new memoir-cum-business book offers great backstage stories—and insights for leaders.

Nobel Prize–winning economist Edmund Phelps argues that innovation and the prosperity it engenders are a function of our values.

Google executives Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen examine the political ramifications of digital ubiquity in The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations, and Business.

Honest Tea founders Seth Goldman and Barry Nalebuff explain—graphically—how they brewed up a successful company.

Ty Montague adds a useful twist to corporate storytelling.

Art Kleiner, author of The Age of Heretics: A History of the Radical Thinkers Who Reinvented Corporate Management, introduces a leadership lesson from Managers as Mentors: Building Partnerships for Learning, 3rd Edition, by Chip R. Bell and Marshall Goldsmith.

Ori Brafman and Judah Pollack explain why a little distraction can lead to business innovation.

In The Alchemists, economic journalist Neil Irwin argues that the financial crisis of 2007–08 made the central bankers of the U.S., U.K., and Europe the most powerful people on earth.

A review of Strategic Transformation: Changing while Winning, by Manuel Hensmans, Gerry Johnson, and George Yip.

A review of Metaskills: Five Talents for the Robotic Age, by Marty Neumeier.

A review of The Athena Doctrine: How Women (and the Men Who Think Like Them) Will Rule the Future, by John Gerzema and Michael D’Antonio

Rita Gunther McGrath helps you determine how ready you are for an accelerated business lifecycle.

In his new book, Robert A.G. Monks indicts more than half of the Fortune 500, a handful of giant institutional shareholders, and the U.S. Supreme Court for hijacking the American Dream.

Chip Bell teams up with Marshall Goldsmith in the third edition of his best-selling business book on mentorship.

Gil Friend, author of The Truth about Green Business, introduces a passage that debunks sustainability ratings from Flourishing: A Frank Conversation about Sustainability, by John R. Ehrenfeld and Andrew J. Hoffman.

In Common Ground on Hostile Turf, environmental mediator Lucy Moore offers insights applicable to change management.

Professors Usha Haley and George Haley identify the origin of Chinese dominance in four major industries.

A new book on creativity turns the conventional approach to business innovation on its head.

David Farber’s seminal bio of John J. Raskob sets the business context for The Great Gatsby.

Mohsin Hamid’s new novel raises perennial questions about the sacrifices we make to get ahead.

George Dyson, author of Turing’s Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe, introduces a passage arguing for a more equitable distribution of the wealth created on the Internet from Who Owns the Future? by Jaron Lanier.

Dan Heath, the coauthor of Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work, explains how to raise the quality of your company’s decisions.

Ed Whitacre rescued a couple of iconic American companies, but a few years too late for my family.

In Story of My People, Edoardo Nesi explores that fate of his family’s company—and of local industry—amid rising global competition.

Ed Whitacre, author of American Turnaround: Reinventing AT&T and GM and the Way We Do Business in the USA, introduces an uncommonly clear passage on managing change from Leading Successful Change: 8 Keys to Making Change Work, by Gregory P. Shea and Cassie A. Solomon.

A review of The Success Equation: Untangling Skill and Luck in Business, Sports, and Investing, by Michael J. Mauboussin.

A review of Doing Capitalism in the Innovation Economy: Markets, Speculation, and the State, by William H. Janeway.

A review of The Org: The Underlying Logic of the Office, by Ray Fisman and Tim Sullivan.

A review of Makers: The New Industrial Revolution, by Chris Anderson.

Don Tapscott, who has written 15 books, most recently Radical Openness: Four Unexpected Principles for Success, introduces an excerpt that demonstrates how openness to new business practices and work settings can unleash human capital, from The Soul of Design: Harnessing the Power of Plot to Create Extraordinary Products, by Lee Devin and Robert D. Austin.

Judith E. Glaser, author of Creating WE: Change I-Thinking to We-Thinking and Build a Healthy Thriving Organization, introduces a passage illuminating the drivers of success from Leadership and the Art of Struggle: How Great Leaders Grow through Challenge and Adversity, by Steven Snyder.

Jeff Thull, author of Mastering the Complex Sale: How to Compete and Win When the Stakes Are High, introduces a passage that overturns negative stereotypes about sales from To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth about Moving Others, by Daniel H. Pink.

A review of Private Empire, by Steve Coll.

