The Best Business Books Of 2017 | Non-Obvious Book Award Winners

15 Best Business Books
Of 2017 For Leaders,
Business Owners &
Entrepreneurs
by
ROHIT BHARGAVA
MARKETER | SPEAKER | AUTHOR | LISTENER
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 7, 2017
HOLIDAY GIFT EDITION!
ACuratedCollectionoftheBest
BusinessBooks FromThePastYear

IMPACT:
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THE APPROACH:
HowWereTheseBooksChosen?
 How much of a difference in the world and in your life can the idea of the
book make?
 How unique is the idea and its delivery – and how unlikely are you to find
the big idea elsewhere?
 Is the quality of the writing good enough so the idea is delivered in an
impactful way?
 How practical is the book in taking the idea and offering real ways to use it
in life and business?
 Is the book important enough to share with others in conversation or as a
gift?
At the end of each year, we obsess over selecting 15 finalists for the Non-Obvious Book Award
Shortlist and 15 more for the Longlist. The books we select are all evaluated* based on a sliding
scale on the following five qualities:
Every year my team and I receive invitations to review dozens of business books.
We also routinely spend thousands of dollars buying books for our learning library
and as part of the curation process to produce our Non-Obvious Trend Report.

THE APPROACH:
HowWeReadAndCurateIdeas…
WANT TO GET THE WEEK’S MOST INTERESTING STORIES CURATED AND
DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX EVERY THURSDAY MORNING?
SUBSCRIBE TO JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST HERE:
WWW.ROHITBHARGAVA.COM/SUBSCRIBE
Every year my team and I routinely curate interesting ideas and content to share either
through my weekly newsletter every Thursday – or through my annual trend report. This
is a snapshot of what the process looks like …

The following are all of the books selected for the Shortlist and Longlist this year.
All selections are listed alphabetically.
THE NON-OBVIOUS BOOK AWARDS
ShortlistandLonglistSelections
THE SHORTLIST:
• Win Bigly – Scott Adams
• Disrupt! – James Bidwell
• Entrepreneurial You – Dorie Clark
• Your Ad Ignored Here – Tom Fishburne
• 50 Inventions That Changed The Modern
Economy – Tim Harford
• Power of Moments – Chip + Dan Heath
• Give Work – Leila Janah
• Exactly What To Say – Phil Jones
• The Unmade Bed – Stephen Marche
• Hit Refresh – Satya Nadella
• Grocery – Michael Ruhlman
• How To Be A Bawse – Lilly Singh
• Unleashing The Innovators – Jim Stengel
• Hit Makers – Derek Thompson
• No Ego – Cy Wakeman
THE LONGLIST:
• Finish – Jon Acuff
• Dollars and Cents – Dan Ariely
• Barking Up The Wrong Tree – Eric Barker
• All These Wonders – Catherine Burns
• The Business of Persuasion – Harold Burson
• How To Think – Alan Jacobs
• Trust Rules – Bob Lee
• The Power of Onlyness – Nilofer Merchant
• Reset – Ellen Pao
• The Infidel and the Professor – Dennis C.
Rasmussen
• Radical Candor – Kim Scott
• The Art of Stopping Time – Pedram Shojai
• Everybody Lies – Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
• The Grid – Matt Watkinson
• Bored and Brilliant – Manoush Zomorodi

NON-OBVIOUS BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS:
The Shortlist
*Books are listed
alphabetically
ABOUT THE LONGLIST:
This year among all the books we considered, these were our top 15 choices for books
we enjoyed the most.* Each book is reviewed here and on Amazon and rated using our
five criteria to help you learn more, along with an easy link to buy the book:

ABOUT THE LONGLIST:
Every year in the course of evaluating over 100 books to include as finalists, there are
always some that we love which don’t make the final Shortlist. This year, we’re sharing a
few of those here in our 2017 Non-Obvious Book Award Longlist:
NON-OBVIOUS BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS:
The Long List

There are 15 books on the short list for five final awards. The following are the
awards that are available for books (winner announcements are at the end of this
presentation) …
THE APPROACH:
WhatCategoriesWillBeAwarded?

