First and foremost: Try to avoid any book that includes “Rich” in the title. There are some rare exceptions, but these books are often written by people who’ve never actually built companies but then became rich by selling books and dreams to others who want to escape their reality. One exception is Robert Kiyosaki, author of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” who was an entrepreneur before he wrote the book. Robert had his ups and downs, but he was speaking from real experience. Therefore, when evaluating a book, be weary of authors who base their business success on selling wealth accumulation methods.
The following are my favorite business/career books that can inform you about what it’s like to be effective and satisfied in your work. As you consider a corporate life, these books might also be helpful on understanding whether you’ll be happy with such a career.
Urban Flow by Jeffrey L. Kidder
This is my favorite book about work which is actually not a business or traditional career type book. Urban Flow details the life and work of bike messengers. Bike messengers receive low pay for dangerous and difficult work. In fact, they are usually all contractors and only get paid per delivery. If they don’t have a delivery, they don’t get paid. They also work under extremely rough conditions including the heat, rain and cold. Despite all of that, bike messengers report a very high level of job satisfaction. Kidder outlines why messengers are satisfied with their job including the following key factors:
- Bike messengers identify as being bike messengers. It’s not just a way of earning money, because there are far easier and more lucrative ways to make money than being a bike messenger. They do this work because it is who they are.
- While the goal is defined by the employer (i.e. deliver X from point A to point B), it is the messenger who determines how the work will be done. The messenger makes all decisions on how to complete the objective.
- While working, messengers operate in a mental state of “flow”. During their deliveries while they navigate traffic, their minds are completely focussed on the work. Compare that to most other people who are daydreaming during most of their day in meetings.
- Their work life is tightly connected to their leisure and personal lives. Their friends are typically also bike messengers and their leisure or recreational activities such as alley cat races are closely related to their work; riding bicycles.
- They satisfy an important need. Some people and businesses need parcels delivered with minutes in a way that can’t be duplicated digitally.
- They deal directly with customers
Therefore, while you may not have ambitions to become a bike messenger, Urban Flow can inform you about what meaningful and satisfying work looks like.
The Future of Management by Gary Hamel
In his book titled “The Future of Management”, Hamel presents a compelling argument about why the practice of management is outdated and must change. While not intuitive, Hamel demonstrates that management is actually a technology that was created at the turn of the 20th century by people who were born in the mid 19th century. What we assume as common sense such as divisionalization (departments), budgeting, pay-for-performance and modern branding strategies, were all developed between 1900 and 1915. Unfortunately, despite enormous and exponential change in all other aspects of human life (communications, technology, information, innovation, lifestyle), the concept and practice of management has not changed very much. Hamel argues that change is long overdue and presents some possibilities for the future. If you want a glimpse of what the future might look like in the world of corporate management and you want to be prepared for such changes, then this book will likely be of value for you.
Freedom (Credos from the road) by Ralph Sonny Barger
Sonny Barger was the president of the Oakland California charter of the Hells Angels motorcycle club for decades and also the spiritual leader for the other chapters of the Hells Angels around the world. While it may not be your goal to lead or join a motorcycle club, there is no doubt that Barger understands leadership having such longevity in a difficult role. His book titled “Freedom (credos from the road)” covers a broad spectrum of topics regarding his philosophy on the concept of freedom and responsibility. However, the book includes lots of insight on effective organizations and effective leadership. Leadership is not bound by context and I believe this book is one of the best books on the subject. If you can look past the details of the motorcycle club sub-culture details, I believe that this book will be of value for any leader of people.
The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker
This book is basically the white collar version of Barger’s book. It is an older book and reflects a different time when the corporate world was mostly driven by men that were in management positions. However, similar to Berger’s book, if you can ignore the context, Drucker is able to avoid fluffy versions of leadership and distill effective management to some very key concepts. The most important concept is in the title; “effective executive”. Executives can be many things, but at minimal, they must be effective. Drucker uses the book to define what an effective executive is and isn’t. If you can’t identify with what Drucker identifies as “effective”, then you are not likely to enjoy or succeed in corporate life.
