My Favorite Books of 2015

1) Powers of Two (Finding the Essence of Innovation in Creative Pairs) by Joshua Wolf Shenk. The most fascinating book I’ve read on creativity. I, like most people, tend to think of creativity as something that a person does in solitude with their own special gifts. This book dispels that myth.

It looks deep into what makes someone truly creative, and how someone’s best work is always done as part of a team. Many famous pairs are analyzed in this book. As a Beatles fan, I found the look into John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s partnership eye-opening; and I’ve read a ton about them. Dozens of famous creative pairs are dissected; Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Vincent and Theo Van Gogh, are just a few.

This book made me evaluate how my best work came to be. I realize my best work happened because there was a strong partnership involved, even when the act of creating something might have been done singularly, the partner was in the back of my mind, motivating me, inspiring me to do my best work. It gave me a fresh perspective on the influence of my partners and my influence on them.

If you read only one book from this list, this is my choice. Powers of Two (Finding the Essence of Innovation in Creative Pairs) is an amazing work.

2) Big Magic (Creative Living Beyond Fear) by Elizabeth Gilbert. Gilbert beautifully discusses what creativity and artistry are about, which is letting go of fear and getting over your ego and allowing what’s inside you to come out. She stresses the need to do the work. Inspiration doesn’t come like a flash of lightening, it comes to those who show up to work, every day. Therefore, creativity is a result of the habit of doing the work that needs to be done.

Gilbert also talks about letting curiosity take you where it wants to go. If you are curious about a topic, follow that curiosity. You never know where it will take you and what might come out of it. Also, the Muse has a way of helping you create things if you realize that it’s not you that’s the creator.

This book came at just the right time for me. It made me see myself as the artist I am. In recent years I seemed to have lost that notion of myself. This book got my creative juices percolating again. I’m seeing, hearing, and thinking creatively. Highly recommended.

3) Rising Strong by Brené Brown. I was inspired by her previous book, Daring Greatly, and eagerly awaited the arrival of this one in 2015. It does not disappoint. It’s kind of the next step, if you will, to Daring Greatly. If you are brave and vulnerable you’re going to get knocked down, without question. Rising Strong helps you to bounce back when that happens.

The first step is to know that you’re having a breakdown, let down, or what ever you want to call it. Then you need to figure out why you’re feeling and reacting the the way you are. Once that happens you can work through it, feel your emotions, and learn to be comfortable with discomfort. It’s not easy work, but this book equips you with the necessary tools to be able to rise strong. You may want to start with Daring Greatly if you haven’t read it, although it’s not necessary to enjoy this book.

4) Heaven and Hell (My Life in The Eagles 1974 – 2001) by Don Felder with Wendy Holden. Having enjoyed the work of The Eagles I was very interested to read this account of life in one of music’s biggest bands. What was most inspiring were the stories of Felder’s youth, and his life before he joined The Eagles. He grew up in Gainsville, Florida and came from very humble beginnings. He literally grew up in a shack his father built. Life was tough and the relationship with his father was strained, especially after he took to music.

What is interesting is how rich his musical experience was in Gainsville. He played with and became friends with Stephen Stills, the Allman Brothers, and Bernie Leadon. Leadon convinced him to move to LA and got him his gig with The Eagles, He even taught Tom Petty guitar. Like many rock and rollers there are the stories of the glamorous and not so glamorous gigs and the struggle get to the next level and make ends meet. That is until he joined The Eagles.

Once in The Eagles his life turned upside down. They became one of the biggest bands of all-time and they were constantly touring or recording to cash in on their success. What was surprising is how dysfunctional the band was even before he joined. There is a shocking amount of tension, fighting and drug use throughout and as Don Henley and Glenn Frey began to believe that they were The Eagles, things became even more strained. Things took a turned ugly when they started asking for a larger cut of the money and Felder questioned it. The ultimate betrayal was Felder’s being kicked out of The Eagles.

It’s sad to read this tale being such a fan of The Eagles’ music and I’m glad I can listen to the music with pleasure. What I most took away from the book were the lessons about Felder’s early years and how devoted he was to his craft. When you’re good doors open up to you and when you wish for fame and fortune it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

5) Joyworks by Michael Cudahy. I was first introudced to this book a few years ago through Michael Cudahy’s Ten Golden Rules on How to Run an Organization, which comes from this book. This book is as relevant today as when it was first published in 2002. It provides an inside look at the founding of Marquette Electronics and its rise as a multi-million dollar business.