A review of Build, Borrow, or Buy, by Laurence Capron and Will Mitchell.

A review of Why Good People Can’t Get Jobs: The Skills Gap and What Companies Can Do about It, by Peter Cappelli.

A review of Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

James A. Ogilvy, author of Creating Better Futures: Scenario Planning as a Tool for a Better Tomorrow, introduces a passage on the limits of executive compensation from Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business, by John Mackey and Raj Sisodia.

George S. Yip, co-author of Strategic Transformation: Changing While Winning, introduces an excerpt from Management in 10 Words: Practical Advice from the Man Who Created One of the World’s Largest Retailers, by Terry Leahy, that explores the anchoring effect of business values.

Joe Flower, author of Healthcare beyond Reform: Doing It Right for Half the Cost, introduces a passage describing how automation can improve healthcare outcomes and reduce costs from Automate This: How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World, by Christopher Steiner.

Our annual review of the year’s best business books.

Of Markets and Morals

Small Talk

Beyond the Rhetoric of Reform

Context Is King

Brand New

Considering Competition

Virtuosity Squared

Jim Stengel, author of Grow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World’s Greatest Companies, introduces an excerpt presenting tactics for protecting your market share from Defending Your Brand: How Smart Companies Use Defensive Strategy to Deal with Competitive Attacks, by Tim Calkins.

Oded Shenkar, author of Copycats: How Smart Companies Use Imitation to Gain a Strategic Edge, introduces an excerpt on the wisdom of entering markets after first movers from The Art of Being Unreasonable: Lessons in Unconventional Thinking, by Eli Broad.

Zachary Tumin and William Bratton, coauthors of Collaborate or Perish! Reaching across Boundaries in a Networked World, introduce an excerpt about how managers can become collaboration catalysts from The Collaboration Imperative: Executive Strategies for Unlocking Your Organization’s True Potential, by Ron Ricci and Carl Wiese.

A review of Hannibal and Me, by Andreas Kluth.

A review of Reverse Innovation, by Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble.

A review of Standing on the Sun, by Christopher Meyer with Julia Kirby.

A review of Turing’s Cathedral, by George Dyson.

Stephen M.R. Covey, author of Smart Trust: Creating Prosperity, Energy, and Joy in a Low-Trust World, introduces a lesson in structured listening from Talk, Inc.: How Trusted Leaders Use Conversation to Power Their Organizations, by Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind.

A review of The End, by Ian Kershaw.

James O’Toole, author of more than a dozen leadership and management books, and coeditor of Good Business: Exercising Effective and Ethical Leadership, introduces an excerpt from The End of Leadership, by Barbara Kellerman, that takes the leadership industry to task.

Justin Pettit, coauthor of Merge Ahead: Mastering the Five Enduring Trends of Artful M&A, introduces a new perspective on decision making from Wait: The Art and Science of Delay, by Frank Partnoy.

A review of The Idea Factory, by Jon Gertner.

A review of Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman.

A review of Winning Investors Over, by Baruch Lev.

A review of Borrow: The American Way of Debt, by Louis Hyman.

Ann Rhoades, author of Built on Values: Creating an Enviable Culture That Outperforms the Competition, introduces a lesson in attaining the full potential of employees from All In: How the Best Managers Create a Culture of Belief and Drive Big Results, by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton.

Chris Trimble, coauthor of Reverse Innovation: Create Far from Home, Win Everywhere, introduces an excerpt from Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure, by Tim Harford, which offers a troubling perspective on the outlook for innovation.

Douglas R. Conant, coauthor of TouchPoints: Creating Powerful Leadership Connections in the Smallest of Moments, introduces an excerpt from The 3rd Alternative: Solving Life’s Most Difficult Problems, by Stephen R. Covey, that proposes a more thoughtful approach for problem resolution.

A review of Masters of Management, by Adrian Wooldridge.

A review of Once upon a Car, by Bill Vlasic.

A review of The Innovator’s Manifesto, by Michael E. Raynor.

A review of The Innovator’s DNA, by Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen, and Clayton M. Christensen.

Ronald Heifetz, coauthor, with Marty Linsky and Alexander Grashow, of The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World, introduces a lesson in leadership from Inside Coca-Cola: A CEO’s Life Story of Building the World’s Most Popular Brand, by Neville Isdell with David Beasley.