OUR REVIEW:
Opens your mind to consider why Trump might
be an underappreciated master of persuasion.
Over the past year, Dilbert creator Scott Adams has been vilified by the liberal
media for being a rare supporting voice for the persuasive powers of candidate
(and now President) Trump. This book is the victory lap he couldn’t help writing.
For example, he writes: "Instead of dribbling out one headline at a time so the
vultures and critics can focus their fire, Trump has flooded the playing field. You
don't know where to aim your outrage.”
To be fair, this book has some glaring editorial problems. Most notably, there is
so much repetition of ideas (and words) from chapter to chapter that it seems
like an editor barely looked at it. Those issues aside, reading his assessment of
Trump as a master persuader was at once sickening and illuminating.
At the end of the day, the book paints a convincing picture that Trump might
know exactly what he is doing, and has manipulated all of our attention exactly
where he wants it. Like him or not, you have to admit his methods are working.
Adams, for his part, is enjoying the show immensely. Whether you choose to do
the same or try to mount your own resistance, this book will open your mind.
2017 NON-OBVIOUS BUSINESS BOOK AWARD SHORTLISTED BOOK:
WinBiglybyScottAdams
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OUR REVIEW:
A compilation of ideas that belongs on your
bookshelf to inspire new thinking.
As a trend curator, I have been a fan and reader of the excellent idea spotting
work at Springwise for many years, so I had this book pre-ordered for months.
Through their network of more than 20,000 idea spotters, Springwise
collects interesting ideas globally. In this book, you’ll find 100 stories of
interesting startups, initiatives and products along with useful questions for
each one to get you thinking about how to take each idea and use it to inspire
new ideas in your company or industry.
I would have liked to have seen more images to bring these great ideas to life a
little more easily, especially in a large format sized book like this – and color
would have been nice as well since I imagine this book will have applications
and usage within academia as an actual text book as well.
Like with other compilation style books, this is not one that you will likely read
from start to finish. Rather, you will probably look now, keep it on your
bookshelf and come back to it over and over again as a resource to inspire new
thinking. I’ve only had it a few months and I’m already using it that way.
DisruptbyJamesBidwell
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OUR REVIEW:
The last and most important book in the
trilogy series that will change your career.
As a fan of Dorie's first and second books, I was eager to see what ideas this new
one would introduce. Positioned as the inevitable third book in her series trilogy of
building your own brand and learning how to stand out, this one focuses on the all
important question of how to make money. Starting with the idea of building what
Dorie calls a "portfolio career," she outlines the method for how to create multiple
streams of income in many different ways.
If you are a fan of books like The Automatic Customer by John Warrilow, or
Mastermind Dinners by Jayson Gaignard, or Ask by Ryan Lefesque – this is a book
that puts all those ideas together and wraps them into a step by step guidebook
that anyone can follow.
If you have a services based business, need to build your profile or are just looking
for more ways to monetize your expertise, this book is one you need to get. I have
already started using some of the ideas to grow my own business, and I suspect that
this book will have a similar impact for you as well. Highly recommended.
Entrepreneurial YoubyDorieClark
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OUR REVIEW:
A curated collection of the best ideas from
every marketer’s favorite cartoonist.
What happens when you combine the mind of a long suffering former
corporate marketer and Harvard MBA with the keen observational skills of a
comedian and cartoonist? You get this book.
If you are in business, chances are you have already seen at least one of Tom’s
cartoons in a Powerpoint presentation (they are all intentionally sized to fit
perfectly on a slide). Perhaps you have used one yourself in the past. His
cartoons describe the unique combination of bullshit and persuasion that is
modern day marketing better than almost anything else.
Reading this book is like sitting next to a hilarious friend in every boring
meeting you have ever had and being entertained as he passes you one clever
doodle after another describing the absurdity happening right in front of you.
I have frequently used (and paid for) his cartoons to liven up my
presentations. Whether you have or haven’t, I am guessing you will now … and
so the very least you could do is buy this book to support his work. The next
time you’re stuck on a boring conference call, you will be happy you have it.
YourAdIgnoredHerebyTomFishburne
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OUR REVIEW:
The most entertaining book of the year, filled
with surprising stories that explain the world.
It took just two pages before I knew I would love this book. Part of it has to do
with the beautifully constructed stories and deep insights that Harford
delivers without the fluff and fanfare that so many other authors employ.
Instead of lazy complexity, this book tells the underappreciated stories of
everything from Barbed Wire to Shipping Containers and why exactly each
shaped the world’s economy through their adoption.
Why is IKEA’s Billy bookcase so iconic? How did the invention of the
Department Store help women feel more empowered? This is a book written
for anyone curious about why our world economy works the way that it does.
The choices for which inventions to include (Razors and Blades, Passports,
Market Research) are as interesting as those that he intentionally leaves out
(the Computer and Airplane, for example). This is not just a book about big
inventions. Instead, it’s a tribute from a highly curious mind about the
inventions that deserve more celebration for the way that they changed how
we work, travel, buy, sell and transact in the modern economy. Easily my