Cudahy writes with great humor and I found it hard to put down. It doesn’t leave out the trials and mistakes along the way either. There are plenty of costly errors, but Cudahy looks at the lessons learned from each. He believed in treating his employees like family, and he took care of them like that. Just some examples he mentions include building a child care facility at their office, frequent employee celebrations and talent shows, generous rewards and pay, and treating employees fairly. He even eliminated time clocks at the company because he trusted the employees and reasoned that they would work harder and with more pride knowing they were trusted (he was right). The company cafeteria also offered another perk – beer and wine.

He writes sadly of how after he sold the company to GE, the company culture of Marquette Electronics was destroyed and many of the employees left shortly after the take over. I got a sense that this eats at him still. Overall, this is a fascinating look at how you can run a company by treating employees and customers decently and still make a profit. This is a must read for anyone in business and marketing.

6) Leaders Eat Last (Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t) by Simon Sinek. This book runs a similar path to Michael Cudahy’s book, with with many more examples. Simon makes the case for real leadership and how there are essentially no great leaders today. He discusses military leadership and leadership in companies that do things differently than most.

Sinek shows how when the economy changed employees became expendable, shifting what it meant to work for a company like our fathers and grandfathers knew. Companies not longer take care of their employees. Though it’s not the world we live in today, it is possible, as Sinek shows, to operate quite successfully by returning to old time values. Again, he draws on military references in showing how we can incorporate leadership principals into our own workplaces to make them places where employees feel safe and where we can work together trusting that our boss has our back, as we have his.

I love everything Simon Sinek stands for. This book is brilliant. A must read.

7) It’s Your Ship (Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy) by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff. I originally heard Captain Abrashoff on Wisconsin Public Radio a couple of yeas ago and was impressed enough to buy a copy of his book. It took me a while to get to it, but it was worth the wait. It contains a treasure trove of ideas on how to win the hearts and minds of those you lead.

Abrashoff provides real-life examples of leadership, demonstrated by his run as commander of the USS Benfold. He took over a ship with low morale and a low re-enlistment rate. During his tenure the ship became the highest ranked in the Navy’s fleet; morale and re-enlistments soared.

What struck me is how he didn’t try to radically change things, even though there was so much that needed changing. He worked within the bureaucracy and red tape to make incremental changes. Even the commander of a Navy ship has to know when to push the boundaries and when to conform. It’s a good lesson in picking the right battles.

Captain Abrashoff didn’t shake things up to make a ruckus, but enjoyed small wins, over and over, to where he built up credibility so he had leverage to push the envelope at times. One key aspect of his leadership, is giving the men and women on the ship control to make their own decisions. He told the crew, “It’s your ship.” The crew, with the control to make their own decisions, proved him right by doing the right thing. And if mistakes were made, it was a learning opportunity. Ideal reading for anyone in a leadership role.

8) Everybody Writes by Ann Handley. Something that is so easy to read shouldn’t be this helpful, should it? But, that’s exactly what this book is. Ann Handley gives practical writing advice in 74 easily digestible chapters. I found something useful in nearly every chapter. This isn’t a boring book about grammar rules. Sure, there’s some grammar discussed, but this book is about content, and we all know the importance of content in today’s world. So, not matter what type of content your’re writing whether its blog posts, annual reports, web copy, eBooks, or some other marketing copy, there’s something for you here; even if you think you’re a pretty good writer.

It was immediately noticeable that, even before I finished this book, my writing was stronger, more concise, and my word choices were smarter. My writing was impacted by reading this book and I will read this annually. If you want to take your writing up a notch, go out and buy this Everybody Writes.

9) Brandscaping by Andrew Davis. I resisted reading this book because of the awful title. It sounds like there’s hot wax and painful hair removal involved, but I heard so many great things about it, and about Andrew Davis, that I gave in and bought it. I’m glad I did because this book is brilliant.

This isn’t your typical marketing book. Davis really does break new ground with Brandscaping, and that’s saying a lot. He believes it’s vitally important for brands to ask “what if” questions. These “what if” questions make you think about marketing and branding completely differently. It could open up a world of possibilities previously off limits. It’s not enough to think about “what if” questions, but to be brave enough to implement them.

This book is a guide on how to innovate and find partners where you may not have realized they existed. It’s packed with examples on companies that have successfully brandscaped, proving that it works, not just in theory, but in the real world. If you’re a marketer this is a must read.

Did you read any of these? What were your favorite books of 2015? What are you looking forward to reading in 2016?