Best Business Books of 2010 (So Far)

What I look for in a business book are ideas. I look for ideas that make me smarter, more productive and competitive. The three books below offer a number of great ideas, strategies and practical approaches in various business scenarios.

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande

Since I act as a technical writer and still get involved in drafting procedures, this book struck home. Gawande showed how a simple one page checklist could reduce infection rates after surgery and save lives. Checklists are used by pilots prior to take off and have served as life savers in perilous flight situations.

Good checklists are:

• practical
• reminders of the most critical steps that are too dangerous to miss
• precise
• fit on one page
• free of clutter and unnecessary colors
  
  Linchpin: Are You Indispensable by Seth Godin

• There are no longer any great jobs where somebody tells you precisely what to do
• The only way to succeed is to be remarkable, to be talked about
• Depth of Knowledge alone is not enough.
• If you're remarkable, amazing or just spectacular, you probably shouldn't have a resume at all.
• Successful people are successful for one simple reason, they think about failure differently.
  

Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinmeier Hansson

The book is organized into very short chapters. Some of the titles are very descriptive and thought provactive.

• Resumes are ridiculous
• Hire great writers
• You don't create a culture
• Forget about the Wall Street Journal
• Pass on great people
• Press releases are spam
• Meetings are toxic