2018: 6 Books I want to read

I mentioned in a previous post that reading more is always a goal of mine. Here are a collection of 6 books I’m hoping to attack first (with comments as to why).

1. Sprint: How To Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days

by Jake Knapp with John Zeratsky & Braden Kowitz

This book seems to have become somewhat of a bible in the Lean Product development world; validating hypotheses and collecting real customer feedback within 5 days. Quick and data-driven… sounds good.

2. Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future

by Ashlee Vance

Many friends of mine have read this book and I feel a bit late to the party. I’m hoping to learn more about the man who seems to think about the world in a different way to everyone else.

3. Product Leadership: How Top Product Managers Launch Awesome Products and Build Successful Teams

by Richard Banfield, Martin Eriksson & Nate Walkingshaw

I’m someone who likes to read experiences other people have had, particularly in Product. It’s why I like biographies and business books written by CEOs. This book features many, many, many stories and anecdotes from Product Managers and Leaders – right up my street!

4. Small Data: The Tiny Clues That Uncover Huge Trends

by Martin Lindstrom

Last week I attended a meetup where this book was highly praised. As someone who believes in uncovering “the gold within the data” as a means of spotting wider customer behaviours, I’m excited to get my hands on this.

5. What Customers Want: Using Outcome-Driven Innovation to Create Breakthrough Products and Services

by Anthony W. Ulwick

I’ve recently come across Jobs-To-Be-Done and Outcome-Driven Innovation. This book was recommended to me as a good starting point.

6. Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies

by Nick Bostrom

This book seems to be highly recommended by many thought leaders in tech. As someone interested in A.I. I thought it makes sense to better understand the dangers potentially involved.

What books are on your list?