5 Books to Engage Your Brain

Today is my chance to stop and think through the books that have engaged my brain in the last 12 months. There are others, but these are the five best. Albert Einstein said, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” No matter what field you normally read in, any of these will help you begin to think in some new ways. Just be sure and keep a highlighter or pen handy. You’ll need one! And be sure and let me know what you think!Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win

… will have an immediate impact on your thinking in a number of key areas. If you don’t end up high-lighting, underlining and marking it up…well I don’t know how that could even happen. It has massive implications.

The Ten Faces of Innovation: IDEO’s Strategies for Defeating the Devil’s Advocate and Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization

This is another book that you’ll find yourself coming back to later. Great ideas on building an innovative organization.

Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths And Total Nonsense

Pfeffer and Sutton’s book is a great thinking book. If you are in a business where there are a lot of assumptions and presuppositions…and all of us are…this is a book that has great application. Learning how to unpack the real issues behind why you’re doing things the way you are is a key step in developing a strategic organization.

Turning the Future Into Revenue: What Business and Individuals Need to Know to Shape Their Futures

Don’t be scared off by the title. The second half of this book is a fantastic resource for strategic planning. The diagram in chapter five has become a standard operating procedure for every planning discussion I have.

If you’re wondering how to develop a winning strategy for your organization that isn’t just cookie cutter or copycat…Blue Ocean Strategy is the ticket. This is a book that has had a huge impact in the last 18 months.

[Mark Howell blogs at Strategy Central.]