choice for the most entertaining book I read all year.
50InventionsThatShapedtheModernEconomy
byTimHarford
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OUR REVIEW:
A fascinating exploration of why moments stand
out and how to have (and create) more of them.
Do the defining moments of our lives just happen to us or is there some pattern to
why they stand out? What causes us to misremember some experiences and
moments as more positive than they actually were, and others as the opposite?
These are the questions the Heath brothers tackle in this new book and they are
widely relevant.
Using examples ranging from a quirky California hotel with a “popsicle hotline” to a
powerful idea from a high school to celebrate “signing day” when their seniors
declare where they are going to college the same way we celebrate athletes getting
drafted – this book does a masterful job of illustrating the wide range of moments
in our lives that matter and just how much can be done to make them better.
These moments are the way that we understand big ideas, make wholesale changes,
and delight in experiences. Ultimately, this book will leave you with a new found
appreciation for just how important these experiences are, as well as just how
much they can be shaped and improved in business if you just focus on them.
ThePowerofMomentsbyChip+DanHeath
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OUR REVIEW:
An idea that is actually changing the world.
It is a commonly known truth among those who work in the non profit sector
that the most powerful way to fight poverty is to help people lift themselves
by working and having a purpose rather than giving them handouts.
This book from Samasource founder Leilah Janah offers an inside look at her
personal journey to build a global organization that has given work to tens of
thousands of the bottom billion poorest individuals in the world by
outsourcing "good" tech jobs to them and helping train them to do them.
She writes: "Western countries have the best intentions but charity based aid
often does more harm than good, and billions of people continue to suffer.
Giving dignified steady fair wage work is the most effective way.“
In the book she tackles everything from how corruption impacts aid to her
observation, inspired by a visit to the World Bank, that it is no longer staffed
entirely with bankers.
I realize you can’t realistically describe the ideas of very many books as world
changing, but this one does actually happen to fit that description.
GiveWorkbyLeilaJanah
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OUR REVIEW:
For anyone who has ever wished for a script to
communicate difficult ideas – this book has it.
The simple idea of this book is that there are “magic words” that can have an
outsized impact in how you are able to persuade and influence others to
understand your point of view, sell them your ideas, or just be more respected.
Reading this well laid out and simple conversation guide will offer you highly
actionable tips on words and phrases to use and how to inject them into your daily
interactions.
What I liked best about this book was the workbook style layout that made it
immediately applicable for anyone to take a particular lesson and put it into action.
Sometimes it is nice to read a book that skips the fluff and just tells you exactly
what you want to know. Knowing exactly what to say obviously also means getting
right to the point, and that’s what Phil does in this book.
Being persuasive is not always an easy thing to pull off. No matter if you consider
yourself a gifted communicator or conversationally challenges, this is one book
that will inspire you to seek out conversation just so you can try the tips for
yourself.
Exactly WhatToSaybyPhilJones
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OUR REVIEW:
Boldly tackles the timely question of how men
and women can better understand each other.
In the piles of books we considered this year, there were no less than a dozen
focused on the female empowerment. This book is a much needed exploration of
the other side: what does it mean to be a man in this changing culture?
Written by Esquire magazine contributing editor Steven Marshall along with
editorial footnotes from his writer and editor wife Sarah Fulford, the book
immediately tackles the idea of mansplaining and asks the relevant question of
whether it is ever ok for a man to explain anything to a woman in today’s culture.
How much should a man speak anyway?
This willingness to take on somewhat taboo conversations is a refreshing theme
throughout this book, as Marche tackles everything from new fatherhood to the
"paradox of pornography" and whether it does indeed cause more violence toward
women, or whether it serves as a "substitute for rape." The answers, like the
questions themselves, are elusive.
Can men and women ever truly move toward better understanding one another?
That is the most important question of this book and one that I think most of us
continue to seek a satisfying answer for.
TheUnmadeBedbyStephenMarche
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OUR REVIEW:
Offers a look inside the most ambitious modern
corporate culture transformation ever.
What if working at Microsoft had a deeper meaning? In the past that might have
been a laughable idea, but it anyone can do it, it might be Nadella. "We spend far
too much time at work for it not to have deep meaning,” he writes. While that
might seem like standard inspirational talk for a CEO, the entire first third of the
book focuses on how Nadella has made it a priority to bring more empathy back
to Microsoft and encourage more risk taking without fearing failure.
Grounded in his personal journey of being a father to a special needs child, the
book also relays his efforts to bring mindfulness and other non-obvious leadership
techniques to Microsoft’s executive team, and further down the organization.
Adding credibility is Nadella’s open willingness to take an honest look even at his
own missteps, including his widely criticized gaffe at a women's tech conference.
While the blunder was embarrassing, Nadella proactively speaks of it in the book
with an openness and vulnerability that you rarely find in executive memoirs – all
of which supports the perception that this is who he really is. Humble, brave,
