10 Books to Give You Superpowers in 2020

I love recommending great books (supporting evidence: Exhibit A, Exhibit B, and Exhibit C). I read about 50 last year, and over the holidays I asked myself "Which books helped me do life better?" That could mean leveling up as a husband, a father, a friend, a Christian, a professional, a manager, et cetera. Hopefully these suggestions are useful to you!

Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love by Marty Cagan

This book is my go-to resource for framing my work @ BMNT. Cagan walks through every aspect of product management in enough detail to be practically useful. It's not overwhelming, though. He also discusses the tensions, questions, and uncertainties that characterize my discussions with colleagues. It's helpful knowing that others have overcome the same challenges. "Inspired" has replaced a lot of the article reading that I was doing in early 2019. The quality of his thinking and writing is significantly higher than my other resources that churn out content on a regular basis.

1/2 of even my best ideas won't work!

The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker

A 1974 Pulitzer Prize winner, I can't remember how I stumbled on this, but I'm glad I did. I devoured this book! It challenged me in many ways, especially my faith (in a good way). Becker wrote it while he was terminally ill, which forced a clarity and urgency in his writing that jumps out on every page. I have no background in psychology but was still able to trace his lines of argument related to the big three (Freud, Jung, and Adler) who struggled to make sense of humanity's basic questions about the meaning of life.

What's my immortality project? 

James Madison: A Life Reconsidered by Lynne Cheney

Dick Cheney's wife isn't a professional historian, and it sometimes shows. But Madison's story is spellbinding. I loved learning the details of his early life, and how much he shaped the thinking of each of the first five (!) Presidents. And his contribution wasn't limited to the Constitution and the Federalist Papers, which he authored before he was 40. Madison's views on the implementation of almost every major issue dominated for a century or more. He left an incredible legacy despite having a mild form of epilepsy that flared up in times of extreme stress. What's my excuse?

Think about the foundation of the house, not the color of the paint.

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt

Haidt offers a fascinating explanation, backed by some convincing research, for the divide between conservative and progressive elements of human society. His description of moral "taste buds" is a powerful heuristic that continues to affect my thinking. Why did I choose to include this? Because I've noticed that I'm less likely to jump to judgments about others. This book gave me a neutral way of thinking about the opinions of other people with whom I disagree. That's especially useful in today's environment.

I can't argue - only listen - when the fundamental difference is moral.

Do Parents Matter?: Why Japanese Babies Sleep Soundly, Mexican Siblings Don't Fight, and American Families Should Just Relax by Robert & Sarah LeVine

Most parenting books are written by one of two groups: childhood development experts or experienced parents. The LeVines argue that we can't conclude anything about proper parenting from either group. Either the sample size is too small (parents) or the advice is based on studying extremes (experts). Anthropologists focus on the middle of the curve, meaning people who are normal interacting with others who are also normal. If you look at family life through that lens, then it appears that you can raise a family in almost any situation so long as the rules are applied consistently.

I need to chill out as a parent.

Americana: A 400 Year History of American Capitalism by Bhu Srinivasan

I enjoyed this book from cover to cover. Srinivasan ran through all the familiar wavetops of our history, from the landing of the Pilgrims to spread of the internet. He had a fresh perspective on each major event, and each one revised my own narrative about America to some degree. His central argument rings more true to me than a lot of history I've read, which tends to focus too much on politics, elites, or both. Technologies and policies unleashed the real hero (?) in the American story: the risk-taking entrepreneur. Even if you disagree, it's worth the read to sharpen your thinking.

Economic opportunity > Political freedom

When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi by David Maraniss

It's a running joke at my company that I don't care about sports. And it's true. I don't. But I love reading about scrappy people who forged world class teams despite the odds. And I knew almost nothing about Lombardi. What impressed me the most was how he started each year from first principles. I love the story of him holding up a football on the first day of training camp to describe how it was made. The whole game made sense to him and his team completely adopted his winning formula, to the point where he didn't even call plays during games. He just stood on the sidelines and watched, trusting the players.

Build a team that does one thing better than anyone else.

Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts

Napoleon is another consequential figure about whom I knew nothing. His energy and ambition impressed me in the general sense, but what I appreciated the most was how we worked with large groups of people. His own armies recognized his incredible leadership, and his behavior was inspired in less obvious ways. I was so impressed with the way he studied local cultures, even adapting his writing style to match their rhythms and language. And he immediately reformed the government and started infrastructure projects in every conquered territory. He knew he needed to demonstrate how people's lives would improve under his rule. Despite that, the French people didn't rise up to defend themselves against the invading armies following Napoleon's defeat in Russia. Why not?

I will fall for the same reasons I rise.

How to Build a Car: The Autobiography of the World's Greatest Formula 1 Designer by Adrian Newey

Car racing is another area where I have no experience. But I enjoyed reading this book, since Newey talks about car racing through an stream of personal stories about crazy personalities, technological innovation, and international intrigue. Race cars have to change each year to meet new regulations. There is a scramble among the various teams, funded by hundreds of millions of dollars, to squeeze additional performance out of the next generation. This requires everything from studying the aerodynamics of bird beaks to poaching the most talented designers from other teams. It's fascinating and inspiring in ways that I would never have guessed.

Every constraint contains the seeds of an innovation.

The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder

Buffett is a fascinating person. The stories of his early life were the most interesting, providing me with a much better framework for understanding his later success. He was actually an entrepreneur by a very young age, running a pretty big chain of pinball machines that operated in barber shops. This and other early experiences helped him understand that equity is a piece of real company, with real humans doing real work. Investing just about numbers on spreadsheets, although that's a huge part of it.

Do the few things I'm meant to do. 

The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts by Shane Parrish

Parrish is a fascinating guy, and I appreciate his Farnam Street newsletter (one of the few to which I subscribe) and occasionally to the Knowledge Project podcast. We actually use a lot of these mental models in our internal trainings. He didn't come up with any of them, but he does a great job explaining the conditions that justify the use of each one. I've found them to be useful as a common framework, especially with my colleagues. If we can quickly determine which mental model might apply in a situation, the rest of the conversation is much easier.

My brain is flawed in many ways, so I better plan to compensate.