Can You Suggest 3 Books to Help Me with My 2014 Seth Godin Pick 3 Project?

[danatanseo]

Yesterday in Seth's blog he gave a wonderful suggestion for making 2014 a remarkable year. He suggested that you pick 3 people who have influence over your life/work and select three books to buy and give to these them to have them read, and then, discuss with you. Here's how he describes it:

"Identify three books that challenge your status quo, business books that outline a new attitude/approach or strategy, or perhaps fiction or non-fiction that challenges you. Books you've read that you need them to read.

Buy the three books for each of the three people, and ask them each to read all three over the holiday break." - http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2013/12/pick-three.html

Don't worry about whether or not I've read the books you are suggesting. If I choose one, I'll read it first before asking someone else to read it.

Here are some of my ideas:

The End of Business as Usual - Brian Solis [currently reading]

Don't Make Me Think - Steve Krug

The New Rules of Marketing and PR - David Meerman Scott

Positioning - The Battle for Your Mind - Ries and Trout

Influence - Robert Cialdini

Engage - Brian Solis

The Dip - Seth Godin

Keep It Simple - Siegel & Etzkorn

Buy - Ology - Lindstrom

The Long Tail -  Chris Anderson

FYI - The three people I've identified to share books with are my CEO (to whom I directly report), our Marketing Director (who is a peer, but who controls most of the marketing budget), and the Vice President of Retail Sales (He is also one of 5 co-owners of the business and a major stakeholder).

The books you suggest can be the same for all three or different for all three. I think the major challenges we are facing in 2014 is agility, branding and redefining or abandoning old business practices that are costly, time wasters, inefficient, or all of the above.

Thanks everyone!

[danatanseo]

Thanks Alex. Wil Reynolds actually gave me a copy of Influence at MozCon this past summer and I found it completely fascinating. I read it twice. I think that one's a definite keeper. Don't Make me Think is a very amusing, smart, astute, relevant, fast and easy read, which makes it a good choice for busy people who still want to learn something. You've got me curious about Out of the Ordinary so I'm going to hop over to Amazon and check it out. I'll let you know how it all shakes out!

[Alex-Harford]

I was going to suggest Influence, and Don't Make Me Think is a good one, so that makes me think I should read the rest of your suggestions. I've just been dipping into Out of the Ordinary by Jon Ronson and it seems quite interesting. I didn't even buy it for myself but it looks like I might end up reading it!