VentureNiche

What makes this book stand out from the myriad of other business books on the market is the data approach that it uses. Most other business books put forth a theory and attempt to back it up with anecdotal evidence. Collins had the advantage of a huge team of graduate students who could pour through corporate reports and conduct countless interviews. They started with over 1,400 Fortune 500 companies and distilled it down to 11 that had clearly risen above. Some of commonalities that were observed were named and these have entered the corporate lexicon -- Level 5 leadership, Hedgehog and getting the right people on the bus. Even though it is clear from Colins work that a leader can't single-handedly create a great corporation, I put this book under leadership. To follow and adopt many of the strategies requires committed decisions from the top. Whether the concepts work or not is another story. In the 5 years since its publication, most of the golden 11 have fallen behind their peer group. Perhaps they've abandoned what got them there but perhaps the theories weren't all they were cracked up to be. In any case, to be well versed in leadership principles, this book should be a notch on your belt. Although I have only read the print copy, I have seen some good reviews of the audio book as well.

This book is short especially considering 1/3 of it is an appendix. I don’t know why it took three people to write it. The title is a bit misleading too. It really isn’t about growth – it is about survival and sustainability. But I suspect “growth” sells more books than “sustainability” does. That is my short list of peeves about the book as I really do like it. It describes the fact that all companies have business models that will eventually cease to be relevant. It is up to the leaders of the business to ensure that new business models take the place of existing ones before the core collapses. The authors describe example companies in various states of short term or long term disrepair. They then set about describing how companies can pay attention to three things at once. First - relentless execution of the existing business model (Horizon 1). Second - invest in Horizon 2 business to get them “on the boil”. And, third - nurture promising Horizon 3 businesses while culling those with low potential. One of the core values we try to infuse in each of our companies is, Invent Opportunity. This book seems to carry this mantra which is why I like it so much.

This book really drives it home that it is very hard to come up with a new competitive strategy. However, who cares if it is new – why not focus on ones that are tried and true? Krippendorff looks at 36 different strategies and how they were implemented in ancient China and how they have been implemented in modern business. The book implies the concepts originated in China. However, I seriously doubt that. I would guess they were all explored many ages before that when people first started interacting and competing with one another. Sometimes the correlations between the ancient China and modern business examples seem a bit of a stretch but it is a good read and one that can be picked up for just a few minutes at a time. One thing for me that makes this book refreshing is that it isn’t authored by someone trying to profess a theory of their own. The author is more of an editor putting together into a collection known ways of competing.

Since we’re all about niche markets, this book is right up our alley. We attempt to choose niches that are devoid of competition. I say “attempt” because we’ve never actually found one of these. So, what we attempt to do – just as this book lays out – is to define the company and its offerings in terms that makes the competition irrelevant. This isn’t a new concept but it is entertaining and presents it in a very visual form – Red Oceans and Blue Oceans. The tagline could have been, “Do something different.” One thing I don’t care for in the book is that it is a bit simplistic. I could see a reader feeling that if they adopted a Blue Ocean Strategy, they would be guaranteeing success. No success is guaranteed. You improve your odds with fanatical execution, great leaders, impeccable timing (luck), great hiring, and yes, keeping this book’s musings in mind wouldn’t hurt.

I feel this book is better than the first (The Innovator's Solution) however you will need to read the first before tackling this. While the first book had a lot of case studies, this book spends more time defining how a corporate culture could be created that is open to disruptive solutions. If you are starting a new venture in a field that contains some strong, entrenched competition, this might be the most important book you'll ever read. The third book in the series, Seeing What's Next, doesn't hold a candle to the first two. Not only does it not see what's next, it seems to be written for the express purpose of generating more book sales. There is little new information presented.

This details through a lot of examples how new companies come into an industry and disrupt it. The existing firms in the industry have difficulty or are incapable of responding to the threat because it doesn't come at them head on. This book plus the next one in the series are must reads for anyone who is planning on disrupting an industry. It is also one for your nightstand if you are an incumbent or dominant player as there are a lot of upstarts with their sights on you. There are more footnotes in Christensen's books than most and they actually contain a lot of value. Plan on flipping back and forth between the text and the end of the chapters to really suck out all the good insights.

