If you're like me and looking for a bit of inspiration for your marketing, I have found myself reading a whole load of great marketing books that aren’t actually marketing books.
There are far more to get stuck into, but here are some books that I have thoroughly enjoyed recently.
Simon has a look at what businesses practice an infinite mindset (as opposed to a finite one) and how that drives much longer term success. It makes you think about those companies that have a ‘just cause’ and how having this purpose at the heart of their business is so important. Its easy to spot throughout this book just how a strong cause and a mindset toward an infinite game can empower amazing marketing work. Marketers love a strong, purposeful and authentic business reason for being – it enables us to do great work, consistent with what the business is. Well written and worth it for a mindset shift.
I keep going back to this book as an old friend. 4 hour work week keeps reminding me that life is not about work and there are so many ways to be more effective in what I do. There are lots of great thinking from fear setting, new rich vs deferrers and generally empowering you to get out and try new great work. Sure some of the concepts are a bit dated – the original was written around 2007 but the principles actually work even better in this truly digital age.
This marketing book is great for the recovering perfectionist and someone who has always wanted to be entrepreneurial but is waiting for the ‘right idea’. The lean start-up is definitely focused on the digital innovation space but the learnings can be used in many different environments. How useful can a ‘pilot’ be for marketers wanting to try something new but surrounded by reluctance. The Lean Start-up is all about getting something out the door and testing it with your customers. I’ve used this thinking in a B2B completely non-tech space and it worked a treat. Well worth a read
Did you know that the story about Icarus who flew too high to the sun and his wings melted? Well apparently he couldn’t fly too low to the sea either (as the sea would ruin the lift in his wings) but we never heard about that?
We live in a society where comfort zones are rewarded and art is risky. But Seth argues that ‘art is what is to be human’. We may be settling for too little. Best quote ‘writers block isn’t hard to cure. Just write. Write poorly, in public, until you can write better.’
The culture code was recommended by my colleague as a great read for the holiday break and he wasn’t wrong. The book looks at ‘why certain groups add up to be greater than the sum of their parts’. Does well thought strategy work best or are groups better at just figuring it out together? (spoiler alert – it’s the figuring it out).
This book talks a lot about trust and feeling safe. How high performance teams connect and make everyone feel part of the whole. Well worth a read if you are leading a team or if you are part of a team (and yes that’s going to be almost all of us).
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