Carl J. Schramm, author of Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism, and the Economics of Growth and Prosperity, introduces a lesson in power and the sources of good jobs from The Coming Jobs War: What Every Leader Must Know about the Future of Job Creation, by Jim Clifton.

Paul Leinwand, coauthor, with Cesare Mainardi, of The Essential Advantage: How to Win with a Capabilities-Driven Strategy, introduces a guiding maxim for CSR success from Winning Investors Over: Surprising Truths about Honesty, Earnings Guidance, and Other Ways to Boost Your Stock Price, by Baruch Lev.

The Battle for Management’s Future

The Good Company Revisited

Asking the Right Questions

A Dismal Outlook?

Learning to Lead the Old-Fashioned Way

The Ecology of Technology

Marketing Reenvisioned

strategy+business published its first “Best Business Books” section in Winter 2001. Here, in retrospect, is the book from each year that we think was most significant.

Louis Carter, editor of Best Practices in Talent Management: How the World’s Leading Corporations Manage, Develop, and Retain Top Talent (coedited with Marshall Goldsmith), introduces a lesson on the best practices mind-set from The Responsible Business: Reimagining Sustainability and Success, by Carol Sanford.

Sally Helgesen, coauthor of The Female Vision: Women’s Real Power at Work, introduces a case study in hiring and retaining female talent from Winning the War for Talent in Emerging Markets: Why Women Are the Solution, by Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Ripa Rashid.

Theodore Kinni, coauthor of Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service, introduces a lesson in creating product-based customer experiences from The Method Method: 7 Obsessions That Helped Our Scrappy Start-Up Turn an Industry Upside Down, by Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry, with Lucas Conley.

A review of Toyota under Fire, by Jeffrey K. Liker and Timothy Ogden.

A review of Staying Power, by Michael A. Cusumano.

A review of The Art of Action, by Stephen Bungay.

A review of The Economics of Enough, by Diane Coyle.

Robert B. Tucker, author of Innovation Is Everybody’s Business: How to Make Yourself Indispensable in Today’s Hypercompetitive World, introduces a lesson in innovation from Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries, by Peter Sims.

James M. Kouzes, coauthor (with Barry Z. Posner) of The Leadership Challenge, introduces a passage on the importance of remembering where you started that appears in From Values to Action: The Four Principles of Values-Based Leadership, by Harry M. Jansen Kraemer Jr.

Reed K. Holden, coauthor, with Mark R. Burton, of Pricing with Confidence: 10 Ways to Stop Leaving Money on the Table, introduces a lesson in taking on market leaders from Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath in Your Industry, by Stephen Denny.

A review of Identity Economics, by George A. Akerlof and Rachel E. Kranton.

A review of The New Capitalist Manifesto, by Umair Haque.

A review of Earth, Inc., by Gregory Unruh.

A review of Practically Radical, by William C. Taylor.

Gregory Unruh, author of Earth, Inc.: Using Nature’s Rules to Build Sustainable Profits, introduces a passage about the price of critical resources from The Price of Everything: Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do, by Eduardo Porter.

Jeffrey Schwartz, co-author (with Rebecca Gladding) of You Are Not Your Brain: The 4-Step Solution for Changing Bad Habits, Ending Unhealthy Thinking, and Taking Control of Your Life (to be published by Avery/Penguin in June), introduces a lesson in the power of entrepreneurial passion from It’s a Jungle in There: Inspiring Lessons, Hard-Won Insights, and Other Acts of Entrepreneurial Daring, by Steven Schussler with Marvin Karlins.

Janelle M. Barlow, coauthor (with Claus Møller) of A Complaint Is a Gift: Recovering Customer Loyalty When Things Go Wrong, introduces a lesson in the value of complaining co-workers from Workarounds That Work: How to Conquer Anything That Stands in Your Way at Work, by Russell Bishop.

A review of Power, by Jeffrey Pfeffer.

A review of The Shallows, by Nicholas G. Carr.

A review of Driven to Lead, by Paul R. Lawrence.

A review of The Wall Street Journal Essential Guide to Management, by Alan Murray.

Some executives and scientists are calling for a radical rethinking of chemicals, cars, farms, and our future.

Bo Burlingham, author of Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, introduces a lesson in the power of design from CAD Monkeys, Dinosaur Babies, and T-Shaped People: Inside the World of Design Thinking and How It Can Spark Creativity and Innovation, by Warren Berger.

