Top 5 Reading List This Month
/We strongly believe in continuous education at Amy's EDU. Here are books we suggest you read!
Great Game of Business
In the early 1980s, Springfield Remanufacturing Corporation (SRC) in Springfield, Missouri, was a near bankrupt division of International Harvester. That's when a green young manager, Jack Stack, took over and turned it around. He didn't know how to "manage" a company, but he did know about the principal, of athletic competition and democracy: keeping score, having fun, playing fair, providing choice, and having a voice.
With these principles he created his own style of management - open-book management. The key is to let everyone in on financial decisions. At SRC, everyone learns how to read a P&L - even those without a high school education know how much the toilet paper they use cuts into profits. SRC restored the dignity of economic freedom to its people. Stack's "open-book management" is the key - a system which, as he describes it here, is literally a game, and one so simple anyone can use it.
Financial Intelligence
Since its release in 2006, Financial Intelligence has become a favorite among managers who need a guided tour through the numbers—helping them to understand not only what the numbers really mean, but also why they matter.
This new, completely updated edition brings the numbers up to date and continues to teach the basics of finance to managers who need to use financial data to drive their business. Accessible, jargon-free, and filled with entertaining stories of real companies, Financial Intelligence gives nonfinancial managers the confidence to understand the nuance beyond the numbers—to help bring everyday work to a new level.
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That's a mistake, says Daniel H. Pink (author of To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others). In this provocative and persuasive new book, he asserts that the secret to high performance and satisfaction-at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.
Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of life. He examines the three elements of true motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose-and offers smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action in a unique book that will change how we think and transform how we live.
Life Is Yours To Win
While the statistics speak for themselves, Augie Garrido, the legendary baseball coach, is far from a “win-at-all-costs” leader. Rather, he focuses on building men of quality, teaching that lessons learned on the diamond can be applied to any facet of life. Life Is Yours to Win offers a refreshing approach to seizing life’s opportunities and understanding that trophies are not the true goal. Garrido’s advice includes:
• STEP UP, SUPERMAN—Garrido stages a costumed Superhero Scrimmage each Halloween to remind his players that their inner superhero is just waiting to be realized.
• BUDDHA AT BAT—Small ball is not glorified like the home run, but the bunt does advance the runners and puts runs on the board. Small successes add up to big victories on and off the field.
Garrido’s coaching methods are often unconventional, but as seen in Life Is Yours to Win, his creativity and wry humor always lead to unforgettable lessons.
Conscious Capitalism
At once a bold defense and reimagining of capitalism and a blueprint for a new system for doing business, Conscious Capitalism is for anyone hoping to build a more cooperative, humane, and positive future.
Whole Foods Market cofounder John Mackey and professor and Conscious Capitalism, Inc. cofounder Raj Sisodia argue that both business and capitalism are inherently good, and they use some of today’s best-known and most successful companies to illustrate their point. From Southwest Airlines, UPS, and Tata to Costco, Panera, Google, the Container Store, and Amazon, today’s organizations are creating value for all stakeholders—including customers, employees, suppliers, investors, society, and the environment.