empathetic, human and trustworthy. Hopefully he can succeed in his efforts to
mold the culture of Microsoft in the same image.
HitRefresh bySatyaNadella
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OUR REVIEW:
A fascinating exploration of the daily retail
experience almost every other book ignores.
"Grocery stores are more than just places to buy food. They are in a broader sense a
reflection of our culture."
While there are plenty of books about food and health, there are very few that dig
deeply into the only retail experience most of us visit more than once every week.
By following the management and staff at Heinens, a midsize Midwestern chain
based in his hometown of Cleveland Ohio, the author asks the questions most of us
have wondered at one point or another. The one question he tackles in particular, is
whether there is some underhanded sneakiness in how the food is positioned in the
grocery store in order to optimize sales.
Are sugary foods intentionally placed at eye level for toddlers to see? Is milk
intentionally placed at the back of the store to encourage impulse buys? The
interesting answers he gets will help you understand how your assumptions are
myths and not realities of modern grocery store design.
Grocery byMichael Ruhlman
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OUR REVIEW:
Much more than your average forgettable
career guide from a social media influencer.
There is no shortage of guide books to career and life success written by
influencers whose sole career bullet point involves creating videos that have
amassed millions of fans and followers. Many of them are naïve and
forgettable attempts to cash in on fleeting popularity. This book is different.
The 50 chapter titles sum up the irreverent voice of the book: Don't give
away all your secrets. Call yourself out. Commit to your decisions. Schedule
inspiration. Not everyone hates you. Understand priorities. Be
unapologetically yourself. You are a chameleon.
Ultimately what makes this collection of tips so readable and worthwhile is the
authenticity of the author that comes through in her writing just as it does in
her videos. The book actually feels like you're sitting down and getting advice
from Singh herself, which is presumably the reason why anyone would want to
read it in the first place.
This is the perfect non-obvious business book holiday gift to give the up-and
coming professional in your life.
HowToBeABawsebyLillySingh
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OUR REVIEW:
Reveals the secret of why some large companies
succeed at disruption while others fail.
Just about every mature company is struggling to find the right ways to
embrace disruption. Hotels worry about Airbnb. Automakers worry about
ridesharing. Retailers worry about Amazon.
How can large mature organizations successfully prepare for the future? The
results of a global study of more than 200 established corporations and startups
that the author conducted in coordination with OgilvyRED (my former firm)*,
finds the same conclusion I see with most of the organizations I work with that are
successfully planning for the future.
The insight: partnership works better than acquisition. Stengel’s research found
that companies with successful start up partnerships are 3 times more likely to
change their culture to be more innovative than those who rely on acquisition or do
nothing. Large scale mergers drive investor revenue, but do little to change culture
to promotion innovation. Instead, innovation happens by starting something new
from within and augmenting that by using incubators, startup partners and venture
capital-style investments.
*The final publication of this research was after the time that I left Ogilvy and I was not involved in this project.
Unleashing theInnovators
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OUR REVIEW:
A research based exploration past the hype
into what actually makes anything go viral.
There is plenty of advice to be had in books and online
columns on what makes anything go viral, but this book is
one of the most even handed explorations of how hits are
actually formed.
Taking the trademark approach he also employs in his work
for The Atlantic, the author takes us into the elements of
what makes ideas Looking at the somewhat puzzling success
of Fifty Shades of Gray, for example, offers the author a lens
from which to share all the elements that went into the
book’s rise – and illustrates why it was more predictable than
you may realize. For anyone who is trying to create a
product or idea that achieves viral success, this book will give
you some techniques you can use right away.
HitMakers byDerekThompson
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OUR REVIEW:
A highly useful debunking of the most commonly
heard management myths in business today.
What if the management advice that you have heard for years, like maintaining an
“open door policy” was actually holding you and your team back from greatness?
Unlike other management books written from an academic point of view, this
book is like a real life coaching session from a helpful mentor on how to create
connection without becoming a magnet for drama.
If you love the workplace drama, this is not the book for you. Instead, it is written
like a cross between a tough but necessary slap in the face from a brutally honest
friend, and a no bullshit challenge from the toughest boss you’ve ever loved. “Your
circumstances are not the reason you can’t succeed; they are the environment in
which you must succeed,” writes the author. The book is filled with truisms like
this which seem slightly obvious once you read them, but still no less profound.
As I read this book, I found myself making a mental list of every whiny, victimized,
or entitled person I had ever worked with and wishing I would have known about
this book back then. Yes, it would have been great as a gift. Even more
importantly, reading this could have given me a way to deal with those colleagues
more effectively.
NoEgobyCyWakeman
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MOST IMPORTANT
BOOK OF 2017
2017 NON-OBVIOUS BUSINESS BOOK AWARDS:
TheWinners!
MOST ORIGINAL
BOOK OF 2017
MOST ENTERTAINING
BOOK OF 2017
MOST USEFUL
BOOK OF 2017
MOST SHAREABLE
BOOK OF 2017

