36 Best Business Books that Influenced Microsoft Leaders
There are more books coming out every year than I can read in a lifetime. One of the ways I filter for great books is, I ask the most effective people I know, which books had a significant impact on how they think, feel, or act. I like to find the books that really made a difference, not just in theory, but in practice.
Recently, I reached out to several Microsoft leaders, past and present, and up and down the ranks. The beauty of Microsoft is the extremely high concentration of smart people and I like to leverage the collective brain. In this case, I posed a simple question to find out which business books actually made a difference:
“What are the top 3 books that changed your life in terms of business effectiveness?”
I ended up with a really eclectic set ranging from parenting guides to changing the world. The top 3 business books that showed up multiple times were: Blue Ocean, Good to Great, and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. This actually didn’t surprise me. I’ve been using Blue Ocean at work on a regular basis and Good to Great was a core part of the culture of the Microsoft patterns & practices team (the team I’m on.)
Here are 36 best business books that influenced the Microsoft leaders that I reached out to:
- All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
- Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value (J-B Warren Bennis Series)
- Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant
- Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
- Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
- Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time
- First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently
- Fortune’s Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street
- Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (P.S.)
- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t
- How To Win Friends and Influence People
- Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance (Essential Knowledge Resource)
- Jack: Straight from the Gut
- Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading
- Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting out of the Box
- Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
- Memoirs of Hadrian
- Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
- Pasteurs Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological Innovation
- Siblings Without Rivalry: How to Help Your Children Live Together So You Can Live Too
- The Soul Of A New Machine
- Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
- The One Minute Manager
- The Art of Happiness, 10th Anniversary Edition: A Handbook for Living
- The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America’s Leading Design Firm
- The Art of Leadership
- The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything
- Art of War
- The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Open Society Endangered
- The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable (J-B Lencioni Series)
- The Innovator’s Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way You Do Business (Collins Business Essentials)
- Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization
- Unleashing the Idea Virus (Hardcover w/Dust Jacket)
- Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything
- Winning with People: Discover the People Principles that Work for You Every Time
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Well, Microsoft leaders definitely do a lot of reading on leadership. I didn’t know about some of those books (now you got me curious about them) but the ones I have read myself are truly great.
Hey JD,
Love the list! Lots of the books are on my bookshelf too =).
Of course there is a big difference between:
1) Just being on my bookshelf
2) Reading the book
3) Actually applying what I read in the book
I’m trying to do as much as I can of #3, but in the past many of the books were in category 2…or languished in category 1
Been meaning to read Moneyball for a while – I saw it recommended a few times and that sort of statistical analysis fascinates me, but right now that is in category 4: languishing on my todo list, not even purchased
impressive collection.
Good to have a list for my reading reference.
“Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything ” seems to be next for me to read
Awesome collection. It is a good checklist for me for the next couple of months.
What a great list! I’ve read a few of these, but it sounds like I have a lot of books to add to my list. Thanks for sharing these!
Hi JD,
and the same is true of love.
since I am a theme gal, I love the list because even though I haven’t read a lot of these books, I can feel the positive energies.
so thank you for that..
the lines that caught my eye right off were there:
All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
~Kindergarten was my best school year and I remember a lot about it actually,.. and find it to be the most true to who we are. We have not been conditioned to think a certain way yet and so the heart reigns supreme! and diversity is beautifully present!
The Art of Happiness, 10th Anniversary Edition: A Handbook for Living
~I think it takes about what feels like 10 journey years of a life to really find true happiness and hold it dearly and share that gift with others
Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization
~I love the idea of having a tribe to support, encourage, inspire and come home to and to bring that to a leadership level is awesome! What a great starting point for an organization!
just my perspective on this lovely post!
I also love books which tell more stories from the heart then theory. I am adding more stories for this reason to the manuscript I am working on and I find that it is also more fun to write!
thanks,
~Jenn
Awesome list JD, thanks! I like the idea of leveraging the collective brain to come up with books worth reading.
J.D.,
thanks for sharing this super cool list with us.
Gosh, I need a clone if I want to read, learn and do stuff which I have in my head in the pipeline;-)
Have a super cool rest of the day, zzzzz time in Slovakia
i.
Wow. I don’t really read business books, but some of these are enticing.
@ Eduard
I find the best leaders at all levels are continuous learners. The one’s that think they “made it, now enjoy the ride” stagnate and whither.
@ Sid
Thank you.
I’ll share a way in an upcoming post on how to rip through books fast AND apply them. It’s not stuff we get taught in school.
@ Alik
… and The Starfish and the Spider will dovetail nicely off that.
@ Sanjeev
It’s great brain-wrinkling material.
@ Positively Present
I was surprised that I hadn’t even heard of a few of these books. I thought it would just be confirmation of all the ones I already know.
