1. Summer Reading List: The B-School Edition - BusinessWeek http://www.businessweek.com/print/bschools/content/jun2009/bs2009...
B-SCHOOL LIFE June 29, 2009, 3:06PM EST
Looking for a little light reading to while away the hours? These books might be just the ticket
By Francesca Di Meglio
Reading books can give managers and aspiring managers a new perspective and insight into the human condition
that drives their businesses. "Reading will make you a better businessperson and a better, happier person," says
Erik Gordon, associate director of the Zell-Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Michigan's
Ross School of Business (Ross Full-Time MBA Profile). "Students don't want to hear it. They want to know the
magical formula that will get them rich tomorrow, but we have a duty to try and convince them."
In fact, Gordon and his colleagues at the Zell-Lurie Institute came up with a summer reading list focused on inspiring
the entrepreneurial spirit in students. Whether you are holding down an internship, writing a business plan, or
lounging by the pool, reading is an investment that pays big dividends.
Business lessons can continue long after the classroom doors are closed for the summer. That's why
BusinessWeek asked professors and students at top business schools to share the five books they'd put at the top
of their personal summer reading lists. Titles ranged from the classic novel to contemporary nonfiction, but when
read together create an encyclopedia of leadership, just the thing to productively while away a summer as the
financial crisis continues. A rundown of the most popular picks follows. For the complete list, visit "Summer 2009
Books: MBA Reading List" on the Getting In blog.
CHALLENGING IDEAS OF SUCCESS
It comes as no surprise that Outliers: The Story of Success (Little, Brown & Co., November 2008), by Malcolm
Gladwell, appeared on more summer reading lists than any other book. Its subject, after all, is one that's near and
dear to B-schoolers' hearts: success and how to achieve it. To explain what separates the extraordinarily successful
from the also-rans, Gladwell examines personal stories and histories of entire populations. For example, he traces
the Asian history of working in rice paddies to explain the work ethic that leads Asians to score higher on math
achievement tests.
Readers find the book appealing because it challenges traditional notions about what success is, says Kevin J.
Martin, executive vice-president of the student association at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business
(Darden Full-Time MBA Profile). Americans like to think hard work is all it takes to achieve great things, says Martin,
but this book shows that circumstance, knowing the times in which you live, and getting help when you need it also
makes a difference.
Sometimes the greatest lessons, especially those about leadership, are gleaned from role models of the past. One
of Gordon's top picks, The Aeneid (Penguin Classics, January 2008), by Virgil (with a translation by Robert Fagles
and introduction by Bernard Knox in this version of the book), is a classic that reads like a modern-day work.
Readers follow Trojan warrior Aeneas as he goes from defeat on the battlefield and a doomed love affair in
Carthage to the founding of what would become the first Roman settlements and, ultimately, an empire.
ADVICE FOR TROUBLED LEADERS
Gordon is struck by the temptations and sacrifices that Aeneas faces in his journey. "It's about a guy who's a
fabulous role model for entrepreneurs," says Gordon. "You're a human being. You're not a superhero. Your heart
will be troubled." Indeed, Gordon's favorite quote from the book offers advice for troubled leaders: "And though his
heart was sick with anxiety, he wore a confident look and kept his troubles to himself." Words to live by, whether
you're a Trojan warrior or a business leader.
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2. Summer Reading List: The B-School Edition - BusinessWeek http://www.businessweek.com/print/bschools/content/jun2009/bs2009...
Books that seem to be all about fun and games can have deeper meaning if you read them closely. Poker Winners
are Different (Lyle Stuart, March 2009), by Alan N. Schoonmaker, is great for those who want to win at playing
poker, but it can also offer advice on how to be a winner in general. "This book will help you become one of that
small percentage of winners. If you are already winning, it will help you win more," according to the book. "You will
see how winners and losers think, feel, and act; then learn what to do to increase your profits."
