Ah, vacation… the time when the work shuts down for a few days and the Dark Matter Matters blog comes out of hibernation… 3 posts in 3 days!
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A few months ago I wrote a post where I highlighted the top ten books behind Dark Matter Matters. In that post I promised to create a list of the books that didn’t make the top 10 cut, but are still pretty awesome.
So here, to celebrate the long holiday weekend, are some more books that have inspired Dark Matter Matters.
Books about how large-scale collaboration is pretty much the deal:
Wikinomics by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams
The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki
The Starfish and the Spider by Ori Braffman and Rod Beckstrom
In the open source world, there’s a legendary quote attributed to Linus Torvalds (yes, he is the guy that Linux is named after) “Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.” The first two of these books are the extended dance remix of this quote. Each has a unique take, but both show how mass collaboration is changing everything about our society and the way we solve problems. The Starfish and the Spider is a interesting look at leaderless organizations and is a nice book for anyone trying to understand how the open source movement (and other leaderless organizations) work, and why open source is so hard to compete against. It is also a nice complement to the Mintzberg article I wrote about in my previous post.
Books that will make you right-brained folks feel really good about your place in the world. Yes, you are loved, people:
A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink
The Designful Company by Marty Neumeier
Creatives, rejoice! You will be inheriting the Earth. These books will tell you why. I wrote a review of The Designful Company in a previous post.
Books for brand and positioning nerds like me:
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Jack Trout and Al Ries
Differentiate or Die by Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin
Zag by Marty Neumeier
Designing Brand Identity by Alina Wheeler
Say it with me… I LOVE POSITIONING… Really, any book by Jack Trout is worth reading. Go to any used book store, and you’ll find at least one– pick it up! The original Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind is still the best, but the two above are really good too. Designing Brand Identity is a beautiful book on exactly what the title says; I use this one as a reference as well. Finally, Zag is yet another great, and short, Marty Neumeier book.
Books about being interesting. You wouldn’t think it was rocket science:
Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want by Joseph Pine and James Gillmore
Conversational Capital by Bertrand Cesvet, Tony Babinski, Eric Alper
All Marketers are Liars by Seth Godin
In our group at Red Hat, we’ve adopted the North Carolina State motto: Esse Quam Videri, “To be rather than to seem,” as our way of thinking about how we engage with our audiences. Authenticity, storytelling, simplicity. If these things don’t come naturally to you, the books above will give you ideas for how to really connect with your audience. I reviewed Conversational Capital in a previous post.
Books about the forest:
Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore
The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen
Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
I wouldn’t recommend that you start a new business today without reading at least half of these books. They are all great strategy books that tell you how things work through the macro lens.
Books about the trees:
The Responsibility Virus by Roger Martin
The No Asshole Rule by Robert Sutton
Getting Past No by William Ury
Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
Ten Faces of Innovation by Tom Kelley
Are you spending so much time tied down with organizational crap that you can’t ever see the whole forest? Any of these books will help. But ALL of them will really help.
That’s it! Don’t try to read all of these in one weekend. But if you do find things in these books that speak to you, write me a note on facebook or twitter, or comment here on the blog and let me know. Happy reading!
Posted in brand, community, culture Tagged: authenticity, books, brand, collaboration, community, culture, design, IDEO, Jack Trout, Marty Neumeier, open source, positioning, Red Hat, Roger Martin, transparency Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
