Our Top 10 Books Of 2023
“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.”
We’ve motored through a healthy number of books this year at 42courses.
There are too many to mention individually, so we’ve whittled it down to 10 outstanding reads.
We’ve also included a few takeaways from each one to reflect on.
So, in no particular order, here we go.
1. The Surrender Experiment by Micheal A. Singer
Michael A. Singer studied finance and accounting at university. He was bright and on the ‘right track’ as far as society and his parents were concerned.
But he felt something wasn’t right.
So he quit his studies, bought a camper van and started travelling.
Singer formed a philosophy on his journey of surrendering to life's unfolding events rather than letting personal desires and fears dictate his decisions.
The Surrender Experiment shares the remarkable experiences that arose from letting go and allowing life to guide his path.
His story reflects the transformative power of surrender as he progressed from a traveller to the founder of a thriving spiritual community and a multimillion-dollar business empire.
The book makes you question how you live your own life and is a testament to the serendipity and harmony that can emerge when you openly embrace what comes your way.
Three takeaways:
1. You have less control over your life than you think. Therefore, is it better to approach life and circumstances more open-mindedly?
2. When you fear a decision, try to push through it. More often than not, it’s an opportunity to grow.
3. Learning to let go is enormously empowering and lifts many people's heavy psychological burden of expectation.
2. How Big Things Get Done by Professor Bent Flyvbjerg & Dan Gardner
Professor Flyvbjerg has advised businesses and governments on the principles and practices behind accomplishing large-scale projects.
He explains why so many of them run over time and budget, like the Scottish Government building (which paid James Bond actor Shaun Connery £600,000 to record his voice for their lift floor announcements) and the Sydney Opera House.
But not all of them fail to reach their targets.
The Empire State Building is one famous example Flyvberg discusses, which finished within budget and ahead of time.
Ultimately, Flyvberg emphasises the utmost importance of precise planning.
After all, It is extremely difficult to change your mind on a big project once it’s started because it involves so many moving parts.
Three takeaways:
1. We are all susceptible to the ‘planning fallacy, ' i.e., we regularly underestimate the resources required to do something.
2. If you want your project to be successful, you must adopt the ‘think slow, act fast’ philosophy. I.e. spend time upfront planning in great detail to minimise issues when the project is underway and then act fast to minimise the costs.
3. Modularity is key to building things at scale efficiently. Lego is a great analogy. You can easily put bricks together to form different shapes of different sizes.
3. The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation by Jon Gertner
Gertner's book is a chronicle of Bell Labs and its unparalleled contributions to innovation and modern technology.
Bell Labs was the research division of the American telecoms giant AT&T, and in the 1940s, it was the location of some of the most breakthrough advances the world has ever seen.
These inventions included the semiconductor (used by every electronic device on earth), the laser, fibre optic cable and the satellite, to name but a few.
Most of these groundbreaking ideas originated from an unassuming collection of brick buildings 25 miles west of New York City.
So, what about this place made it such a hotbed for innovation?
The answer is it had a robust, creative culture.
In The Idea Factory, Gertner examines the crucial elements that made Bell Labs so successful and suggests how any organisation can take them as inspiration for designing a more creative environment.
Three takeaways:
1. ‘Psychological safety’ is important. Bell Labs had a flat organisational structure, meaning junior members could approach and challenge bosses without fear of retribution.
2. AT&T hired a vast number of talented people with a range of skills. This roster included more than 3,000 PhDs and many eccentric and maverick thinkers. Most famous amongst these was the inventor of information theory, Claude Shannon, who often slept in his office and sometimes didn’t even show up for work.
3. Bell Labs had a high tolerance for failure because the management understood it was critical to the discovery process. One of its greatest blunders was the ‘Picturephone’, a type of video calling device introduced in 1971, years ahead of its time.
4. Obvious Adams: The Story of a Successful Businessman by Robert R Updegraff
Robert ‘Bob’ Updegraff was a business consultant for over forty years to senior management at leading US companies like Kellogg’s, ALCOA, General Foods and Westinghouse.
