There is a whole new batch of business books that are coming out in the next few months.

My book reading pace has slowed. Dramatically. Not because of Netflix (but, let’s be honest, have you seen the latest seasons of Daredevil and House of Lies?), but because there really wasn’t all that much that was moving me in the non-fiction book space. I’ve been neck-deep in some great long-form reads online (special thanks to Pocket for making it all so accessible), but a great business book? It has been some time. With that, I often get asked to interview authors for Six Pixels of Separation – The Mirum Podcast. In the past few weeks the stack of books building up to the left of this Macbook Air has got me pretty excited. All of these books are not yet available, but look super-fascinating. So, get your credit card ready and let’s do this…

6 Business books that are coming (that you better get)… in alphabetical order:

• TED Talks – The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking by Chris Anderson. “For anyone who has ever been inspired by a TED talk, this is an insider’s guide to creating talks that are unforgettable. Since taking over TED in the early 2000s, Chris Anderson has shown how carefully crafted short talks can be the key to unlocking empathy, stirring excitement, spreading knowledge, and promoting a shared dream. Done right, a talk can electrify a room and transform an audience’s worldview. Done right, a talk is more powerful than anything in written form.        This book explains how the miracle of powerful public speaking is achieved, and equips you to give it your best shot. There is no set formula; no two talks should be the same. The goal is for you to give the talk that only you can give. But don’t be intimidated. You may find it more natural than you think. This is the 21st-century’s new manual for truly effective communication and it is a must-read for anyone who is ready to create impact with their ideas.” This book will be published on May 3rd, 2016.
• Invisible Influence – The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior by Jonah Berger. “Berger explores the subtle, secret influences that affect the decisions we make — from what we buy, to the careers we choose, to what we eat–in this fascinating and groundbreaking work. If you’re like most people, you think that your choices and behaviors are driven by your individual, personal tastes, and opinions. You wear a certain jacket because you liked the way it looked. You picked a particular career because you found it interesting. The notion that our choices are driven by our own personal thoughts and opinions is patently obvious. Right? Wrong. Without our realizing it, other people’s behavior has a huge influence on everything we do at every moment of our lives, from the mundane to the momentous occasion. Even strangers have a startling impact on our judgments and decisions: our attitudes toward a welfare policy shift if we’re told it is supported by Democrats versus Republicans (even though the policy is the same in both cases). But social influence doesn’t just lead us to do the same things as others. In some cases we conform, or imitate others around us. But in other cases we diverge, or avoid particular choices or behaviors because other people are doing them. We stop listening to a band because they go mainstream. We skip buying the minivan because we don’t want to look like a soccer mom. In his surprising and compelling Invisible Influence, Jonah Berger integrates research and thinking from business, psychology, and social science to focus on the subtle, invisible influences behind our choices as individuals. By understanding how social influence works, we can decide when to resist and when to embrace it — and how we can use this knowledge to make better-informed decisions and exercise more control over our own behavior.” This book will be published on June 14th, 2016.
• Ego Is The Enemy by Ryan Holiday. “Many of us insist the main impediment to a full, successful life is the outside world. In fact, the most common enemy lies within: our ego. Early in our careers, it impedes learning and the cultivation of talent. With success, it can blind us to our faults and sow future problems. In failure, it magnifies each blow and makes recovery more difficult. At every stage, ego holds us back.  Ego Is the Enemy draws on a vast array of stories and examples, from literature to philosophy to his­tory. We meet fascinating figures who all reached the highest levels of power and success by con­quering their own egos. Their strategies and tactics can be ours as well.  In an era that glorifies social media, reality TV, and other forms of shameless self-promotion, the battle against ego must be fought on many fronts. Armed with the lessons in this book, as Holiday writes, ‘you will be less invested in the story you tell about your own specialness, and as a result, you will be liberated to accomplish the world-changing work you’ve set out to achieve.'” This book will be published on June 14th, 2016.
• The Inevitable – Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future by Kevin Kelly. “Much of what will happen in the next thirty years is inevitable, driven by technological trends that are already in motion. In this fascinating, provocative new book, Kevin Kelly provides an optimistic road map for the future, showing how the coming changes in our lives — from virtual reality in the home to an on-demand economy to artificial intelligence embedded in everything we manufacture — can be understood as the result of a few long-term, accelerating forces. Kelly both describes these deep trends — flowing, screening, accessing, sharing, filtering, remixing, tracking, and questioning — and demonstrates how they overlap and are codependent on one another. These larger forces will completely revolutionize the way we buy, work, learn, and communicate with each other. By understanding and embracing them, says Kelly, it will be easier for us to remain on top of the coming wave of changes and to arrange our day-to-day relationships with technology in ways that bring forth maximum benefits. Kelly’s bright, hopeful book will be indispensable to anyone who seeks guidance on where their business, industry, or life is heading — what to invent, where to work, in what to invest, how to better reach customers, and what to begin to put into place — as this new world emerges.” This book will be published on June 7th, 2016.
• Unmistakable – Why Only Is Better Than Best by Srinivas Rao. “After getting rejected from many business schools and fired from several sales jobs, Srinivas Rao decided to stop doing what he thought he was supposed to do and start working in a way that felt honest. He launched the Unmistakable Creative Podcast to interview some of the greatest minds in business finding a surprisingly big audience. This book distills the lessons, anecdotes, and insights of the 500+ people he has interviewed. Unmistakable art needs no signature. As soon as it’s in front of you, you know exactly who created it, like Banksy‘s street art or Tim Burton‘s films. Whether you’re a business owner, artist, or anything in between, when your work is unmistakable, your competition becomes irrelevant. They can’t copy you.  The key to being unmistakable is to stop trying to be the best – because that would mean you’re sticking to plans and rules that have already been set for you, choosing what’s safe and reliable. Rao argues that your most meaningful, impactful, and joyful work exists outside the ‘being the best’ mindset, if you can strip away the expectations and pressure that you’ve internalized – to lead you to be the only.” This book will be published on August 2nd, 2016.
• Blockchain Revolution – How the Technology Behind Bitcoin Is Changing Money, Business, and the World by Alex Tapscott and Don Tapscott. “The first generation of the digital revolution brought us the Internet of information. The second genera­tion — powered by blockchain technology — is bringing us the Internet of value: a new, distributed platform that can help us reshape the world of business and transform the old order of human affairs for the better.  Blockchain is the ingeniously simple, revolution­ary protocol that allows transactions to be simul­taneously anonymous and secure by maintaining a tamperproof public ledger of value. Though it’s the technology that drives bitcoin and other digital cur­rencies, the underlying framework has the potential to go far beyond these and record virtually everything of value to humankind, from birth and death certifi­cates to insurance claims and even votes. Why should you care? Maybe you’re a music lover who wants artists to make a living off their art. Or a consumer who wants to know where that hamburger meat really came from. Perhaps you’re an immigrant who’s sick of paying big fees to send money home to loved ones. Or an entrepreneur looking for a new platform to build a business.  And those examples are barely the tip of the ice­berg. This technology is public, encrypted, and readily available for anyone to use. It’s already seeing wide­spread adoption in a number of areas. As with major paradigm shifts that preceded it, the blockchain will create winners and losers. And while opportunities abound, the risks of disruption and dislocation must not be ignored.” This book will be published on May 10th, 2016.

Happy reading!