This is my fifth year of sharing my top book reads of the previous year, and you can review my previous lists here: 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019.
This year’s list includes my usual mix of leadership, emerging technology,
and books about growing small businesses. I was in a cerebral mood compared
to previous years and missed reading any fiction books, but I did read
Patrick Stewart’s autobiography,
Making it So that trekies will love,
and Hertog’s On the Origin of Time,
which Stephen Hawking fans should read.
My 2023 book recommendations on leadership, innovation, and AI
I reviewed my list and selected seven reads that should appeal to many
Digital Trailblazers looking to increase their leadership, business,
technical, and data/analytics/AI acumen.
-
The Things We Make by Bill Hammack
wins my best read of 2023 for its history, storytelling, and lessons about
science versus engineering. Anyone with an engineering background or
working on innovation, product development, or marketing will enjoy this
read. You will learn about the engineering mindset and identify modern
rules of thumb.
-
Snow Leopard and
The 22 Laws of Category Design by
the Category Pirates (Nicolas Cole, Christopher Lochhead, and Eddie
Yoon) are for those asking me whether they should develop their brand,
become a thought leader, or write a book. I wish I read these books before
writing my books! I hope I share obvious solutions to non-obvious problems
and sometimes, non-obvious solutions to obvious problems. Learn
backcasting and how to create new categories from these great reads.
-
Wine Girl by Victoria James is a
book about becoming a sommelier, but more importantly, it tells the story
of what it’s like to be a woman in the brutally male-dominated restaurant
business. I would estimate that the tech industry isn’t as bad, but
everyone looking to be more empathetic about the challenges facing women
and minorities working in a male-dominated field will learn a lot from
this book.
-
Making Numbers Count by Chip Heath
and Karla Starr is full of insights and ideas for data scientists and
others who want to improve their data storytelling. The book has many
examples of what not to do and how to improve telling stories with data
that more people can relate to and understand. The book starts with simple
concepts on how to round numbers into relatable magnitudes, then gets into
developing a scalable model for sharing metrics and storytelling.
-
Practical Innovation in Government
by Alan Robinson and Dean Schroeder is a book for all change agents
working in government and other slow-moving, technology-lagging
industries. The book shares stories and techniques to become more
customer-driven, learn from front-line managers, and develop process
improvement skills.
- Power and Prediction by Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, and Avi Goldfarb is a must-read for anyone working on machine learning or AI – which really means all Digital Trailblazers. The authors separate AI point solutions that can automate or improve the quality of workflow tasks to AI applications and AI systems. It will help readers separate the tactical AI ideas from the game-changing ones already impacting many industries.
-
Digital Trailblazer by Isaac
Sacolick, yes, that’s me, and it’s the book I published last year
providing meaning, stories, and 50 lessons for leaders on digital
transformation initiatives – or who I call Digital Trailblazers. Yes, I
reread it this year, and it’s a highly relevant read to program managers,
product managers, architects, DevOps leaders, and data scientists who want
to expand their leadership competencies.
What should I read in 2024? I’m building the list, and follow me on GoodReads if you want to see my reading progress. More importantly, what’s on your list?
Digital Trailblazers! Join us Fridays at 11am ET for a live audio discussion on digital
transformation topics: innovation, product management, agile, DevOps,
data governance, and more!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments on this blog are moderated and we do not accept comments that have links to other websites.