Business books 2017
The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone
by Brian Merchant
This examination of the iPhone includes analysis of both the enormous cultural impact of the device and a history of its manufacturing process. It was on the shortlist of finalists for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year.
“‘The One Device’ is a road map for design and engineering genius, an anthropology of the modern age and an unprecedented view into one of the most secretive companies in history. This is the untold account, ten years in the making, of the device that changed everything,” the Financial Times says.
The Captain Class: The Hidden Force That Creates the World’s Greatest Teams, by Sam Walker
The deputy editor for enterprise at the Wall Street Journal and a former sports columnist, Walker identified the preeminent sports teams throughout history and determined they all had an influential captain at the time they reigned supreme. He then analyses the seven commonalities of those captains.
Reset, by Ellen Pao
This is Pao’s story of suing the esteemed venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers for discrimination. She lost the suit, but the litigation brought attention to the overwhelmingly white, male culture of Silicon Valley.
It was a finalist for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year.
Principles: Life and Work, by Ray Dalio
Business and life coach Tony Robbins preaches the importance of constantly educating yourself. The book is Dalio’s explanation of the highly unique leadership strategy he employs at his wildly successful hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates.
Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital Future
by Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson
The authors from MIT’s Sloan School of Management explain how businesses can best use artificial intelligence and crowd wisdom and how leaders should manage amid these massive technological changes.
“Beneath all the concrete problems it raises, an intriguing question lies at the heart of the book: Given the rise of algorithmic decision making, the ability to outsource tasks to the crowd, and such technologies as blockchain, will the corporation as we know it become obsolete?” writes Strategy + Business reviewer James Surowiecki.
The Spider Network, by David Enrich
This is the story behind the Libor scandal, the deliberate manipulation of the key banking interest rates. It was one the of finalists for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year.
The Spider Network is the almost-unbelievable and darkly entertaining inside account of the Libor scandal – one of history’s biggest, farthest-reaching scams to hit Wall Street since the global financial crisis, written by the only journalist with access to Tom Hayes before he was imprisoned for 14 years,” the Financial Times says of its top pick.
If You’re in a Dogfight, Become a Cat: Strategies for Long-Term Growth, by Leonard Sherman
The Columbia Business School professor and consultant analyses the formidable growth of companies including JetBlue, Southwest Airlines, IKEA and Apple. It was selected as the best book in the “strategy” category on the 17th annual best business books of the year list by the book reviewers at the management publisher Strategy + Business.
The Great Leveller: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century, by Walter Scheidel
The professor of history at Stanford University examines inequality across history. The book was on the list of finalists for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year, as well as being the best book in the “economics” category on the 17th annual best business books of the year list from Strategy + Business.
Janesville, by Amy Goldstein
The Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter studied Janesville, Wis., after General Motors shuttered its assembly plant there during the Great Recession. It won the award for the Financial Times and McKinseyBusiness Book of the Year and the accompanying £30,000 ($39,339) prize.
“This is the story of what happens to an industrial town in the American heartland when its factory stills — but it’s not the familiar tale. Most observers record the immediate shock of vanished jobs, but few stay around long enough to notice what happens next when a community with a can-do spirit tries to pick itself up.
Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionising the Way We Live and Work, by Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal
This is a study of how to achieve peak performance by getting to a flow state of being exceptionally present. It was selected as the best book in the “management” category on the 17th annual best business books of the year list by the book reviewers at the management publisher Strategy + Business.
Most books that focus on using neuroscience in order to work better concentrate on improving our understanding and control of our own brains. But ‘Stealing Fire’ shows us how to find peak performance through release rather than effort: “We get in the peak performance zone not by finding ourselves but by allowing our sense of self to vanish. The goal is to enter ‘an elongated present,’ which researchers also describe as ‘the deep now,'” writes the Strategy + Business reviewer Duff McDonald.
Adaptive Markets, by Andrew Lo 
This is an analysis on the effectiveness of economic markets. It was on the shortlist of finalists for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year.
Once Upon a Time in Shaolin: The Untold Story of Wu-Tang Clan’s Million-Dollar Secret Album, the Devaluation of Music, and America’s New Public Enemy No.1, by Cyrus Bozorgmehr
This is the story of Wu-Tang Clan’s effort to create an album and sell it to only one buyer. The rap group sold their album to Martin Shkreli, the “pharma bro” business man turned convicted felon. At the time Wu-Tang sold the album to Shkreli, the rap group had no idea about his nefarious doings.
Superconsumers: A Simple, Speedy, and Sustainable Path to Superior Growth
by Eddie Yoon
This is a delve into what makes a consumer obsessed with a product. It was selected as the best book in the “marketing” category on the 17th annual best business books of the year list by the book reviewers at the management publisher Strategy + Business.
