The 100 Best Business Books of All Time provides a rare window into some of the top books of this era.

The last time I had lunch with the book’s co-author, Jack Covert, founder of 800-CEO-READ, it was to seek his advice on how we could make our upcoming book launch for The Big Moo stand out in the crowded business book market.  As we brainstormed during lunch, on the suuny bank of the Kinnickinnic River in Milwaukee, he opened up the conversation by saying “…are you kidding, you guys (Big Moo authors) are THE Purple Cows–you know how to stand out in a field of unremarkable brown cow books–just do what you do!   Jack parted some great advice that day as we talked about the business of marketing business books, discussed our favorite books and my passion for American business history–reading about it, learning from it and adding to the stories that will be told in the future.  I was so happy to see Jack and Todd commit their top picks into 100 Best–after all, they see, read and sell most all of the business titles today.  Though I am sure you have a few books you would like to add to the list, and there are already new ones that may hit the next list, it is good to see the best business writings of our time formalized at this pivotal moment in business history.

 

Below is the 100 Best list–let me know your favorites or titles you would like added to the next list:

1.  Improving your life, your person and your strengths:
Flowby Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi
Getting Things Done by David Allen (also available in CD and audio)
The Effective Executiveby Peter Drucker
How to Be a Star at Work by Robert E. Kelley
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey (also available in audio)
How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie (also available in audio)
Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Aliveby Harvey B. Mackay
The Power of Intuition by Gary Klein
What Should I Do with My Life? by Po Bronson (also available in audio)
Oh, the Places You’ll Goby Dr. Seuss/Theodore Geisel (also available in audio)
Chasing Daylight by Eugene O’Kelly

2.  Inspiration, Challenge, Courage, Change:
On Becoming a Leaderby Warren Bennis
The Leadership Momentby Michael Useem
The Leadership Challengeby James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner (also available in CD)
Leadership Is an Artby Max De Pree (also available in CD and audio)
The Radical Leapby Steve Farber
Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will by Tichy and Sherman (also available in CD)
Leading Changeby John P. Kotter (also available in CD and audio)
Questions of Characterby Joseph L. Badaracco, Jr.
The Story Factor by Annette Simmons
Never Give In! Speeches by Winston Churchill (also available in audio)

3.  Eight organizational blueprints from which to draft your own:
In Search of Excellence by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr.
Good to Great by Jim Collins
The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen (also available in audio)
Only the Paranoid Survive by Andrew S. Grove
Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance?by Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. (also available in audio)
Discovering the Soul of Service by Leonard Berry
Executionby Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan (also available in CD and audio)
Competing for the Future by Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad

4.  Approaches and pitfalls in the ongoing process of creating customers:
Influenceby Robert B. Cialdini, PhD
Positioningby Al Ries and Jack Trout
A New Brand Worldby Scott Bedbury with Stephen Fenichell
Selling the Invisibleby Harry Beckwith (also available in CD and audio)
Zagby Marty Neumeier
Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore
Secrets of Closing the Saleby Zig Ziglar (also available in CD and audio)
How to Become a Rainmaker by Jeffrey J. Fox (also available in CD and audio)
Why We Buyby Paco Underhill (also available in audio)
The Experience Economy by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore (also available in audio)
Purple Cowby Seth Godin (also available in audio)
The Tipping Pointby Malcolm Gladwell (also available in CD and audio)

5.  The all-important numbers behind the game:
Naked Economicsby Charles Wheelan
Financial Intelligenceby Karen Berman and Joe Knight
The Balanced Scorecardby Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton

6.  Guiding and directing the people around you:
The Essential Druckerby Peter Drucker
Out of the Crisis by W. Edwards Deming
Toyota Production Systemby Taiichi Ohno (also available in CD)
Reengineering the Corporationby Michael Hammer and James Champy
The Goalby Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox (also available in CD and audio)
The Great Game of Business by Jack Stack with Bo Burlingham
First, Break all the Rulesby Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman (also available in CD)
Now, Discover Your Strengths by Buckingham and Clifton (also available in CD)
The Knowing-Doing Gap by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton
The Five Dysfunctions of a Teamby Patrick Lencioni (also available in audio)
Six Thinking Hatsby Edward De Bono

7.  Seven lives. Unlimited lessons:
Titanby Ron Chernow
My Years with General Motors by Alfred P. Sloan, Jr.
The HP Way by David Packard
Personal History by Katharine Graham
Moments of Truthby Jan Carlzon
Sam Walton: Made in America by Sam Walton with John Huey
Losing My Virginityby Richard Branson

8.  Seven guides to the passion and practicality necessary for any new venture:
The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki (also available in CD and audio)
The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber (also available in CD and audio)
The Republic of Tea ** by Mel Ziegler, Patricia Ziegler, and Bill Rosenzweig
The Partnership Charter by David Gage
Growing a Businessby Paul Hawken
Guerrilla Marketingby Jay Conrad Levinson (also available audio)
The Monk and the RiddleRandy Komisar with Kent Lineback

9.  Six industry tales of both fortune and failure:
McDonald’s: Behind the Arches by John F. Love
American Steel ** by Richard Preston
The Force by David Dorsey
The Smartest Guys in the Roomby Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind
When Genius Failedby Roger Lowenstein
Moneyball by Michael Lewis (also available in audio)

10.  Insight into the process of developing new ideas:
Orbiting the Giant Hairballby Gordon MacKenzie
The Art of Innovationby Tom Kelley with Jonathan Littman (also available in audio)
Jump Start Your Business Brain by Doug Hall
A Whack on the Side of the Headby Roger Von Oech
The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp
The Art of Possibilityby Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander

11.  The future of business books lies here:
The Age of Unreason by Charles Handy
Out of Control by Kevin Kelly
The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida
Emotional Intelligenceby Daniel Goleman (also available in CD and audio)
Drivenby Paul R. Lawrence and Nitin Nohria
To Engineer is Humanby Henry Petroski
The Wisdom of Crowdsby James Surowiecki (also available in audio)
Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath (also available in CD and audio)

12.  What everyone is looking for:
The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins (also available in CD and audio)
Up the Organization by Robert Townsend
Beyond the Coreby Chris Zook
Little Red Book of Selling by Jeffrey Gitomer (also available in CD and audio)
What the CEO Wants You to Knowby Ram Charan
The Team Handbookby Peter Scholtes, Brian Joiner, and Barbara Streibel
A Business and Its Belief by Thomas J. Watson, Jr.
Lucky or Smart? by Bo Peabody (also available in audio)
The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas L. Friedman (also available in CD and audio)
Thinkertoysby Michael Michalko
More Than You Knowby Michael J. Mauboussin