Books That Can Enhance Your Career Prospects

By Dennis McCafferty | Posted 2014-08-19

1 of

The Innovator's Method: Bringing the Lean Start-up Into Your Organization

By Nathan R. Furr and Jeffrey H. Dyer, Harvard Business Review Press, Available: September. Adapt a start-up mindset—regardless of your organization's size—to quickly and effectively create, refine and execute ideas.
A World Gone Social: How Companies Must Adapt to Survive

Ted Coiné and Mark Babbitt, Amacom, Available: September. The authors present a guide to innovating, collaborating and driving toward monumental change through social media networks.
Becoming the Boss: New Rules for the Next Generation of Leaders

By Lindsey Pollak, Harper Business, Available: September. Develop a style that screams "boss material" to influencers by converting potential into leadership-worthy impact.
The Reciprocity Advantage: A New Way to Partner for Innovation and Growth

By Bob Johansen and Karl Ronn, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Available: September. Cloud computing is driving a new model for massive growth. By partnering with key parties, the whole can achieve more than the sum of the parts.
The Digital Economy, Anniversary Edition: Rethinking Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence

By Don Tapscott, McGraw-Hill Professional, Available: September. A sweeping analysis of how the Internet has changed business and society in the last 20 years.
The 27 Challenges Managers Face: Step-by-Step Solutions to (Nearly) All of Your Management Problems

By Bruce Tulgan, Jossey-Bass, Available: September. To resolve the vicious cycle created by immense workplace challenges, managers must take control of relationships and get back to fundamentals.
The Culture Engine: A Framework for Driving Results, Inspiring Your Employees, and Transforming Your Workplace

By S. Chris Edmonds, Wiley, Available: September. To foster a high performing culture, create a constitution that defines what matters and describes behaviors that contribute to enhanced performance and engagement.
Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation

By George Westerman, Didier Bonnet, Andrew McAfee, Harvard Business Review Press, Available: October. Tech pros don't have to reinvent the wheel on digital. The authors show how to learn from those who have already mastered the digital landscape.
Rookie Smarts: Why Learning Beats Knowing in the New Game of Work

By Liz Wiseman, Harper Business, Available: October. Studies show that under-qualified people often outperform their more experienced counterparts. It's more about curiosity and flexibility than experience.
Winners Dream: A Journey from Corner Store to Corner Office

By Bill McDermott with Joanne Gordon, Simon and Schuster, Available: October. McDermott, the CEO at SAP, recounts his working-class roots on Long Island and chronicles how his optimism and work ethic led to career success at Xerox and SAP.
Beyond Big Data: Using Social MDM to Drive Deep Customer Insight

By Martin Oberhofer, Eberhard Hechler, Ivan Milman, Scott Schumacher, Dan Wolfson, IBM Press, Available: November. IBM experts introduce innovative social MDM (master data management) techniques for integrating powerful insights from social media platforms with big data analytics.
Next Generation SOA: A Real-World Guide to Modern Service-Oriented Computing

By Thomas Erl, et al, Prentice Hall Professional, Available: November. This book provides an overview of service-oriented architecture (SOA) best practices written in an accessible, jargon-free style.
Fail Better: Design Smart Mistakes and Succeed Sooner

By Anjali Sastry, Kara Penn. Harvard Business Review Press, Available: November. Turn failures into future successes by instituting feedback loops as an established part of projects, tasks, etc., to develop best practices.
The Ten Golden Rules of Leadership: Classical Wisdom for Modern Leaders

By M.A. Soupios and Panos Mourdokoutas, Amacom, Available: November. Today's workplace leadership questions are answered by classic thinkers, including Aristotle, Heraclitus and Sophocles.
View All Slideshows >

Have you ever considered whether it's more important to be smart or resourceful? Do you wonder why some people--and teams--constantly make the same mistakes? Are you challenged daily to deal with endless project demands that always seem to require "a brand new blueprint" to make them work? If so, then the following fall business books promise to help you sort through these and other relevant challenges. The authors represent highly respected academic institutions, including Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as well as a long line of well-regarded business and technology leaders. One book conveys the urgency for businesses—even large enterprises—to recreate themselves with the best practices of start-ups. Another provides a more reflective perspective on the profound impact the Internet has had over the last two decades. So pick a title or two (or more) from this list and enjoy a good read that will help you become a more informed, well-rounded professional. These books are also likely to enhance your career prospects. (Release dates are subject to change, so check the listed books' Websites for updates.)

Dennis McCafferty is a freelance writer for Baseline Magazine.