@ Jenn
Flashing back, in kindergarten I remember launching crusades, making epic adventures, and wanting to make the world a better place … on top of greasy kid stuff, like eating paste and finger painting.
Sticky stories are a great way to share insight … just like quotable quotes.
@ Lana
One of my previous managers lead our team by focusing on “build the brain” and harnessing collective wisdom.
@ Ivana
If you find a way to clone, promise me you’ll share the secret.
@ vered
I know what you mean. I find that there’s a lot of business books that don’t deserve to be read and yet it’s crowded at the top.
Hi JD .. thanks for the listing .. and great they’re in alphabetical order!! Brilliant of you to let us have these titles – and I appreciate you passing on the information .. I’ll print out the page now – some I’ve got .. but most I definitely haven’t read .. so will add to my list (or library borrowing) .. thanks so much .. Hilary
Thank you very much. A really useful list!!!
Thanks for the list – I’ve read less than half of these, so I guess Amazon will make some extra money soon
I’ve got a challenge for you; As Microsoft is a software company, I would like you to ask *the same people*
“What are the top 3 books that changed your life in terms of learning how to create great software ?”
I *hope* that they also read software-related (not necessarily programming-related) books as well, and it would be *very* interesting to hear their favorites (maybe one of your books ?)
@ Hilary
Hey, I want everybody to have a chance to change their lot in life, and sometimes it’s just knowing what books or know-how other people draw from. It’s still one of our best ways to share wisdom unless you get to talk to folks directly or have the experiences yourself.
@ Andrea
Thank you!
@ Atle
I have exactly the list you’re looking for on my Shaping Software Blog: My Favorite Software Books
* It includes the favorites of my fellow Softies (and more)
* It includes my favorites
* It summarizes why it’s useful
* It’s incredibly thorough
@JD,
thank you for the great list; lucky Amazon
BTW, the link was incorrect – this should work (unless it gets converted in some way):
– http://shapingsoftware.com/2008/09/01/my-favorite-software-books/
@ Atle
Good catch – fixed.
#1,#23 and #24 have been read and re-read on my list. I have read several others over the years but they did not have a lasting impact. A couple were hard for me to understand and integrate. Now I have more reading ahead – this is always great in my book!
I have always wanted to work on a team, but have always remained solo…
Thank you for a great list…get out my Kindle and download…which one first…hmmm?
@ Patricia
Kindergarten really taught us a lot and 7 Habits is one of my favorites when it comes to fundamentals.
I think you’ll enjoy the range and the insights. I hand picked the folks that I asked for their top 3 books so it’s really a unique set.
Out of all these books, and there are so many of them that I like, Jack straight from the gut might be my favorite. I listened to it on CD during my commute and loved it. Such a visionary thinker in a large company. This is a rare occurrence.
We need to cultivate people like Jack instead of trying to stifle them. The only way good businesses will stay on top is if they are willing to take risks.
I’ve only heard of about 6 of those.
Blue Ocean is a new one too, I am very intrigued, of course. Very evocative of things like hope, freedom, adventure and choosing one’s own destiny. I shall look for that one today!
Thanks, J.D.!
xo
Hi JD,
Great list of books. I have come to love reading business books so this list is awesome. Thank you so much for sharing it with all of us.
@ Karl
I’ve heard nothing but good things about Jack and it sounds like he would be great to listen to.
Risks are the key. If we take risks, we can fail, but we can learn and respond. If we don’t take risks, we simply decline over time.
@ Jannie
Blue Ocean is definitely a game changer. If nothing else, it can help you get clarity on your current strategy and at least see whether a different approach might be easier and more effective.
@ Nadia
When I’m not reading fiction, I do enjoy insightful business books, too. This list has a bunch I hadn’t seen before, so I’m looking forward to expanding my horizons.
Great list. 13 down, 23 to go.
A few that I think are missing in this list are:
- What got you here won’t get your there (Marshall Goldsmith)
- Take Back your Life (Sally McGhee) or Getting Thing Done (David Allen)
- How to stop worrying and start living (Dale Carnegie)
- Blink and the Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell)
- Power Presentations, In the line of Fire and The Power Presenter (Jerry Weissman)
All of them target additional key aspects of being successful at Microsoft. Respectively: growing as a professional, getting efficient, managing stress and tough situations, being able to use earned (through experience) gut feel for decision making, finding the key levers in reaching scaled impact and finally being able to communicate clearly and convincingly your audience (internal or external).
Nice list of business books to read, but applying them is hardest. Especially if you find yourself not in the ideal position to do what the author’s talking about.
The list is yet powerful, thanks…….. what ‘new books’ have you added to the list since 2010?
@ Joe — I keep the other book lists updated. This is a special snapshot in time. That said, some of the game changing books I know folks have been reading include Linchpin and Business Model Canvas.
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