20 Some Books for 2012...

Matthew Clapp

Nov 21, 2012 — 2 min read

I managed to tackle around 20 books in 2012. Mostly for work but some just for fun. Looking back, it looks like 2012 was about acquiring new analytical skills for business. I enjoy my work so most of these were also great to read. I’m pretty sure my favorite for the year was Richard Rumelt’s Good Strategy/Bad Strategy. It’s a great set of case studies in strategy consulting and the author’s personal vignettes of good and bad engagements past and present. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at some of Rumelt’s consulting stories. Excellent book if you’re in the biz.

I also geeked out a little in Washington a few weeks ago. I attended a one day information visualization class by Edward Tufte – the guy that the New York Times called “The Leonardo da Vinci of data.” It was pretty cool and in addition to picking up all 4 of his books I got to talk to him a bit while he was signing books. I’m using his data design philosophies at work and people seem to dig it. Anyway, here’s the short list. If you have any questions or would like to know more just ping me in the comments. Cheers and happy Thanksgiving, America!

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You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You’re Deluding Yourself
by David McRaney

Secrets of the Moneylab: How Behavioral Economics Can Improve Your Business
by Kay-Yut Chen , Marina Krakovsky

Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters
by Richard P. Rumelt

How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of ‘Intangibles’ in Business
by Douglas W. Hubbard

The Undead: Organ Harvesting, The Ice-Water Test, Beating Heart Cadavers – How Medicine Is Blurring the Line Between Life and Death
by Dick Teresi

Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation
by Elaine Pagels

The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care
by Eric Topol

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
by Chip Heath, Dan Heath

A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future
by Daniel H. Pink

Science Set Free: 10 Paths to New Discovery
by Rupert Sheldrake

The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience
by Carmine Gallo

Data-Driven Marketing: The 15 Metrics Everyone in Marketing Should Know
by Mark Jeffery
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