Leadership is on the minds of many these days. What does it mean to be a leader? Who will lead the world moving
forward? As James W. Dean Jr., dean of the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School (UNC Kenan-Flagler Full-Time
MBA Profile), prepared for a trip to South Africa, he read Long Walk to Freedom (Steck-Vaughn, September 2000),
the autobiography of former South African President Nelson Mandela, who was imprisoned for 27 years during
apartheid. Passionate about his causes, the Nobel Prize-winning Mandela persevered, but he also admits to his
shortcomings, says Dean. He hopes his students recognize that leaders are not perfect, but they are persistent.
SIMPLIFYING ECONOMICS
Taking advantage of the resources available to you is another sign of leadership. In Yes We Did! An Inside Look at
How Social Media Built the Obama Brand (Voices That Matter) (New Riders Press, May 2009), author Rahaf
Harfoush, who spent three months with Obama's New Media Team in Chicago, describes the campaign's use of
technology—particularly blogs, social networks, Twitter, and SMS messaging—to win. Whether you're selling soap
or a Presidential candidate, knowing how to effectively use the technology at your fingertips in the service of brand-
building is a necessity, and this book offers insight into doing just that, say readers.
You might think the nation's business school students would have had their fill of economics after Econ 101, but
you'd be wrong. Many are picking up Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science (W.W. Norton & Co.,
September 2003), by Charles Wheelan. Ceri Evans, a liberal arts major and former high school teacher now
enrolled at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management (Rotman Full-Time MBA Profile) counts
herself among Wheelan's fans. "It explained the principles of economics," says Evans. "It's a textbook with the
readability of a novel or newspaper." The book simplifies economics—from gross domestic product to inflation—and
discusses issues such as what good can come of government regulation, and the pros and cons of taxation.
To be a winner, it helps to be on speaking terms with one's inner loser, which is what Pat Conroy attempts in My
Losing Season (The Dial Press, August 2003), a book that appears on Dean's list. The title refers to Conroy's
losing basketball season in his last year as a cadet at the male-dominated Citadel in the 1960s. For Conroy, the
experience of loss and humiliation held powerful lessons. "The basketball coach shows how very poor leadership
can be so demoralizing and demeaning to players that it can cause terrible outcomes for the team and personally,"
says Dean. It's a book that teaches aspiring managers what not to do.
LEARNING FROM BUFFETT
Warren Buffet is an undisputed winner in every sense of the word. For a fuller picture of the man, a good place to
start is The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life (Bantam, September 2008), by Alice Schroeder. The
title comes from one of Buffet's favorite sayings: "Life is like a snowball, and all you need is wet snow and a really
long hill." Schroeder had unlimited access to Buffet and interviewed him endlessly, rummaged through his files, and
talked to his friends and family to share his life story in a narrative form. "He's the biggest business name of our
generation," says Martin. "I think everyone should know his story." What Martin took away from the book, he says,
was how this socially awkward numbers guy made lots of money, but put it to good use and was quite charitable
because he'd rather leave behind a better world than lots of material goods.
In The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (Random House, April 2007), Nassim Nicholas Taleb
thrashes MBA-toting and Nobel Prize-winning experts who use economic models to predict the future. A financial
trader, Taleb looks at unpredicted events and phenomenon, such as why a book becomes a best-seller, to show
that things aren't always what they seem. "Life does not behave with regularity. Those who think it does, Taleb
says, will always be tripped up by the unexpected," writes Ninad Shinde , a student at London Business School
(London Business School Full-Time MBA Profile), in an e-mail about his reading list. "Black Swan extends that idea
beyond the financial markets he concentrated on in Fooled by Randomness to just about all walks of life."
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3. Summer Reading List: The B-School Edition - BusinessWeek http://www.businessweek.com/print/bschools/content/jun2009/bs2009...
Some managers fail to realize how important it is for them to have a basic education in psychology. Reading about
psychology is at least a start. Stumbling On Happiness (Vintage, March 2007), by Daniel Gilbert, offers a
fascinating—and sometimes even humorous—look at how humans are different from other animals because they try
to predict the future in search of happiness. "[This is] an absolutely fantastic book that shatters our most deeply held
convictions about how our own mind works," writes Shinde. Why people try to predict the future, and why they
rarely succeed, are the focus of Gilbert's book—and not a bad thing to ponder poolside as the summer of our
economic discontent continues.
Di Meglio is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com in Fort Lee, N.J.
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