Dean’s recommended reading list
Wednesday, May 9th, 2007
Each spring I compile a reading list of books for students – and all of us who need to keep learning. These books have shaped my thinking and I highly recommend them. I welcome your recommendations for books that should appear on next year’s list.
The 2007 Recommended Book List:
King, W. J. & Skakoon, J. G. The Unwritten Laws of Business. Doubleday, 2007.- This book has my highest endorsement. It is a quick read—with important principles for everyone from interns to young professionals to professors to managers to CEO’s. The book is full of principles that may be common sense but that are all too uncommon behaviors. The principles are timeless—which explains how a book originally written in 1944 entitled The Unwritten Laws of Engineering morphed into the 2007 publication.
Gilbert, D. Stumbling on Happiness. Random House, 2005.- If you seek to be happier, you will need to do that on your own. If you seek to understand happiness, then this meta-analysis of psychological studies on human behavior is a must read. The ability to imagine the future is a uniquely human attribute—but, says Gilbert, since we cannot know who we will be in the future, we cannot know what will constitute happiness for us—we misconceive the future and misestimate our satisfaction with the paths we choose.
Groopman, J. How Doctors Think. Houghton Mifflin, 2007.- This book is important reading for all consumers of health care and essential reading for anyone entering the health professions. And, because all of us share the thinking fallacies to which doctors are subject, by reading this book you will learn about potential pitfalls in your own thinking.
Schmitt, T. & Perl, A. Simple Solutions: Harness the Power of Passion and Simplicity to Get Results. John Wiley & Sons, 2006.- This book describes the management philosophy of FedEx which is described as People-Service-Profit. The company was founded on the philosophy that “people come first.” Does that sound familiar to you? This book is recommended for managers and entrepreneurs and recent graduates deciding what offer to accept.
Seabright, P. The Company of Strangers: A Natural History of Economic Life. Princeton University Press, 2004.- This book is not for everyone. If you plan to work in an international business environment, then it contains insights that will improve your understanding of the context in which you work. The book begins with the question, “Why is it a relief to know that no one is in charge of making the world’s shirts?” The core thesis of the book is that two human attributes make international markets possible: (1) the capacity to calculate costs and benefits of cooperation and (2) the tendency to reciprocate—to repay kindness with kindness and betrayal with revenge. Neither disposition could support cooperation without the other. Together, these attributes enable strangers to engage in trade that supports their mutual needs and allows the world market to flourish.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 9th, 2007 and is filed under Dean's Blog.