Reading Like A Boss (Literally)

At the end of the year, there will be a minor competition to see what 2016 was “the year of.” Depending on how the iPhone 7 does, it might be known as “the year the bloom finally came off the iPhone rose.” If Karen Webster is right, 2016 will be known as “the year mobile hit its inflection point.” The CFPB might tell you that 2016 was “the year Wells Fargo proved that it is an essential regulator.” The nation’s physical retailers might tell you it was “the year that they heard fewer pitter-patters of consumer feet than ever.”

Maybe left out will be one that at least deserves an honorable mention: 2016 was “the year that made reading what all the cool CEOs were doing.” Book lists — like Mark Zuckerberg’s and Bill Gates’ — propagated throughout the year, prompting all CEOs to rush to tell us what they were reading. We also got some excellent theories as to why they were reading them.

Which got us to thinking — why not make a reading list of our own? Sure, summer vacation is over and the holidays seem far away, but we all know that’s an illusion and it will be the holidays in a blink of an eye.

 

So, What Did CEOs Read In 2016?

“The Art of War.”

That is not unique to 2016 — in fact, Sun Tzu’s ancient Chinese military text has been on the CEO’s favorite reading list for decades. Somewhere on Earth right now, a few dozen CEOs have it on their Kindles and are reading it now. And why not? The battle for just about everything payments and commerce is at a frenzied pace. Knowing the enemy and how to outsmart them has never been more important.

Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People” is also a perennial favorite, and Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “Team of Rivals” seems to phase in and out of popularity every few years. Adam Smith’s “The Wealth of Nations” doesn’t have a lot of readers, but that invisible hand is hard at work, still. Biographies of the Medici family are usually popular.

Novels pop up from time to time but, usually, the obscure science fiction or very literary. The CEO of Corning said he was going to take on Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead trilogy. Mark Zuckerberg recommends a piece of dystopian fiction published in 1994 called “Orwell’s Revenge” by Peter Huber as a must-read.

Tech CEOs particularly favor books about networks and books by Neal Stephenson — usually “Cryptonomicon.” Financial CEOs, on the other hand, prefer books about ancient history and “When Breath Becomes Air” by Paul Kalanithi.

So, why so serious?

 

Some Fun Explanations

While some are inspired by the reading choices of CEOs, others psychoanalyze them, which is actually a good deal of fun.

For example, why do CEOs love “The Art of War” so much? According to The Huffington Post, it’s short, it’s directive and it supports the modern CEO’s view of the world.

Why are CEO reading lists in all of a sudden?

According to Financial Times, it is because, in the post-recession world, there are just not a lot of easy ways for CEOs to show off. Conspicuous consumption is out because the really cool CEOs under-consume — Jeff Bezos drives an old Honda Accord, Lloyd Blankfein wears a Swatch watch and Mark Zuckerberg may actually be part-hoodie. Golf seems dated, and even being charitable is hard when Bill Gates is throwing billions at building a better world.

So, when the going gets tough, the tough hit the books — or, at least, pretend they do.

FT pointed out that, pre-2008, CEOs freely admitted to reading Nick Hornby and Stephen King — not to mention the occasional book about Formula One racing. These days, everyone is a student of the classics, a medieval historian, a student of American politics and an amateur epidemiologist.

Which admittedly does stretch credulity some.

But we would still like to offer a more chipper reason for why CEOs’ book lists are as they are. We are sure that dumb books are being left off the list — because no one admits to reading trashy things, even if the sales numbers tell a very different story.

But we think there is probably a good and very simple reason they are reading all these books.

You can learn a lot.

Take everyone’s favorite — “The Art of War.” It is short. It is to the point. And it has some good advice, pretty much no matter what one is doing, so long as they don’t live alone on an island.

“All warfare is based on deception.”

“The general who understands war is the minister of the people’s fate and arbiter of the nation’s destiny.”

“Know the enemy, know yourself; your victory will never be endangered.”

It’s not easy to give better advice in fewer words, which is probably why it’s been a favorite for the last several thousand years.

Tech CEOs are reading up on networks — not because they are trying to show off, but because it is becoming increasingly clear that networks of all types are going to dominate the technological landscape for the next several years. Bankers are reading up on politics — likely because their lives are dominated by compliance and regulation, and they’ve been watching the same election cycle everyone else has. It is not surprising or particularly showy to be looking for good ideas on what to do when it seems the country has gone out of its mind all at once.

While we are sure that there are perhaps more books on the history of battle tactics in the third century that are started than actually completed, we would note that very few people become CEOs because they weren’t curious or good at absorbing a lot of information.

 

What To Read Next

Helpful souls that we are, we thought we would offer some items to add to the reading list.

Since heavy-duty literature is a favorite, our first recommendation is Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment.”

We’ll give you a minute to think of your own [fill in the blank] wise crack here.

But that’s not our point.  “Crime and Punishment” has a simple lesson that any leader can learn. Just because you can do something — and can even write a foolproof plan for getting it done — does not mean it is a good idea to start with. “Can” does not imply “ought.” The protagonist of “C&P” learns this the hard way after he commits the perfect murder and then realizes that murdering someone was a bad idea — a little too late.

Next up on the reading list — for those avidly reading up on networks, data, marketplaces and what they mean for our future — we have a particular hankering for “Matchmakers: The New Economics of Multisided Platforms.” “Matchmakers” takes on the tough subject of why the good idea succeeds so well — and makes it look so easy — when the reality is being a “matchmaker” in an economy that creates new value by bringing two sides together is one of the toughest gigs out there. Wanna know why it works when it does, and why it usually doesn’t? Here’s the story for you.

Next up, for those looking to explore the darker stuff of when things go wrong and how truly wrong they can go, we would also send you to take a look at “A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers.” Wanna know how smart people make bad, dumb and incredibly destructive choices? Here you go.

Bonus?

Wanna know how those bad choices can ripple out and poison the water for everyone — no matter what their level of guilt? Happy reading — even if it gets too close to the nub.

OK, not really happy reading, and it is a weekend. So, the last one is an easy one. If you have kids, you can even do this one together. Try “Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss — the story of an unnamed man and his war with Sam I am about why he does not want green eggs or green ham.

Why? Because he is objectively correct. No one should want green eggs or green ham — since neither of those things should be that color. He should not want them here or there, and adding a box, fox, house, mouse, rain, train, goat or boat to the situation does not change the fact that the unnamed man has no experience with green eggs or green ham and thus does not want to eat them.

We don’t want to beat the point to death, but anyone trying to get anything new off the ground should be able to understand that change is not beloved by many.

But still possible — because, of course, at the end of “Green Eggs and Ham,” Sam I am has persuaded the man to try them.

And he realizes that he does so like green eggs and ham.

Because we can learn and offer better experiences, customers eventually realize that holding out for the sake of holding out is harder than just trying the new thing and finding out it works better.

Plus, it rhymes. And what could be better than that.