| "You with a book propped on your knees, a breeze seen in your coffee steam" |
I had read a lot of non-fiction books over years. The following four books are the ones that helped me, as an entrepreneur and citizen, the most at understanding the world around us. All of them are well written and easy to read, so don't worry about them being too dry.
‘Why Nations Fail’ by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson (2012)
‘Why Nations Fail’ is about the pig picture. It will likely give you more insight than anything you have ever read before into why some nations fail and why some prosper and what their respective political systems have to do with it. The authors make a detailed case for why and how “the openness of a society, its willingness to permit creative destruction, and the rule of law appear to be decisive for economic development.” (Kenneth J. Arrow, Nobel laureate in economics).
‘The World Is Flat - The Globalized World In The Twenty-First Century’ by Thomas L. Friedman (2005, 2006)
‘The World Is Flat’, by Thomas L. Friedman, is a hugely insightful read about globalization. Unlike many other books about the subject, it is based on facts rather than fears, and although Friedman acknowledges that not all is well, ‘The World Is Flat’ is ultimately a optimistic and hopeful book that describes "the flattening of the world [as] a force for good - for business, the environment and people everywhere". If you are a globalization-sceptic, this book might just change your mind. Whatever your current opinion is, this book will teach you a lot and it'll help you understand what globalization really is. Again, I believe it is one of the most important books you can read.
Here is an outtake that continues to inspire me, from the very end of the book:
I can't tell any other society or culture what to say to its own children, but I can tell you what I say to my own: The world is being flattened. I didn't start it and you can't stop it, except at a great cost of human development and your own future. But we can tilt it, and shape it, for better or for worse. If it is to be for better, not for worse, then you and your generation must not live in fear or either the terrorists or tomorrow, of ether alQaeda or Infosys. You can flourish in this flat world, but it does take the right imagination and the right motivation. While your lives have been powerfully shaped by 9/11, the world needs you to be forever the generation of 11/9 - the generation of strategic optimists, the generation with more dreams than memories, the generation that wakes up each morning and not only imagines that things can be better but also acts on that imagination every day.
3. ‘The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created A Culture That Rewrote The Rules Of The New Economy by Steve Stoute (2011)
Although ‘The Tanning Of America’ by Steve Stoute, branding wizard, is theoretically a business book, it also changes your perspectives on the world at large. At its core, the book is about how Hip Hop culture, with its focus on authenticity and aspiration, shaped the millennial generation, weather they know it or not, and about how they now are the most influential generation in the world. It is therefore an essential read if you want to understand the present and the future a little more. Also, if your are a marketer or business person, once you have internalized the basics of marketing, for example by reading the works of Philip Kotler (which many of you will have read in business school), ‘The Tanning Of America’ might just be the best book you can read if you want to get better at your job. Its main lesson for marketers is one that we also like to highlight continuously: authenticity is everything.
As the Translation [Steve Stoute's company] motto puts it, “Trends are perishable, cool is forever.” Let that be the clarification of the rule that urban culture has bequeathed to the new economy.
4. ‘Young China: How the Restless Generation Will Change Their Country and the World’ by Zak Dychtwald (2018)
China, the second largest economy in the world, is still an unknown factor to many, including a lot of business people. That is clearly a problem, given that China is home to, among others, roughly 400 million millennials and 300 million English speakers. A good place to start is ‘Young China: How the Restless Generation Will Change Their Country and the World’ by Zak Dychtwald, a 2018 book about China's millennials and about how they view their country and the world.
Young China is not only very informative and insightful, but also very well written and frequently very touching. The author struck a great balance between (often dazzling) facts and personal stories. I highly recommend it to both professionals as well as casual readers with an interest in China and/or youth culture in general.
One Love,
Marius | 1520
Note: this article was originally about three books, but has since been update to include a fourth book that was published in 2018.