Jim Champy, coauthor, with Harry Greenspun, of Reengineering Health Care: A Manifesto for Radically Rethinking Health Care Delivery, introduces a lesson on the pitfalls of measurement from Faster, Cheaper, Better: The 9 Levers for Transforming How Work Gets Done, by Michael Hammer and Lisa W. Hershman.

Matthew E. May, author of The Shibumi Strategy: A Powerful Way to Create Meaningful Change, introduces a passage on the critical role of a learning focus in innovation from The Other Side of Innovation: Solving the Execution Challenge, by Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble.

Innovation as a Social Act

The Fog of Panic

Highlights in a Low Year

Probing China’s Infrastructure

True Tales of Fortune

Marshall Goldsmith, author of Mojo, introduces a passage on the difficulties of balancing work and family, from You Can’t Predict a Hero, by Joseph J. Grano Jr.

Talent Redefined

The Chorus Takes a Bow

You Are What You Think

A select shelf of books that not only expanded the corporate lexicon, but still have the power to change the way we see the world and do business.

Regina E. Herzlinger, author of Who Killed Health Care? America’s $2 Trillion Medical Problem — and the Consumer-Driven Cure, introduces a passage on how businesses can lower healthcare costs and improve employee health from The Company That Solved Health Care: How Serigraph Dramatically Reduced Skyrocketing Costs While Providing Better Care, and How Every Company Can Do the Same, by John Torinus Jr.

James O’Toole, coeditor of Good Business: Exercising Effective and Ethical Leadership, introduces a passage on how the role shapes the leader from Still Surprised: A Memoir of a Life in Leadership, by Warren Bennis with Patricia Ward Biederman.

Jon R. Katzenbach, coauthor of Leading Outside the Lines: How to Mobilize the (in)Formal Organization, Energize Your Team, and Get Better Results, introduces a passage on the importance of self-awareness from Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best…and Learn from the Worst, by Robert I. Sutton.

How a new view of consumers changed the way we think about products, companies, and economies.

A review of The Road from Ruin, by Matthew Bishop and Michael Green.

A review of Smart Growth, by Edward D. Hess.

Rich Teerlink, author, with Lee Ozley, of More Than a Motorcycle, introduces a passage on how managers can empower their workforce, from Freedom, Inc., by Brian M. Carney and Isaac Getz.

A review of The Rational Optimist, by Matt Ridley.

A review of The Spirit Level, by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett.

Harriet Rubin, author of The Princessa: Machiavelli for Women, introduces a passage on the urgent need for a more inclusive approach to leadership from The Female Vision: Women’s Real Power at Work, by Sally Helgesen and Julie Johnson.

Ken Blanchard, coauthor of Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service, introduces a passage about how great customer service builds brands and loyalty from Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose, by Tony Hsieh.

Edward Landry, coauthor of The Four Pillars of Profit-Driven Marketing: How to Maximize Creativity, Accountability, and ROI, introduces a passage on how analytics create competitive advantage from The Deciding Factor: The Power of Analytics to Make Every Decision a Winner, by Larry Rosenberger and John Nash, with Ann Graham.

Keith Ferrazzi introduces a passage on the influential power of smaller social networks.

A review of The Quants, by Scott Patterson.

A review of Gods at War, by Steven M. Davidoff.

Much-needed guidance on making companies more employee-centered, adaptive, and capable.

A review of The Curse of the Mogul, by Jonathan A. Knee, Bruce C. Greenwald, and Ava Seave.

Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com and author of Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose, introduces a lesson on how to rally employees around a unified plan from Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath.

A review of Beating the Commodity Trap, by Richard A. D’Aveni.

James H. Gilmore, coauthor of Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want, introduces a tale of learning from unusual places found in Common Purpose: How Great Leaders Get Organizations to Achieve the Extraordinary, by Joel Kurtzman.

Nell Minow, coauthor of Corporate Governance, introduces a lesson in corporate transparency from The Responsibility Revolution: How the Next Generation of Businesses Will Win, by Jeffrey Hollender and Bill Breen.

A shortcut to the big themes in the conversation about corporate strategy.

