Winter reading list 2018

Reached out to readers of the ConsultantsMind blog and asked what they recommend for students on winter break. Here’s a list of books and podcasts. Using first name initial, title, and any other words they might have shared. Caveat: affiliate links.

 

E, Strategy Consulting

• How Will You Measure Your Life, by Clayton Christensen
• The 80/20 Principle, by Richard Koch
  The Hard Thing About Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz
• Zero to One, by Peter Thiel
• Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight
• Lords of Strategy, by Walter Kiechel
• Principles, by Ray Dalio
• How I Built This (podcast)
• Masters in Business (podcast)

 

B, ERP Consulting

• Franklin and Winston, by Jon Meacham. “History is good for its own sake, as most work dilemmas have a historical analogue from which one can learn, but it is specifically helpful to understand how disparate decision-makers of the past worked together to solve the difficult issues of their time—much to be learned from that.”

 

D, Digital Transformation and Data, Financial Services

• Trouble Makers: Silicon Valley’s Coming of Age, by Leslie Berlin. “This book gives a good glance over the inventions of technology which we take for granted today, hence shows that even if the computational power today is way beyond what people dreamed of back in 1970s, we still move with the same intentions in discovery and face similar challenges.”
• Marketer + Machine (podcast). “This is an easy to digest podcast for people who would like to listen some learnings from experienced people about how today’s marketing area is becoming more and more digitalised. Good stuff to get to know the taxonomy and industrial vendors as well.”

 

F, CFO and Corporate Finance Consulting

• Narrative and Numbers, by Aswath Damodaran. “On the importance of connecting financial projections with a solid story”
• Waking Up with Sam Harris (podcast). “A non-business show that opens your mind and teaches the art of thoughtful disagreement”

 

I, Management Consulting

 

T, Management Consulting

Getting Started in Consulting, by Alan Weiss
The Secrets of Consulting, by Gerald M. Weinberg

 

V, Consulting

• Good to Great, by Jim Collins. “Why? To reinforce the learnings after finishing my B-school application and reflecting on my consulting career so far.”

 

B, Technology Consulting

• Hit Refresh, by Satya Nadella
• AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World, by Kai-Fu Lee
• Human + Machine: Re-imaging Work in the Age of AI, by Paul Daugherty, James Wilson
• Trusted Advisor, by David Maister

 

M, Consulting

• The Lean Startup, by Eric Reis

 

M, Consulting

• The Machine that Changed the World, by Womack, Jones, Roos. “A 101 for lean production techniques that I love applying to client problems in the financial services sector, especially in Banking where there is a huge drive for process optimisation.”

• Dark Pools: The Rise of Machine Traders and the Rigging of the US Stock Market, by Scott Patterson. “A fascinating book that helped me understand the background and history of the use in algorithms in trading and why some of the behaviours seen today in Capital Markets firms are the way they are.”

S, Corporate Finance

• The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot. “Why: One will likely never see cosmos, reality, self and others (and their relationships) the same way again after reading this book”

 

L, Strategy Consulting

• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*** by Mark Manson. “The secret of life is obvious, but not simple – care less about the opinions of others, do more of what you believe in.”

• Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius. “A short and surprisingly readable primer in stoic philosophy and investing yourself in things that matter most.”

V, Consulting

• Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight

 

R, Strategy

• Cracked it!, by Bernard Garrette. ” Nice overview and framework on how to solve complex problems.”
• Dear HBR (podcast). “People submit their problems and the podcast gives framework on how to solve them. Simply one of the best podcasts for the fresh graduates as it reflects real cases and you can simply identify yourself to some of the comments.”

 

D, Strategy

• The World in 2019 – The Economist. “Great variety of opinions on what’s going to happen next year and how it will affect us and the world.  Recommend reading this one from cover to cover, even the articles that don’t seem to directly apply.”
• Principles, by Ray Dalio. “Classic. A read and a re-read for me. Can jump from section to section, reading out of order.”
• Invest Like The Best (podcast), especially episodes Elad Gil, Maureen Chiquet, Howard Lindzon.

 

B, Management Consulting

The Fifth Risk, by Michael Lewis. Not a “business” offering per se, but, sets a necessary and important context for those who take the guard rails and speed signs of government for granted.

 

S, Business Analytics, Utilities

G, Marketing

• This is Marketing, by Seth Godin. “This book is about what is or should be in the centre of every business endeavour – customer’s need. In other words, marketing is about customers, not about (our) products or services. I recommend this book because it restores the faith in marketing.”

 

A, Digital Strategy

• Recode, Decode (podcast)

 

E, Founder, Startup Mentor, Board Member, Angel Investor

• This Week in Startups (podcast)
• Angel Invest Boston (podcast)
• TED Radio Hour (podcast)
• Freakonomics Radio (podcast)
• Revisionist History (podcast)
• Pro Rata (podcast)
• Brain Stuff (podcast)
• Stuff You Should Know (podcast)
• Software Engineering Radio (podcast). I listen to podcasts while I work out, so I train my mind and body at the same time.

L, Internal Strategy Consulting

• Enlightenment Now, by Steven Pinker
• Factfulness, by Hans Rosling.  Both books are a great reminder that the world is not as bad as it seems – in fact, human life today is better than ever before (even though we still have room for improvement and some specific challenges ahead)

B, Investment Adviser, Transaction Execution, Oil and Gas, Chemicals

• Investment Banking, by Joshua Rosenblum, Joshua Pearl.  There are many books focussing on the ‘What to don’t for Valuation but only Joshua’s book covers the ‘How’ to use the Valuation methods. Bible (New Testament) for Investment banking Analysts and Associates.
• Best Practices in Equity Research, by James Valentine. This book teaches you how to research a company, industry and generate alpha after closely examining the advice from more than 800 (what I best remember) Equity Research Analysts. A must have for an Investor and an Aspiring investor.
• Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki. Must read Personal Finance book to be read Pre-owned MBA. The Student should know why he is doing an MBA

M, University Student

• Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart, by James Doty. His memoir tells a fantastic story of mindfulness and compassion.
• Educated, by Tara Westover. A great read for instilling good values in education and selfhood.

 

G, Financial Consulting

• Black Edge, by Sheelah Kolhatkar
• Billion Dollar Whale, by Tom Wright, Bradley Hope. Both of them tackle the subject of corrupt individuals taking advantage of less than perfect financial system and is a bit of an eye opener how the system “really” works.

 

J, Organizational Consulting

• Finite and Infinite Games – A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility, by James P. Carse. Important book for perspective. “A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play.”
• Do It Tomorrow and Other Secrets of Time Management, by Mark Forster. Best and most simple “time management” and personal organisation book that I have ever read. I cannot praise this enough.

 

F, Business Development, Oil & Gas

• A Savage Order, by Rachel Kleinfeld. Fresh look and potential solutions to a pervasive problem we have to deal with.
• Business Model Generation, by Alexander Osterwalder et al.

 

B, Product Management, Banking