Hey, happy Monday!
The things we do in summer have that frugal and powerful beauty to accompany us throughout the year.
They are the people we meet, the experiences we have, the photos we take and … the books we read.
In this note I leave you with a few ideas, not only to entertain you, but to charge every neuron with creative energy.
The list is divided into 4 categories:
OKRs – Books on how to adopt them seriously
People – Improving the culture of teamwork
Processes – Freeing people from inefficiency
Products – Inventing and selling products that everyone wants
Disclaimer 1: You will not find fiction there, but extremely practical books.
Disclaimer 2: Most are in English.
It is amazing the amount of information you can access if you decide to read in this language. For some you can look up the corresponding Italian version, although often, as with movies, it is not the same.
This is the best time to learn
For a lot of reasons, but two out of all.
Budget time
The first reason and also the most important one is that summer is the real time for budgets. It has never been December. Let’s face it!
If you are directly involved in running a business, by now the budget for the past year has already been written and everything that happened is now in black and white.
For many people, summer is the only time when they think about strategy.
Of course 7 months late…but better late than never!
Leaving aside the creativity in drafting the budget itself, those numbers are evidence that the strategy either worked or it did not.
It’s kind of like the report card for managers. You quickly find out whether the money invested simply continued to fund bad habits or brought a measurable result to the coffers.
Then again, no matter how noble a Purpose the company decides to embrace, without money it will go little far.
And not to make it all so venal, the magic question is:
“Are we making sure we have enough energy to keep doing what we are doing? Maybe on a larger scale?”
Investing in yourself
The second reason is that in summer the rough sea of departure/delayed/closing projects calms down. The vacations empower us not to think (too much) about work and also to take personal stock of how the year has gone so far.
Not for nothing is summer a time of high turnover. HR knows this very well.
It is in this “tranquility” that you finally invest in yourself, your career, your skills, your ambitions.
Peace of mind and security are two excellent propellants for ideas.
Not for nothing do the best ideas come in the shower or while brushing our teeth–moments in which it is impossible to be attacked by a “predator.” Our brains fortunately are still so simple that little is needed to make them better.
Go ahead and take a few books from the list!
OKRs / Books on how to adopt them seriously
The official STRTGY Implementation Guide
A book I decided to write with the community.
This will not be a simple book on OKRs but an accurate description of a real business management system based on OKRs.
It will not contain the classic chapters on what OKRs are, who invented them, and other motivating examples that do not help you practically adopt the methodology.
It will indeed require that you have a basic knowledge of the subject, and for that I recommend that you read the books I point out.
Instead, in this one you will find described the process of defining the strategy, implementing the cycle, the pace of meetings, how to separate (but integrate) them with project management, with the incentive system, with business software…
There will be answers to all questions, including yours!
To access behind-the-scenes, exclusive content and contribute to the writing…
Candidates for the launch list
OKR Performance. Center your organization’s goals.
By Francesco Frugiuele and Matteo Sola
The first book in Italian on OKRs. Easy to read and with 14 case studies of companies you know.
Measure What Matters: OKRs: The Simple Idea that Drives 10x Growth
by John Doerr
It is the first book one usually reads on the subject and makes one want to start OKRs right away. It reads quickly.
How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of Intangibles in Business
English Edition by Douglas W. Hubbard
When you start using OKRs you will ask yourself “where are the numbers?” and “how do I measure these things.” Here are all the answers.
Radical Focus: Achieving Your Most Important Goals with Objectives and Key Results
English Edition by Christina R Wodtke
Useful for product and marketing teams. Christina has worked on product design such as with LinkedIn, MySpace, Zynga, Yahoo! She knows.
People / Improving the culture of teamwork.
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (English Edition)
English Edition by Daniel H. Pink
The carrot and stick no longer work. Instead, find out how to motivate people to achieve greater performance and more satisfaction, not just at work.
Meeting Design: For Managers, Makers, and Everyone
English Edition by Kevin M. Hoffman, Matt Sutter, Jeff Gothelf
Fix the worst of habits. The useless meetings.
Overcoming the five dysfunctions of teamwork. A practical guide for team leaders, managers and facilitators
by Patrick Lencioni
All teams are dysfunctional. In this book you can learn how to address the 5 root causes and establish a better work climate, which is essential if you want to achieve ambitious goals.
Processes / Freeing people from inefficiency.
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right
English Edition by Atul Gawande
Checklists literally save lives. From medicine to flying to productivity. It’s amazing the power of a humble checklist of things to “check off” (not do) in improving outcomes.
PS: if you want to write your tasks better I recommend this article of mine on Micro OKRs
The Code. The Evaluation. The Protocols: Striving to Become an Eminently Qualified Human.
English edition by Jocko Willink
Short but powerful. Jocko is a NAVY Seals. This book is an action manual for acquiring stainless steel discipline.
It contains strategies, tactics, tools and solutions that you can start applying from the first page. Have a great workout!
Shape Up: Stop Running in Circles and Ship Work that Matters.
English edition by Ryan Singer
This book describes, step by step, how Basecamp’s product team and their Shaping->Betting->Building method works.
It will make many agilists’ hair stand on end, but the people at Basecamp, Jason Fried David Heinemeier, in addition to inventing Ruby on Rails, have had a huge impact in shaping the culture of those working in digital and beyond.
Products / Inventing and selling products that everyone wants
Hit Makers: How Things Become Popular
English edition by Derek Thompson
Derek looks at pop culture through the lens of science and tries to answer the question everyone is asking: how do you create a HIT?
Easy to read, it considers elements of culture we all know, from JFK and Obama speeches to Snapchat, from Fifty Shades of Grey to Blockbuster hits. There is much to learn and it shatters the false myths of novelty and virality.
Smash the Funnel: The Cyclonic Buyer Journey-A New Map for Sustainable, Repeatable, Predictable Revenue Generation
English Edition by Eric Keiles
Funnel was also invented 100 years ago. It works well when people have limited choices. But what happens when your customers have more information about your marketing department’s competitors?
Marketing, Products and Sales are on a collision course.
Fanatical Prospecting: The Ultimate Guide for Starting Sales Conversations and Filling the Pipeline
English Edition by Jeb Blount
The CRM is the most uninhabited software in any company, but that’s where the money is! To fill it with prospects, it is important to acquire the habit of prospecting. Which is a very different thing from selling. This book teaches how to do it in a very simple way avoiding scam salesman tricks. Very useful in B2B.
–
That’s all, have a good one!
Be heard