In other words, he was well-placed to recognise the unnecessary complexity that affects most businesses.
This phenomenon happens because people tend to dismiss simple ideas. After all, they seem too straightforward and obvious.
Updegraff’s classic tale is a call to do the opposite and highlights the power of clear thinking and scuttling through the bullshit.
It's also a quick read that packs a punch despite its short length.
Three takeaways:
1. You can use psychological tricks for good or evil. For example, scammers use the same techniques as honest marketers. It’s just how they go about it.
2. In any area, you can sell more training than anything else. Most people won’t act on your lessons - but they will buy book after book, course after course, webinar after webinar. That’s where the real money is.
3. All great marketing and advertising tell a good story. Storytelling is the most effective way to convey your message.
5. Blindsight: The (Mostly) Hidden Ways Marketing Reshapes Our Brains by Matt Johnson, PhD & Prince Ghuman
While you probably consider yourself an autonomous decision-maker regarding buying behaviour, the reality is more complex.
Modern marketing uses various psychological tricks to persuade you to make choices you might not otherwise have made.
Blindsight is an investigation into these methods using case studies and empirical research that will open your eyes to making more informed decisions.
As we live more of our lives online, each click we make enables marketers to better understand and predict our behaviour.
Nowadays, brands possess a deeper knowledge of your preferences than you might have about yourself.
This book lifts the veil on these marketing tactics and brilliantly explains why we fall so easily for them.
Three takeaways:
1. The human brain likes to conserve energy
Paying proper attention requires effort (it’s why you feel mentally exhausted after taking a tough exam), so if there’s a shortcut to arrive at a solution, the brain will take that option every time. This habit is known as the ‘law of least mental effort’. It serves us well most of the time but makes us prone to misjudgment under certain conditions.
2. Perception influences taste
A study from the University of Bordeaux demonstrated that taste is fallible even for wine experts. The test provided sommeliers with two different glasses of wine: a red one and a white one. They then asked respondents to review each wine. Unbeknownst to the sommeliers, the red and the white were exactly the same (the red wine had food colouring added). Not only were the wines perceived as tasting completely different, but the red wine was ascribed, red wine flavour characteristics like ‘raspberry’ and mahogany’.
3. The Gruen Effect
Shopping malls are overstimulating and disorientating because the more exhausting the shopping environment is, the less able shoppers are to control their impulses and the more money they spend. This approach is known as the ‘Gruen Effect’ after the architect Victor Gruen, who designed the first shopping mall in America.
6. $100 Million Offers by Alex Hormozi
This book is a how-to guide for entrepreneurs and marketers wanting to create irresistible offers to grow their businesses. It revolves around the argument that the key to success lies in creating compelling offers that potential customers feel it's a no-brainer to buy from you.
Hormozi, a successful entrepreneur, shares his insights on structuring offers that dramatically increase the perceived value while minimising the perceived risk. He explains the importance of deeply understanding your customer’s needs and framing your offer to align perfectly with those needs, making the offer irresistible.
The book covers various tactics, including the significance of bundling products or services, offering guarantees, and creating a sense of scarcity or urgency. Hormozi also addresses how to price offers and use various marketing strategies to enhance their appeal.
The book is deservedly acclaimed for its practical, actionable advice grounded in real-world experience. It does not disappoint.
Three takeaways:
1. Raise your prices. Almost all companies undercharge for their product. Building a highly profitable business with lower prices is very hard as you need considerable scale. Also, you can’t compete on price as it’s a race to the bottom.
2. Offer incredible value by giving away lots of high-quality content.
3. Master the give: ask ratio with social media. You give at least four pieces of high-quality content for every request you have of your audience.
7. Excellent Advice for Living by Kevin Kelly
Kevin Kelly was born in 1952 and is an influential figure in the tech industry.
As a co-founder of Wired magazine, he played a pivotal role in shaping conversation around technology and its impact on society.
He's also an acclaimed author of the books Out of Control and What Technology Wants, which explore the complexities and trajectories of technological evolution.
