2014 Book List

Well, 2014 was a big year for me. I finished my MBA and took on more responsibilities at work. I've seen a fundamental shift in my reading habits to be more focused on non-fiction. It is something that I thought would be remedied by my graduation, but even post-graduation I feel pressure to read for education and application rather than pleasure or personal satisfaction. While I understand the importance of continued professional growth, I hope to do a better balancing act in 2015. My annual goal is to read 52 books a year, but for 2015 I want to go a step further to say that I plan on reading at least 26 fiction books. I've joined a non-fiction book club, so I know that I will be getting a minimum does of practicality in my reading, so the push is to make sure the fiction side gets its fair share. 

 So here is my list from 2014. Enjoy!

#	Book	Author	Date Completed
1	Getting Past No	William Ury	January 10
2	Man's Search for Meaning	Viktor E. Frankl	January 19
3	Smart Choices: A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions	John S. Hammond	January 24
4	Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change by Joseph Grenny	Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler	February 2
5	Outliers: The Story of Success	Malcolm Gladwell	March 3
6	The Prisoner of Cell 25 (Michael Vey 1)	Richard Paul Evans	March 10
7	Born to Run	Chris McDougall	March 11
8	Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting out of the Box	Arbinger Institute	March 16
9	Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self-Motivation	Edward L. Deci	April 7
10	The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness	Jeff Olson	April 14
11	The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century	Thomas L. Friedman	May 2
12	The Richest Man in Babylon	George S. Clason	June 10
13	How Will You Measure Your Life	Clayton M. Christensen	June 19
14	Mind Over Back Pain	John E. Sarno	July 20
15	What Your Doctor Won't Tell You about Your Lower Back: Avoid the Pitfalls, Scams, Shysters, Con Men, Charlatans, and Quacks	Bill Yancey	August 9
16	Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2)	Suzanne Collins	August 26
17	Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3)	Suzanne Collins	August 27
18	Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold (Magic Kingdom of Landover #1)	Terry Brooks	August 28
19	Five Dysfunctions of a Team	Patrick Lencioni	August 30
20	The Black Unicorn (Magic Kingdom of Landover #2)	Terry Brooks	September 3
21	Wizard at Large (Magic Kingdom of Landover #3)	Terry Brooks	September 7
22	The Tangle Box (Magic Kingdom of Landover #4)	Terry Brooks	September 9
23	Witches Brew (Magic Kingdom of Landover #5)	Terry Brooks	September 10
24	Who Moved My Cheese	Spencer Johnson	September 20
25	EntreLeadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches	Dave Ramsey	November 5
26	The 4-Hour Work Week	Timothy Ferriss	November 15
27	Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know	Meg Meeker	November 29
28	Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War IT'S Most Audacious General	Bill O'Reilly	November 30
29	Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High	Kerry Patterson	December 1
30	Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard	Chip and Dan Heath	December 31

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


So this is not a bad book, but has the misfortune of a competing title that addresses the same issues in more depth and with a more specific framework in roughly the same amount of space. I do like that it talks about change as a simple 3 step process, but Influencer just gives a better tool set. I don't know offhand which one was published first, but they share several of the same examples. Perhaps some borrowing is going on, but that is not material to me since I am focusing on my personal usefulness of the material. If you want to read a book on change, read Influencer. If you've already read Influencer and want a different vantage point on essentially the same principles, then Switch is the book for you.

If I were to call out a nugget of wisdom from this book, there is a useful sections that comes to mind. I really liked the part about action triggers. Just making the decision, setting goals, and structuring the environment doesn't guarantee success in your change effort. Adding some other features to the effort will increase your likelihood of success, and one of those is attaching required activity to outside triggers. An example is attaching a planned action--such as homework--to a specific date, time and place in relationship to an unavoidable event, such as Christmas morning.

Finally, this book does break with my common observation about business books being one third too long, with the last section of business books usually feeling like useless filler to hit a page target. This book gives great tips, examples and applications of the content at the end of the book. A small thing, but nice. Unfortunately, I think the first part of the book could have moved faster, but you can't have it all.

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High by Kerry Patterson

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High by Kerry Patterson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This review is a little ironic because I have championed the content from this book for years. I first encountered it around 2006, and have shared some of its key messages with others ever since. I have even added it to our annual list of books we study together at work (along with Five Dysfunctions of a Team and Leadership and Self Deception.) So why am I reviewing it now? Well, it is because every other time I have been distracted and not finished it, or have just reviewed sections rather than read them word for word. This time, with an upcoming training session I was conducting on my schedule, I made sure to read every word, and finally add it to my "Read" list.

So the content in Crucial Conversations is transformative. The power is not in the idea that some conversations are difficult or crucial, or even that we generally handle them poorly. The value is in the clear description of the model for how to handle crucial conversations. It is still difficult, but I have told new stories to myself and supported continued dialogue in many situations. My results with the content have made me a firm believer that this book is a must read for anyone who wants to improve the quality of communication with those around them.

So why didn't I give 5 stars if I'm such a fan? Well, I believe that I got a lot of value from this book in part due to other content I have come in contact with. Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Getting Past No, and others have provided many frameworks and situations that leverage the crucial conversations skills. With a 4-star rating I'm admitting that there are some situational applications that aren't covered by this book. Add those other titles to your reading list, and you'll get 5 stars worth of value out of this one for yourself.