2014 was a banner year for business books. The best ones — those that need a place of honor in every savvy business owner’s top drawer — were not the typical how-to business books though.
1. The Art of Tinkering : Authors Karen Wilkinson and Mike Petrich give us a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes lives of over 150 makers and what inspires them.
2. Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less : Greg McKeown not only challenges our perceptions of the materialistic world, he increases our awareness of mindfulness as it applies to business.
3. Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t : Simon Sinek makes a case for trust and cooperation among all members of a team — leaders included.
4. Business Strategy: Managing Uncertainty, Opportunity, and Enterprise : J.C. Spender helps us deal with the inevitable uncertainty in the business world while meshing both theory and practical application.
5. #GIRLBOSS : Sophia Amoruso started out as an eBay seller, specializing in vintage clothing. Today, she heads up a $100 million online enterprise and tells us what she learned along the way.
6. The Sense of Style: The Thinking Persons Guide to Writing in the 21st Century : Steven Pinker shares the subtle intricacies that are involved in good writing — complete with examples.
7. How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World : Steven Johnson takes us on an entertaining journey behind the scenes of the invention of everyday items, such as clocks.
8. The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon : After reading this book, we feel like we know everything about the founder’s thought process as well as theretail giant’s history and strategy.
9. The Ten Principles Behind Great Customer Experiences : Matt Watkinson brings customer service principles into the 21st century.
10. Contagious: Why Things Catch On : Jonah Berger shares with us the science behind social epidemics and how we can apply that to our businesses.
Though his chief ambition is to one day control the entire Internet, Jim busies himself in the meantime running our little web development and marketing agency. He's a certified super nerd who ranks coding in old, outdated languages and watching Star Trek reruns just a bit too high on his list of fun things to do.
Outside of work, Jim enjoys Hockey (Tampa Bay Lighning, to be specific), more genres of music than most people realize exist, riding his Harley (he calls it "two wheel therapy") and exploring the world through travel.
savvy business owner’s top drawer — were not the typical how-to business books though.