His latest book takes a different tack and is a collection of advice for living. It distils life lessons into bite-sized, easily digestible insights.
In essence, the book serves as a guide for thoughtful living, blending philosophical insights with actionable advice.
Three takeaways:
1. ‘Pay attention to what you pay attention to’.
2. ‘Bad things can happen fast, but almost all good things happen slowly’.
3. ‘You don’t need more time because you already have all the time that you will ever get; you need more focus.’
8. The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal by David Hoffeld
The Science of Selling by David Hoffeld is a groundbreaking approach to sales approach rooted in scientific studies and psychological insights.
It challenges traditional sales methods and proposes a more evidence-based strategy. Hoffeld integrates social psychology, neuroscience, and behavioural economics principles to explain how and why people buy.
Central to the book is the argument that salespeople can significantly improve their effectiveness by understanding and aligning their sales techniques with how the human brain naturally forms buying decisions.
Key concepts in the book include the importance of building rapport and trust with potential customers, using storytelling effectively to engage and persuade, and the significance of asking the right questions to uncover the buyer's needs and motives.
The book is a valuable resource for sales professionals seeking to improve their effectiveness by applying scientific principles to their sales strategies.
Three takeaways:
1. Information alone will rarely persuade someone to take action. What matters is how that information is presented and who presents it. As neuroscientist Gregory Berns explains, “A Person can have the greatest idea in the world - completely different and novel - but if that person can't convince enough other people, it doesn't matter.”
2. Contrary to popular belief, extroverts often make poor salespeople because they are so gregarious they have trouble listening to buyers, which hinders them from understanding their buyers' perspectives.
3. Social proof is a powerful tool. Red Bull attempted to market its energy drink by filling up popular sidewalk trash cans with empty Red Bull cans.
9. Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results by Shane Parrish, Will Damron, et al.
Shane Parrish is best known as the founder of Farnam Street, a website dedicated to mastering the best of what other people have already figured out.
His unique insights into decision-making and mental models were influenced by his experience in the Canadian Secret Service.
This book is about harnessing the power of clear thinking to improve decision-making and achieve better outcomes.
Three takeaways:
1. One effective question to ask yourself before you make a decision is, “Will this action make the future easier or harder?” This surprisingly simple question helps change your perspective and avoid making things worse.
2. Have a margin of safety. You don’t need to have the ultimate solution to make progress. If it remains unclear which path is best, eliminating paths that lead to outcomes you don’t want is the next best step. Avoiding the worst outcomes maintains optionality and keeps you moving forward.
3. Making good decisions is easy when you’re starting from a good position. For example, a company with cash on the balance sheet and low debt has nothing but good options to choose from. When you are well positioned, there are many paths you can take. If you are poorly positioned there may only be one.
10. Same as Ever: Timeless Lessons on Risk, Opportunity and Living a Good Life by Morgan Housel, Chris Hill, et al.
Oh, to be able to tell stories like Morgan Housel.
Having cut his teeth writing for The Motley Fool and The Wall Street Journal, Housel has established a reputation for his clear, engaging, and thought-provoking articles.
His expertise is breaking down intricate financial topics into understandable narratives, making them accessible to a broad audience.
His first book, The Psychology of Money, has sold over 4 million copies worldwide and showcases his skill in exploring how personal perspectives and biases impact financial decisions.
Housel delves into the behaviours and beliefs that govern people's relationship with money, offering profound insights into how to make smarter financial choices.
Housel offers timeless wisdom on risk assessment, opportunity recognition, and the principles of leading a fulfilling life.
Three takeaways:
1. The most persuasive stories are about what you want to believe is true, or are an extension of what you’ve experienced firsthand. This is due to something called confirmation bias.
2. Making predictions is a fool’s game. Don’t make them and don’t listen to them.
3. Luck plays a far bigger role in our lives than we like to admit. As the writer Jeffrey Archer once said, “Birth is life's first lottery ticket.”
Image by Hermann Traub from Pixabay
