Four management books that changed my mindset this Summer

Finishing a book was always challenging since I was young. Staying at home is probably a blessing when it comes to overcoming my reading obstacles. Throughout this summer, I was fortunate to be introduced a few great books that could help me in my career pursuit. I leveraged Audible to spark my interest in the books whenever I am jogging or driving — which reminds me of how System 1 and System 2 operate independently in Thinking Fast And Slow. It was also interesting to realize that my appetite expanded from career-specific books such as Consulting and Product Management to team and organization management. Here are the four books that I cannot wait to introduce.

1. It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy — Captain D. Michael Abrashoff.

Learning team management through the lens of a ship captain is extremely applicable and insightful. I used to think top performers drive the growth of business and should always be at the helm of a business. This book opens my eyes to the idea of true leadership. Chapter 2 on Learn the Real Leadership is my personal favorite where the author highlights the difference between an individual contributor and a team leader. His storytelling writing styles deliver a strong convincing message while enabling us to associate without being in the ship. He provides not only the considerations from a top-down lens as a leader, but also the importance of having proactive mindsets that a junior could leverage to become a strong team player and reduce the burden of his boss. This is one book that I will keep on referencing in the future.

2. Inspired: How to create tech products customers love — Marty Cagan.

A must-read bible recommended by various product management blogs. Since my product management project, I have grown tremendous interest in product management frameworks and best practices. Despite that I have been reading many different frameworks and techniques on Medium, LinkedIn and various blogs shared by various seasoned product managers, it remains difficult to have a broad view of Product Management. This book synthesizes the principles behind building the right team, the right product, the right process to the right culture with classic examples from the top tech firms across over 60 chapters. My personal favorite is on The Right People where the author elaborates the common mistakes and how to avoid them working with technology, UX design and engineering teams. While many other books focus on cracking product management interviews, this book reveals the life of a product manager at a much broader scope, helping me gain an overview of product management as a career in a long run.

3. The McKinsey Mind: Understanding and Implementing the Problem-Solving Tools and Management Techniques of the World’s Top Strategic Consulting Firm — Ethan M. Rasiel and Pual N. Friga.

This book is long overdue in my reading list with my exposure in the consulting field. The book introduced many great principles behind problem-solving skills. It synthesizes the best practices and structures consultants generally define problem, design analysis and present recommendations. My personal favorite is that the book goes beyond problem solving to highlight the importance of managing self, team, and clients where over-communication is always better than under-communication. The personal anecdotes and comments from past consultants on bringing these skillsets and mindset outside the firm have certainly made the reading more enjoyable.

4. The First 90 days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter — Michael D. Watkins.

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The latest addition to my reading list that provides a great overview and guidance for leaders in transition and ambiguity. My favorite are the first two chapters where the book synthesizes the ambiguities generated from two most common scenarios — “on boarding to a new organization” and “internal promotion”. It provides a good list of considerations and addresses the common mistakes leaders made. For example, we tend to continue to do what we were good at after getting promoted, hoping this will continue to bring us further without realizing the need to adapt. In my opinion, this is a great supplement to “It’s Your Ship” by addressing common issues tailored to modern organizations. This book offers extremely helpful and insightful guidance for young professionals entering big organizations.

Comment below to share a book in your reading list or that has changed your mindset lately.

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