Early Retirement Extreme by Jacob Lund Fisker
Assuming that you want to pursue a less stressful and less corporate dependent life, then Fisker’s book is indispensable. Although Henry Thoerou’s Walden provides the spiritual backbone for the pursuit of a simple but meaningful life, Fisker’s book gives you a practical process for how to go about pursuing a simple and meaningful life in the 21st century. It’s safe to say that Fisker’s approach, which he personally has implemented in his own life, is 180 degrees in the opposite direction of the modern consumer/wage slave approach that most people currently live. Even if you don’t want to go as extreme as Fisker, the book still provides options for lowering your dependence on a regular salary. Not depending on a regular salary then allows you to pursue more career options.
Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Taleb is probably most famous for his book titled “The Black Swan”, but his first book in the five book series that he calls “the Incerto” is titled “Fooled by Randomness”. Assessing performance and quality is not an easy thing to do, but Taleb makes it easier for us by helping readers to not get fooled by randomness. One of the basic premises of the book is that if a profession exists within an environment of high randomness, like stock picking, then we must be careful in assigning high performance recognition to people who do seemingly. This is because they could have just been plain lucky. Of all the millions of people picking stocks and placing hundreds of millions of bets every day, we are bound to have a few people that luckily win a lot. That’s not to say that people like Warren Buffet or Ray Dalio aren’t competent, but there should exist a few of people that win a lot of the time simply because their world is dominated by randomness regardless of their brilliance and complicated methods. On the other hand, other professions like the trades (carpentry, plumbing, welding, machinists) or dentistry have a low level of randomness. Carpenters can’t luckily build great looking custom kitchen cabinetry. Machinists don’t build intricate mechanical components by luck. These trades require years of skill that can’t be duplicated by amateurs that are lucky.
Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Taleb’s book titled “Skin-in-the-game” is more focussed on the morality of accountability. This book highlights why you should have skin-in-the-game in your work and why you should expect your management and leaders to have skin-in-the-game. Taleb justifiably criticizes those who gain when times are good but are able to avoid blame and loss when problems occur to which they can excuse themselves by claiming that they failed because of an unforeseen rare event. When finding meaningful work, it is important to seek opportunities where you and your management have skin-in-the-game. Taleb provides indispensable insight on this subject.
Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber
David Greber’s book titled “Bullshit Jobs” identifies and sheds light on a relatively new phenomenon of non-value and negative-value jobs called Bullshit jobs. Unlike “shit jobs” which are low paying and difficult but provide value for society (i.e. cleaners), “Bullshit Jobs” are high paying jobs that require minimal effort and provide minimal to negative value. Graeber discusses various forms of these jobs and why they likely exist. What is most enlightening about this book is that it discusses the detrimental effects of these jobs on the person who holds one despite the fact that these jobs can pay very well and come with high status. Such jobs are attractive because of their salaries and status, but as Graeber demonstrates, they do not lead to the path of meaningful work.
Patterns by Rod Serling
While many movies take place within corporate settings and many try to depict the inner workings of corporate life, Patterns by Serling is the best. It’s an old black and white movie that is set within a very old corporate setting, but Patterns does an excellent job of providing a glimpse into how corporate politics works. The plot centers around three characters; the older executive that is resisting change and is being pushed out, a new young ambitious executive who is unknowingly being set up to take over the older executive’s job, and the ruthless CEO who is orchestrating the change as it is in the best interest of the corporation for such change to occur. This movie reminds us that changes within corporations occur because they are, more often than not, necessary for survival and growth of the corporation. While it may seem heartless, this movie reminds us that corporations ultimately operate by the law of the jungle, even if they maintain positive and compassionate cultures. Fortunately, in 2020, corporations are more humane and if we are self aware and take cues from the environment, we can avoid the hard fall that is depicted in this movie and pursue change on our own terms.