At almost 600 pages, this is a tough one to get through but the return on the investment is really worth it. There is intense competition out there for talent. How are you going about surrounding yourself with the best people in the world? Most managers limit themselves by only pursuing those who are currently unemployed and who happen to see their add. They then take this limited field and decide present offers based on an interviewer's gut feel. The Topgrading process is a commitment but it is the only way I have found to ensure you surround yourself with the best people you can afford. This is an important distinction. Smart doesn't profess that by using his process you will find the best person in the world. He merely states that you will have a high likelihood of finding someone in the top 10% for the amount you are willing to pay. These are the A-players. This process is also available in an interactive DVD from Verne Harnish's Gazelles website. While this is a much bigger financial investment compared to the book, it is a much more approachable way to disseminate this process through your organization. We have been doing this for several years now. It is much easier to get a few lunchtime viewing out of people than to get them to sign up to read the tome.

Hill wrote this book in 1937 and even today it has a huge following. It would be fair to say that most of the modern personal growth authors/evangelists have been influenced greatly by Hill. Hill asks the reader to make a leap of faith that the techniques presented will be successful. Many of the techniques have a common sense appeal to them. Without this, I’m sure there would be many more detractors of his work since there are many people out there who are not quite so trusting. There are explicit religious overtones in the work. I’m not saying that this is good or bad but it isn’t something that you typically find in a business book with such broad appeal.

I have not yet internalized yet all the lessons in this book. I’m sure it will take several more readings. It is a very powerful book. The word “Habit” is carefully chosen in the title. You are just reading to kill time unless you are willing to start doing things and eventually turn them into everyday practiced habits. It’s not easy by any stretch. I’m sure Covey would have sold more copied if he would have titled the book, 7 Suggestions that You Don’t Have to Act Upon and Can Fit on a Motivational Poster – but that is not what this book is about. Personal change takes effort and so does this book.

Godin has written a series of very successful marketing and branding books. I picked out this one in particular because its message is simple but it is one that we seem to keep forgetting. Often times I find myself falling back on defending the feature set of my product or service as a means to sell it rather than truly understanding the user. The users have a perspective based upon their own lives. They have already told themselves stories about your product. You can either roll with them and validate their own stories or you can fight them and try to tell them a new story that they don’t believe in.

This book could have easily fit in the ‘Personal Growth’ section. I chose to put it as a finance title because, at its core, it is really all about finances. Kiyosaki speaks to the user about their personal finances however the lessons can translate directly over to the business world. The decision to appeal to individuals is apparent – you don’t get this level of popularity with a business book. There are two main lessons in the book – reduce expenses and create income sources. I have met a couple of very amazing people who, after reading this book, took the advice to heart. They have built very successful businesses with Rich Dad, Poor Dad as a guiding light. It made my list of course because I find that our businesses are aligned with this way of thinking. We focus on small investments. This necessitates a miserly eye toward the expenses. We also focus on getting the businesses to a profitable state as soon as possible. Until the business reaches this cash flow positive state, its proverbial head is on the chopping block. Being profitable takes the pressure off.

This is a key strategy book. It describes how a firm can gain an advantage over its rivals. Many of the competition books of today take one small component of this book and expanded upon it to create an entire new book. After reading and internalizing this work, you may find many of today’s flash in the pan business book hollow – merely repeating the same thing for 300 pages. Porter is the headwater for corporate competitiveness. This is actually a follow-on to his earlier very successful Competitive Strategy. I tagged CA instead of CS for the list since the first chapter of CA is a summary of CS. The primary theory advanced in the book is that of the value chain. It is a general framework for thinking about the activities involved in any business and determining their relative costs and differentiation potential.

If one were to make a list of books that actually changed civilization, this book would be on that list. Written in 1777, there was really no cohesive economic theory prior to it. The examples given are obviously dated but they are given in such a tone that the reader can easily make leaps to events of today. It is a huge book and written in a formal rehtorical tone but also very readable (except for the almost 200 page digression into silver which can be skipped). Once you get through the first chapter or so, you will be used to the tone and should have no trouble taking it all in.