Greg Farrell, author of Corporate Crooks: How Rogue Executives Ripped Off Americans...and Congress Helped Them Do It!, highlights the cohesive corporate culture at Goldman Sachs that is on view in The Partnership: The Making of Goldman Sachs, by Charles D. Ellis. 

A review of Think Twice: Harnessing the Power of Counterintuition, by Michael J. Mauboussin.

A review of The Management Myth: Why the Experts Keep Getting It Wrong, by Matthew Stewart.

A review of How the Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give In, by Jim Collins.

A review of Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique, by Michael S. Gazzaniga.

Seth Godin, author of Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, introduces a lesson on the role of diversity in business success from Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business without Losing Your Self, by Alan M. Webber.

Art Kleiner, author of The Age of Heretics: A History of the Radical Thinkers Who Reinvented Corporate Management, uncovers an effective and ongoing way to create employee alignment and accountability in Just Ask Leadership: Why Great Managers Always Ask the Right Questions, by Gary B. Cohen.

Walter Kiechel III, author of The Lords of Strategy: The Secret Intellectual History of the New Corporate World (forthcoming, March 2010), introduces an excerpt from Managing by Henry Mintzberg that proposes a more organic view of managers and their work.

Means to a Greater End

A Wealth of Explanations

Disruption 2.0

The Capable and the Failed

Western Dominance in Decline

In Search of the Silver Lining

Branding Goes Viral

Unconventional Lives

Frances Hesselbein, author of Hesselbein on Leadership, introduces a lesson on one of the many pitfalls that leaders must avoid as they prepare to hand over the reins from Succession, by Marshall Goldsmith.

Scott D. Anthony, author of The Silver Lining: An Innovation Playbook for Uncertain Times, introduces a lesson in correcting your company’s course from Behind the Cloud: The Untold Story of How Salesforce.com Went from Idea to Billion-Dollar Company — and Revolutionized an Industry, by Marc Benioff and Carlye Adler.

Blythe McGarvie, author of Shaking the Globe: Courageous Decision-Making in a Changing World, introduces a lesson in raising the level of corporate discourse from Owning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask, by Ram Charan.

The Internet, technology, and globalization have changed this age-old game for good.

A review of Why GM Matters, by William J. Holstein.

A review of The Silver Lining, by Scott D. Anthony.

A review of Rules of Thumb, by Alan M. Webber.

A review of Management Rewired, by Charles S. Jacobs.

Barbara Kellerman, author of Followership: How Followers Are Creating Change and Changing Leaders, introduces an excerpt on dealing with opponents of change from The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Techniques for Changing Your Organization and the World, by Ronald Heifetz, Alexander Grashow, and Marty Linsky.

Art Kleiner, author of The Age of Heretics: A History of the Radical Thinkers Who Reinvented Corporate Management, introduces a lesson in historical perspective from Future Savvy: Identifying Trends to Make Better Decisions, Manage Uncertainty, and Profit from Change by Adam Gordon.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, introduces an engaging lesson in business forecasting from Dance with Chance: Making Luck Work for You, by Spyros Makridakis, Robin Hogarth, and Anil Gaba.

A review of But Wait...There’s More! by Remy Stern.

A review of Free Market Madness, by Peter A. Ubel.

A review of The Origin of Financial Crises, by George Cooper.

A review of The Holy Grail of Macroeconomics, by Richard C. Koo.

A connoisseur of corporate histories conducts a guided tour of the favorites in his collection.

Fixing the mortgage meltdown, mastering disruptive change, inculcating a sense of urgency, and exploring drama at the Economist.

Learning from the literature of corporate environmentalism.

The Art of Influence

Uncategorical Insight

A Master Class in Leadership

The Brand’s New World

Fast Competition and Flat Denial

Chasing Breakthroughs

Asia As It Is

Talent Unleashed

In Search of Entrepreneurial Spirit

Narratives and Paradigms

Why financial markets are brittle, companies stop growing, Ryanair took off, and plans succeed or fail.

How visual tools and techniques help managers lead with the whole brain.

The mensch of corporate turnarounds, the earthy language of “Neutron Jack,” the work–life balance of Mormon executives, and the cognition of effective leaders.

How the coffee retailer uses its own narrative to brew global success.

An icon of genius, a turnaround monomaniac, a flat-world skeptic, a psychoanalyst of leadership, and a management futurist.

New books and revisited history illuminate the irrelevance of today’s MBA — and ways to make it compelling again.

