It’s January, Happy New Year, and time for my yearly post covering the books I read over the last year. It’s my sixth year of sharing my top book reads of the previous year, and you can review my previous lists here: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019.
I already covered some of my 2024 book reads in other posts. Please review my post on twelve must-read books every tech leader needs to succeed as a product manager, which includes these great books: Obviously Awesome, Deploy Empathy, The SaaS Playbook, and Productize, along with eight other recommendations. I also cover Winning With Data Science in my blog post on 12 helpful genAI strategies for winning with data science.
Three books you should read as a digital storyteller
Every year, I seek books that help me as a digital storyteller and thought leader. I look to fill gaps in what I should write about, improve my storytelling, and develop other marketing skills. Last year, I had three books that digital storytellers shouldn’t miss.
Digital storyteller include speakers, bloggers, data scientists, and social media contributors. If you present to your peers, pitch ideas, or lead learning programs, then you are a digital storyteller. Most Digital Trailblazers are digital storytellers, and we can all learn from others who not only made it in their fields but also went on to share their best practices.
Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling
Storyworthy is one of my favorite books of all time. The author, Matthew Dicks, is A five-time Moth GrandSLAM winner and uses the book to share some of his best stories and storytelling best practices. Storyworthy was a game-changer for me, and I follow several of Matthew’s recommendations, including his Homework for Life, tips on finding new five-second stories, and five ways to keep a story compelling. Very highly recommended. View on Amazon.
Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, but I learned a lot from it. I’ve always been a notetaker, but I never had a system where I could use my notes. I went from books to tablets to phones and shifted between several note-taking apps, but none solved the dilemma – all helped with short-term memory, but none with longer-term value from the knowledge base I wanted to create. No surprise that it’s not a tech issue – the secret is in what you choose to capture and how you organize the information. I am now using the PARA method recommended by the author, Tiago Forte, with much success. The book gets repetitive at times, but there are some great techniques to pull from this book. Highly recommended. View on Amazon.
Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things
You can’t go wrong with an Adam Grant book and he packs a lot of wisdom in them. Hidden Potential exemplifies his storytelling capabilities around several topics that could easily be too abstract to be useful. For example, there are myriads of self-help and continuous improvement books, but Grant’s examples, stories, and research create highly memorable moments and lessons. His three chapters on scaffolding to overcome obstacles have several important lessons for Digital Trailblazers committed to lifelong learning. Highly recommended. View on Amazon.
Two books of great digital storytelling
To pair with books that will help you as a digital storyteller, below are two books with great stories to learn from.
Kara Swisher’s “Tech Love Story” is a must-read for anyone involved in tech and the internet from the early 1990s. The book is like having a backstage pass to her key interviews and meetings with just about every VIP in technology. As the title suggests, Swisher doesn’t hold back her feelings and calls out bad behaviors and wrongdoings as she sees them. Highly recommended. Buy on Amazon.
Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life
What can I say? I have always loved Steve Martin, from his Saturday Night Live days to his great movies like The Jerk and The Three Amigos! His humor can be puzzling, something he admits to while sharing his journey to success in Born Standing Up. Recommended to all Steve Martin fans! Buy on Amazon.
AI and Leadership Reads
While this post largely focuses on storytelling, I would also like to mention several other good reads for Digital Trailblazers around AI and leadership.
On AI, read Eric Siegel’s The AI Playbook: Mastering the Rare Art of Machine Learning Deployment if you’re a product manager or data scientist looking to bring more AI/ML capabilities from POC to production. For data governance leaders and anyone working in government or nonprofit, read Governing AI for a Responsible Future by Sukanya Konatam. If you work in education, be sure to read Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education by Salman Khan, founder of Khan Academy, on incorporating ChatGPT into their learning platform.
A must-read for everyone working in tech, data, and AI is Mustafa Suleyman’s book, The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century’s Greatest Dilemma, which offers a realistic outlook on what leaders must be prepared for and take responsibility for in the AI era.
On leadership, check out Walt Carter’s We Can’t Stay Here: Becoming A Great Change Captain if you are a CIO, aspire to be one, or are in the midst of leading a turnaround. I also enjoyed Val Ries’s book, Chief Inspiration Officer: How to Lead the Team Everyone Wants to be On, and I highly recommend it if you lead sales teams or are in marketing and must influence them.
Recommendations from Other Leaders
I’m always looking for recommendations from other business, technology, and other thought leaders.
Joe Puglisi, Growth Strategist and Fractional CIO at 10Xnewco, enjoyed 2054 by Ackerman & Stavridis, saying, “It is a fictional account of the future with undertones of a warning about the dangers of AI particularly as it approaches singularity.”
Ram Ramamoorthy, head of AI research at ManageEngine, recommends Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull because it offers a rare perspective on nurturing creativity within an organization. Ramamoorthy says, “Catmull, co-founder of Pixar, shares how to build a culture that doesn’t just accept failure but uses it as a way to learn and grow. It’s about creating an environment where people feel safe to take risks and offer honest feedback, which is crucial for any team pushing for innovation. For CXOs and digital leaders driving transformation, this book is packed with practical advice on managing creativity and enabling a culture that can adapt and thrive in the face of change.”
John Kim, CEO of Sendbird recommends that teams read High Growth Handbook by Elad Gil “to inspire innovation and transformation.”
Your reading goals and recommendations
Lifelong learning requires commitment, and I recommend selecting multiple focus areas and mediums for your journey. I hope reading and listening to books are among them.
What are you reading?
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