The reading room - books on business, management, productivity and so forth... - Page 2

Why We Buy from Paco Underhill. Read it during bschool in a marketing class. It changed how I look at retail stores.

Any recommendations for foreign exchange books, accounting, US tax policy? I've got some downtime, and want to prepare for summer/fall semesters. Finished Economics in One Lesson(thanks to this thread) really helped in my Macro course, set the curve (97%).

best sales book i've read - The Psychology of Persuasion

Some of my favorites: Getting Things Done by David Allen Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini 59 seconds by Richard Wiseman Tricks of the Mind by Derren Brown Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds

Matt, the book is indeed a must read IMHO. I have come across numerous references to Cialdini's principles during my line of research, and often at places you'd least expect pop psychology elements.

Here's a good reading list: http://personalmba.com/best-business-books/

I find this type of literature to be incredibly obvious and too eager to setup "systems" built upon a foundation of x steps/principals/codes. Also, a lot of it just seems like a rehash of Hegel or other philosophical greats. Commonsense to anyone who is well-read, I would think.

^^^ cannot recommend highly enough. I gave a copy to a friend when he went to college, and have another copy for a mentee. Fantastic.

Also have read:

Good to Great
The Goal (also highly recommend, even though it reads somewhat like a novel)
One Phone Call Away (good for networking, even though the author Really Likes Himself)
Small Giants
Predictable Surprises
On Writing Well (fantastic)
Win Friends and Influence People
- and there's one also about public speaking that Dale Carnegie wrote, that too is great.
Speak like Churchill, Stand like Lincoln (more for speaking than anything)
StrengthsFinder (um, not worth it IMHO)
48 Laws of Power (Did not like)

There are a few more that aren't coming to mind (posting from the office right now), and a few I've yet to read, including First, Break all the Rules, and Creative Destruction. Not sure when I'll get to them.

Oh...Barbarians at the Gate definitely needs to be on a business oriented reading list. It teaches you about a lot more than LBOs.

Am I doing it wrong?

Name repetition (the sweetest sound is someone hearing their own name...so what's up Stephen...Hero?)
Show interest (hey, do you have any ConneArt coming up?)
Listen (so what's your take on McMansions?)
etc.

ramuman, i'd love to sit down with you and pick your brain. what a delight that would be!

So we've already become friends and I've already influenced you. I'll use your gesture of goodwill on the internet to build on this in real life and say to others that I have a black Floridian friend and go from there.

Im so glad How to Win Friends and Influence People has been mentioned in this thread so much. Im a senior in business school and found it hasn't been brought up once in any of my classes. My granddad has been stressing this book since my early childhood. It really needs more cred in the education arena.