Favourite little-known books? 📚
Hey,
I'm interested to hear from you -
what are some of your favourite little-known books?
I'm hoping that together, we'll be able to dig up some hidden gems!
I'll go with The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim.
Basically, it's a story about modernizing the software development processes within a large organization, and all the associated headaches and grumblings.
I read it a few years ago and really enjoyed it!
I'm excited to see what the IH community has to recommend.
Cheers.
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My favorite is Sweating Bullets: Notes about Inventing PowerPoint by Robert Gaskins. It's a fascinating account of the creation of PowerPoint by its author, as well as a vidid description of the software history in the 1980s.
interesting! This book seems to fall squarely in the hidden gem category, thank you for the recommendation!
You're welcome, it's indeed interesting. For example, the coverage of product and market research is still relevant today.
The book is definitely a hidden gem. To discover these gems, we must be willing to get off the beaten paths of social feeds and viral or mainstream content. We must be willing to explore the web by reading blogs, subscribing to newsletters, clicking interesting links, poking around websites, using search engines, and discussing with fellow creators.
Since it appears you are interested in strategy, you'll probably enjoy Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy by Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian.
Information Rules was published in 1999 so the examples are a bit dated but the underlying principles are still useful nonetheless.
There is a common saying that: "there are two ways to make money on the Internet, bundling and unbundling", and the authors do a good job of explaining why in their book.
Thank you! That sounds incredibly interesting, and I also think that you recommending it now despite its age is a big positive — clearly, it must have something useful to say.
You are welcome!
A few more of my favorites of books first published in the '60s, although I wouldn't call them little-known:
Kuhn is perhaps best known for bringing the concept of "paradigm shifts" into the mainstream; Simon on his own part popularized the concepts of "bounded rationality" and "to satisfice."
I'm slowly making my way through Administrative Behavior: a Study of Decision-Making Processes in Administrative Organization which is a dense read, also by Simon.
thank you so much! They all look really interesting, and definitely not the kind of stuff I would normally find out about. Looking forward to checking these out!
When I compiled the recommended reading section of my own book, I aimed to suggest books that are lesser known and one of the choices that is a personal favorite and seems to have resonated the most is "Just Listen: The Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anybody" by Mark Goulston.
He's a clinical psychologist who runs a family practice, while also having been a lead trainer for hostage negotiators for the FBI. The book breaks down the psychology of conflict and negotiation in a more practical way than any others that I've read, and turns it into a set of practice-able skills.
Even though it's never listed as a business book, I think it's one of the most useful books in business that I've never heard anyone else read without my recommendation!
for sure, at least half (in reality much more) of "business" seems to come down to being able to just connect and communicate with other people. That's a pretty stellar blurb you've written for this book too, definitely gonna check this one out!
Hardly "little-known" but still may be overlooked by indie hackers due to its cheesy title: The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ Demarco https://www.amazon.com/Millionaire-Fastlane-Crack-Wealth-Lifetime/dp/0984358102
The title is terrible but I'd put this book up there with the best books around building wealth & businesses. @jsdevtom fully agree with you.
MJ is not trying to sell you something on the back end like so many business books are now. He calls it as he sees it.
I really liked Dreaming In Code. It helped me get a big picture of life in a software company as a developer before ever entering the industry.
I have not read The Phoenix Project yet but it falls into a similar niche imo. It's on my reading list for sure!
sweet thanks for the recommendation!
I always enjoy that genre fictional business books, regular non-fiction business books can get a bit dry so I love a good story to liven things up.
Glad to be able to trade recommendations with you!
Another favourite of mine is "The Goal: a process of ongoing improvement", again this is a fiction + business book that I've really enjoyed, although this one is a bit more popular (for good reason!).
Yep, I totally agree with you on the benefits of dramatized business books. A great break form reading technical books 24/7. I'll take a look at The Goal as well.
Not sure if it's a little-known book, but I would suggest "Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All" by David M. Kelley and Tom Kelley
Well, I certainly haven't heard of it, I'll make sure to check it out! Thanks for the recommendation!
Not so little known but strong nonetheless is "good strategy bad strategy" by Richard Rumelt
Yes! I read that about a year ago and really enjoyed it!
Well that doesn't help you then. What about Napoleon by Andrew Roberts. Very strong biography with a solid focus on military strategy.
Now that I haven't read, I'll add it to my list! Cheers for the double recommendation hahaha ^_^
Fish! of course! 2 hour read. Hugely valuable.
https://www.amazon.com/Fish-Proven-Morale-Improve-Results/dp/0306846195/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?dchild=1&keywords=fish&qid=1605002210&sr=8-11
The book I wrote Start With A Side-Project is about how I managed to build, market and eventually sell a side-project in 3 months.