Worth the Risk?

Humbling the Ambitious

Planning for Uncertainty

Life Lessons

Schumpeter’s  Legacy

How We Know and Why We Act

An Appetite for Effectiveness

Startup Memories

High-tech entrepreneurial experience, hidden assets, analytical sophistication, and China’s global ambitions.

Plenty of motivational coaches pledge to boost your efficiency. These are the few who really deliver.

Ideas that take hold, how strategy can lead to failure, rebounding from career failure, and AIG under Hank Greenberg.

The swift pace of change makes understanding Silicon Valley a daunting task. Here are resources that can help.

A world-changing entrepreneur, capitalist families, inspiring CFOs, and wise advisors.

Eight books about the health-care system diagnose its problems and offer solutions.

The Growth Conundrum

Changing Culture, Changing Cities, Changing Climate

Making Theory Real

By the Numbers

Fractionalizers and Wikifiers

Art, Science, and Wisdom, or the Logic of Leverage

Still Misbehavin’

The New Sobriety

Chronicles of the “Dogs of War”

Fun on the Side

What’s a Hero, Anyway?

Old stories, new jobs, technological hype, and gay leadership.

Five books about social networks explore the importance of “who you know.”

Sources for making sense of fossil fuel scarcity, the oil endgame, and the automotive future.

A container-shipping retrospective, a strategic admiral, farsighted forecasting, and admirable strategies.

“Rank and yank” defended, consumers empowered, innovators differentiated, and Michael Jackson inflamed.

Sources old and new that allow mere mortals to crack the code of cutting-edge finance.

Turnaround champions, China’s entrepreneurs, executive pay, and Wall Street’s edgy investment bankers.

A new spate of books and reports puts corporate behavior on display — and enlivens the debate about business’s purpose in society.

The productivity boom benefits the U.S. more than Europe. Five reports explore why.

Why you should learn to love PowerPoint and the 2x2 matrix.

From governance guru Ira Millstein and others, complex counsel on blending oversight and intervention.

A controversial new book on the strategic value of information technology is flawed — but right.

Health, wellness, and wisdom are all fair game in the executive suite.

John Nash had a beautiful mind. These books showcase beautiful implications for companies.

Network Theory’s New Math

One Market, Many Cheeses

Two Cheers for Free Trade

Cads and Ads

Enron and Other Moral Hazards

Theory and Practice: So Happy Together

From the High Ground to the Swamp

Populist gadfly Jeff Gates wants today’s CEOs to build a new middle class with stock ownership plans. Or else.

How you lead your leaders is just as important as the guidance they give you.

When a meeting of the minds isn’t enough, try a meeting of the emotions: Tell a story.

Jack Welch’s autobiography has plenty of emotion. For introspection, however, consider the new books by Boyle, Coyle, and Tedlow.

Certain individuals are born zealots. But from Hamel to Handy, gurus agree that the organization shapes their ability to lead.

For executives who want to do good and do well, some long-awaited guidebooks.

Sun Tzu, von Clausewitz, Drucker, and other Master Warriors

Free-Market Fiction: Three Centuries of Capitalist Characters

Dreamers with Deadlines

The Cobra and the Treasure Chest: Four Perspectives on Globalism

The Well-Read Executive’s 12 Steps to Better Thinking

Insights from Hindsight: What the Past Teaches about the Future

From Meek to Mighty: Reforming the Boardroom

Ernest Hemingway, CEO: When Executives Become Authors

Searching for Giants of Theory and Practice

Of Bits and Books and the New Economy

Corporate training doesn't have to be dull. Game-based learning lets you play your way to smarter business.

From Iran to Indonesia, opportunity awaits. But you’ve got to know the territory.

In this "Age of the Terrific Deal," says the former secretary of labor, innovation is king, but insecurity reigns.

Open Source is more than a software movement, three new books argue. It's a crucial business tool.

Projecting the future used to be a bold, adventurous enterprise. Today's business seers — John Naisbitt, Watts Wacker, et al. — are doing all they can to keep up with the present.

From Spencer Johnson's "Who Moved My Cheese?" to the design of eBay, business can learn the easy way.

In an exclusive excerpt from his next book, the former head of McKinsey Asia explains why Amazon.com, CNN and others have achieved an almost unassailable global dominance.

