Books I Read in Q1 2020

One of my personal goals for 2020 is to read a book a week (52 books in total). With us wrapping up the first three months of the year, I am 13/13! 

Below, you will find each of the books I read this quarter, in the order I read them in, with my commentary about central takeaways and who I think would enjoy the book.

1 - Pocket Full of Do - Chris Do

This book started with a very successful Kickstarter created by Chris Do of The Futur. The book is very light reading and takes only a couple of hours to complete. It is also currently sold out. If you are looking for something deeper and more tactical, I would highly suggest checking out The Futur’s YouTube channel as it provides a lot of quality business advice to creatives.

***2 - Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World - Anand Giridharadas***

I read a lot of great books this past quarter, but this book takes the top spot for me. This book is more relevant than ever with the rise of income equality and the discussion over whether billionaires should exist. Regardless of whether you lean towards identifying as a capitalist or socialist, you should read this book.

This blurb from the Amazon Product Page provides more details:

Former New York Times columnist Anand Giridharadas takes us into the inner sanctums of a new gilded age, where the rich and powerful fight for equality and justice any way they can--except ways that threaten the social order and their position atop it. We see how they rebrand themselves as saviors of the poor; how they lavishly reward "thought leaders" who redefine "change" in winner-friendly ways; and how they constantly seek to do more good, but never less harm. We hear the limousine confessions of a celebrated foundation boss; witness an American president hem and haw about his plutocratic benefactors; and attend a cruise-ship conference where entrepreneurs celebrate their own self-interested magnanimity.

Giridharadas asks hard questions: Why, for example, should our gravest problems be solved by the unelected upper crust instead of the public institutions it erodes by lobbying and dodging taxes? He also points toward an answer: Rather than rely on scraps from the winners, we must take on the grueling democratic work of building more robust, egalitarian institutions and truly changing the world. A call to action for elites and everyday citizens alike.

3 - Zag: The #1 Strategy of High-Performance Brands - Marty Neumeier

This book is a masterclass in brand strategy. Full stop. The book is written in an easy to digest manner and Neumeier does not waste time between building upon one topic to the next. 

Get a copy of this book. My notes are linked here.

4 - Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes - William Bridges

I have been in a lot of transitions over the past three years with living in four different cities, having loved ones pass away, friendships and relationships starting and ending, leaving a startup to start my own business, and much more.

This book was a timely read for me that goes over how to make sense of life’s changes and what steps we naturally follow as we adapt and grow. My notes are linked here.

5 - The Win Without Pitching Manifesto - Blair Enns

This is a great book that any creative or freelancer should read. Enns provides 12 proclamations to follow so you can win more projects without pitching. My notes are linked here and one of my favorite excerpts from the book is shared below:

It is more likely that the client’s perspective will be wrong or at least incomplete, than it is that it will be whole and accurate. We know this. Doctors know the same of their patients. Lawyers and accountants know the same of their clients. The customer is not always right. More correctly, he usually has strong ideas and a strong sense that he is right, but is locked into a narrow view and weighted down by constraints that seem to him to be immutable than they really are. When the client comes to us self-diagnosed, our mindset must be the same as the doctor hearing his patient tell him what type of surgery he wants performed before any discussion of symptoms or diagnoses. Our reactions must be, “You may be correct, but let’s find out for sure.”

6 - Shoe Dog: A Memoir By The Creator of NIKE - Phil Knight

I have had this book recommended to me over and over and over again. To be honest, it stands up to the hype. Knight does an incredible job walking through the history of NIKE which, to my surprise, was full of a lot more uncertainty, failures, and pivots than I expected. This book should resonate with any runner, entrepreneur, and fan of NIKE. Thank you to Venu Kunche for recommending this book and reading it with me!

7 - The Manual: A Philosopher’s Guide to Life - Epictetus

Incredibly short read with deep thoughts and impactful ideas to wonder over. If you are at all interested in Stoicism (enduring pleasure or pain without showing emotion), this would be a good book to dip your feet in the water.

8 - RENT: The Complete Book and Lyrics of the Broadway Musical - Jonathan Larson

After reading so much non-fiction, I needed to take a breather and read and re-watch an incredible broadway musical. If you have not seen RENT, I would highly suggest giving it a watch!

9 - The Hero with a Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell

If you are aware of the Hero’s Journey and how it plays into storytelling, this may be a book for you. Campbell discusses his theory of the mythological structure of the journey of the archetypal hero found in world myths. This book can be a long read, but if you are the right reader, you will love it. Thanks to Dan Pointer for recommending this book and reading it with me!

10 - Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less - Greg McKeown

To be frank, I did not enjoy this book nearly as much as I hoped. That may have been because people I know over-hyped it, but for a book on essentialism, there was a lot of nonessential fluff throughout the entirety of the book.

11 - Building a Story Brand: Use the 7 Elements of Great Storytelling to Grow Your Business - Donald Miller

This book was recommended to me back in 2018 by David Gibson and has been on my list for a while. I finally got around to it and wish that I had read it sooner. This book marries the Hero’s Journey with brand storytelling and messaging. It is tactical and very useful for anyone looking to improve their business’s marketing strategy. My notes are linked here.

After reading this book and The Hero with a Thousand Faces, I have the Hero’s Journey forever etched into my brain.

12 - Make Space: How to Set the Stage for Creative Collaboration - Scott Doorley and Scott Witthoft

If you are interested in how to design spaces and furniture to set the stage for creativity and collaboration, give this book a read. I have my notes linked here, but they do not do the book justice. This really is a book that you need to read for yourself with the photos, images, and graphics. 

I am more than happy to lend out my copy of this book (or any copies for that matter) since this is a pricier book at ~$33.

13 - 17 Reasons Your Company is not Investment Grade & What to Do About it - Zane Tarence

This is the book I have been working through while social distancing the past few weeks. If you are building a company that you hope to sell one day, this is the book that you need to read. Zane (using their first name here since I know the author) outlines 17 reasons why your company may not be investment grade and outlines specific action items to focus on for each reason.

What books have you read the past few months? What did you learn from them? Do you have any recommendations on what I should add to my list?