ReReading List for 2020

Like most everyone, I like to write New Year resolutions in Dec/Jan...and then not follow through. So a couple of years ago I started a new tactic: I still write them, but put them aside until ~ April, and then revisit to see if I still have the same energy level around making a change. Given the current state of affairs in the world, I find myself with unexpected time, so I decided to revisit some of my ideas from a few months back. The one I've landed on to reorient myself is re-reading some of my favorite books from the last few years. For the last decade I've been trying to do 50 books a year (one per week), but I peaked at 35 in 2013. So for this year I decided to go with quality over quantity, and what better way to determine quality than something that stuck with you...

My plan is to re-read each of the books below, and I've outline a tl;dr of why they stuck with me. All of these books left an impression, but with many of them I couldn't recall the exact idea that had resonated, so this time I'm going to write (and hopefully publish) a summary of the key ideas that I consider worth revisiting from time to time.

• Linchpin - highlights how the key knowledge workers of the future will be cross-functional, multi-disciplinary leaders
• Quiet - allowed me to re-calibrate leadership as something an introvert could excel at, countering a lot of culture that puts a boisterous persona on a pedestal
• Confessions of a Public Speaker - won't do a talk without reviewing my notes from this book (favorite line is "the audience wants you to succeed")
• The Effective Executive - the only thing you need to control as a leader is how and where you spend you time, because that is all you have to contribute
• Multipliers - introduced me to the idea of mental models when assessing talent and coaching people (also sent me a on search that uncovered the SCARF model)
• The $100 Startup - good reminder to always keep hustling and have a GSD mindset
• Rework - really helped me identify some workaholic tendencies in myself and others and scale in a way that was sustainable vs would lead to burnout
• Creativity, Inc - drives home the idea of servant leadership and building an org that allows creative folks to do their best work
• Parkinson's Law - short read but enduring reminder that work expands to consume the time you allot it (reminder if you love efficient meetings and hate scope creep)
• Masters of Doom - just a great origin story (ID Software) for those into myth-making and a reminder of how scrappy you have to be to build a market
• Moonwalking with Einstein - a lot of "magic" is preparation, and also mind palaces are real and a great technique for structured storytelling
• Work Rules! - good reminder that managing people is 99% art and 1% science
• Radical Focus- great playbooks for org-wide goal setting and ambitious delivery
• Command and Control - resilience (people, process, technology) is key
• Back of the Napkin - tons of ideas on effective ideation, presentation, and communication (with amazing visuals)
• Zero to One - great insights into building sustainable business models (invention vs. incrementalism), which I have previously written (here) and stormed (here) about
• Essentialism - all about focus, and how to get it, keep it, and leverage it

Wish me luck on this journey! And please share your must re-read books as well...