The best books of my 2017
The “reads” or the “listens”.
2017This year was significant because I switched from reading to listening. I use my eyes at work and a lot of work staring at the screen and crafting experiences. An additional reason was me thinking how I can maximize my time efficiency, what are the gaps and moments of opportunities to learn something. I figured my short commute time is still good enough to try it out. So 2017 commute time gifted me with 16 read books read as a result. Here are the best. When Isay the best means the content, the value, the narrator’s voice is the best. I’m picky.
Superintelligence
Paths, Dangers, Strategies
By: Nick Bostrom
☞ The link
What happens when machines surpass humans in general intelligence? Will artificial agents save or destroy us? Nick Bostrom lays the foundation for understanding the future of humanity and intelligent life.
Simply fascinating and a good food for your brain. Don’t fall in love with it too soon though.
Moneyball
The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
By: Michael Lewis
☞ The link
How original to link baseball knowledge to business and decision making. Great read. You’ll be inspired and curious all freakin’ time listening to this.
Pre-Suasion
Channeling Attention for Change
By: Robert Cialdini
☞ The link
Cialdini does not need an introduction — the Regents’ Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing. Truly great mind. To me personally, he showed how much our brain is outdated. You’ll wonder a lot after reading this book.
The Fourth Transformation
How Augmented Reality & Artificial Intelligence Will Change Everything
By: Robert Scoble, Shel Israel
☞ The link
If you are creative or experience designer you literally need to take a pen and paper and write down everything new you spotted there: apps, startups, names, universities, studies. It’ll help you to be resourceful.
Jobs to Be Done
A Roadmap for Customer-Centered Innovation
By: Stephen Wunker, Jessica Wattman, David Farber
☞ The link
A decent book that shares another approach crafting experiences based on peoples needs. If you were to rename it into “Needs to be fulfilled” that would describe this whole book well.
Algorithms to Live By
The Computer Science of Human Decisions
By: Brian Christian, Tom Griffiths
☞ The link
Great thought flow about exploration/exploitation, the greatest/the latest. It highlights how our brain is working and opens up the question: what is the algorithm, is there one?
Emotional Intelligence
By: Daniel Goleman, Ph.D.
☞ The link
IQ will and should die. IQ just tells you how successful you will be in school. The only problem is that we don’t spend our lives in school. This is why the school system is failing for so long. The school does not teach you: self-awareness, self-control, communication, negotiation, money making, taxes paying.
Never Split the Difference
Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It
By: Chris Voss
☞ The link
I wish I could get to this book when I was 12, this should be a school program. Negotiation as a skill is critical. We are taught to negotiate against ourselves. We have to undo it.
Misbehaving
The Making of Behavioral Economics
By: Richard Thaler
☞ The link
A new name I discovered Richard Thaler explains why we are so good at making strange decisions. Great read.
Angel
By: Jason Calacanis
☞ The link
Almost “Investment explained for everybody”. I learned a lot! Great book with great intent. You’ll know much more about startups, angel investors, VCs, series A, bootstrapping…strategies and more!
The 10X Rule
The Only Difference Between Success and Failure
☞ The link
Inspirational. Grant just reinforced my negative attitude toward “average” everything. He narrates his own book which adds personality.
The Undoing Project
A Friendship That Changed Our Minds
By: Michael Lewis
☞ The link
Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky wrote breathtakingly original studies undoing our assumptions about the decision-making process. Personalities and the human story behind their lives make this book so interesting but yet still professional and very valuable if you are into behavioral science, psychology, decision making, neuroscience.