How to succeed in e-business without really crying? Become an author.

Saving Big Blue: Leadership Lessons & Turnaround Tactics of IBM'S Lou Gerstner by Robert Slater (304 pages, McGraw-Hill, 1999)

Rescuing Prometheus by Thomas P. Hughes (372 pages, Pantheon Books, 1998)

The Emperor's Nightingale: Restoring the Integrity of the Corporation in the Age of Shareholder Activism by Robert A.G. Monks (283 pages, Addison-Wesley, 1998)

When Giants Stumble: Classic Business Blunders and How to Avoid Them by Robert Sobel (368 pages, Prentice Hall Press, 1999)

The Temporary Society: What Is Happening to Business & Family Life in America under the Impact of Accelerating Change by Warren G. Bennis and Philip E. Slater (170 pages, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1998)

The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Open Society Endangered by George Soros (245 pages, Little, Brown & Company, 1998)

Enterprise.com: Market Leadership in the Information Age by Jeffrey P. Papows, Ph.D. (256 pages, Perseus Books, 1999)

Burn Rate: How I Survived the Gold Rush Year on the Internet by Michael Wolff (256 pages, Simon & Schuster, 1999)

A.B.B., The Dancing Giant: Creating the Globally Connected Corporation by Kevin Barham and Claudia Heimer (260 pages, Pitman Publishing Ltd., 1998)

The Essays of Warren Buffet: Lessons for Corporate America, selected, arranged and introduced by Lawrence A. Cunningham (219 pages, Lawrence A. Cunningham, 1998)

Modern Manners: Welfare Capitalism Since the New Deal by Sanford M. Jacoby (345 pages, Princeton University Press, 1997)

Blur: The Speed of Change in the Connected Economy by Stan Davis and Christopher Meyer (265 pages, Addison-Wesley, 1998)

Knowledge Works: Managing Intellectual Capital at Toshiba by W. Mark Fruin (267 pages, Oxford University Press, 1997)

The Living Company: Habits for Survival in a Turbulent Business Environment by Arie de Geus (215 Pages, Harvard Business School Press, 1997)

The Synergy Myth: And Other Ailments of Business Today by Harold Gennen, with Brent Bowers (248 pages, St. Martin's Press, 1997)

The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First by Jeffrey Pfeffer (345 pages, Harvard Business School Press, 1998)

Leading Corporate Transformation: A Blueprint for Business Renewal by Robert H. Miles (256 pages, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1997)

Do Lunch or Be Lunch: The Power of Predictability in Creating Your Future by Howard H. Stevenson with Jeffrey L. Cruikshank (272 pages, Harvard Business School Press, 1998)

Rosabeth Moss Kanter on the Frontiers of Management by Rosabeth Moss Kanter (320 pages, Harvard Business School Press, 1997)

Inside the Kaisha:Demystifying Japanese Business Behavior by Noboru Yoshimura and Philip Anderson (259 pages, Harvard Business School Press, 1997)

Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense, Low-cost Approach to Management by Masaaki Imai. (354 pages, McGraw-Hill, 1997)

How to Think Like a CEO: The 22 Vital Traits You Need to Be the Person at the Top by D.A. Benton (463 pages, Warner Books, 1996)

No Hands: The Rise and Fall of the Schwinn Bicycle Company, An American Institution by Judith Crown and Glenn Coleman (350 pages, Henry Holt & Company, 1996)

What Will Be: How the New World of Information Will Change Our Lives by Michael Dertouzos (336 pages, HarperCollins, 1997)

The Organization of the Future, edited by Frances Hesselbein, Marshall Goldsmith and Richard Beckhard (397 pages, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1996)

One World, Ready or Not: The Manic Logic of Global Capitalism by William Greider (397 pages, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1997)

Leaning into the Future: Changing the Way People Change Organizations by George Binney and Colin Williams (175 pages, Nicholas Brealey Publishing Ltd., 1995)

From the Ground Up: Six Principles for Building the New Logic Corporation by Edwin E. Lawler 3d (299 pages, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1997)

Corporate Comeback: The Story of Renewal and Transformation at National Semiconductor by Robert H. Miles (371 pages, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1997)

Co-opetition by Adam M. Brandenburger and Barry J. Nalebuff (290 pages, Currency/Doubleday, 1996)