CURATED BY THE
AUTHOR & TEAM
BEHIND THE
BEST SELLING
TREND SERIES
NON-OBVIOUS
AWARDS
2017WINNERS
THE2017SHORTLIST
THE2017LONGLIST

Q: DO BOOKS PAY TO BE FEATURED ON YOUR LIST?
A: Absolutely not! While we sometimes accept review copies of books or early galley editions for review, there is no
outside way an author or publisher can influence which books are selected for this list. On average every year 80% of the
books on this list are books purchased and not free review copies. For the others, I sometimes accept a review copy but
never promise any sort of coverage or inclusion in this list as that is based purely on merit and my opinion.
Q: WHY DO YOU DO THIS LIST?
A: There is no vested financial stake in any of these books for myself or my team (apart from any affiliate links to buy the
books which lead back to Amazon). My team and I do this list each year because we love books and believe in their power
to change the way we think.
Q: WHY DOES IT COME OUT NOW?
A: Since we do the list annually, we have to wait until now. The release of our awards comes out the same week as the
latest edition of Non-Obvious for two reasons. First, because the books we mention helped shape our thinking on trends
for the year. Secondly, we know people love giving books as holiday gifts so we want to share some of our favorites!
Q: I’M AN AUTHOR. HOW DO I GET CONSIDERED FOR THIS LIST?
A: We do accept submissions for this list – if you’d like to make a suggestion or submission, email your suggestions to
ea@nonobviouscompany.com and we will add it to our list for consideration.
Q: I’M ANGRY THAT YOU MISSED [insert book title here] THIS YEAR! WHERE DO I DIRECT MY OUTRAGE?
A: You can use the same email address above – and I know that with a list limited to 15 titles, many amazing books won’t
make the cut. Feel free to suggest one, though, and we can certainly add it to our reading list!
MORE INFORMATION:
FrequentlyAskedQuestions

ABOUT ROHIT:
Rohit Bhargava is a trend curator, marketing expert, storyteller and the Wall Street Journal
best-selling author of five books. After spending 15 years leading brand strategy at two of
the most respected marketing agencies in the world (Ogilvy and Leo Burnett), Rohit left
the corporate world to become an entrepreneur and is currently the Chief Trend
Curator of the Non-Obvious Company and the Founder of Ideapress Publishing.
He teaches marketing and storytelling at Georgetown University, is a columnist
for GQ magazine in Brazil and travels the world regularly as an entertaining,
humble and non-boring keynote speaker.
Contact Rohit:
rohit@nonobviouscompany.com
ABOUT THE NON-OBVIOUS TREND SERIES:
QUICK FACTS:
WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST SELLER
AXIOM AWARD WINNER (BUSINESS THEORY)
8 YEARS OF ANNUAL TREND PREDICTIONS
OVER 100 TRENDS PREDICTED
READ BY OVER 1 MILLION PEOPLE

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