Fuel Your Learning 2 on National Book Day

We continue our series of recommendations for learning resources offline and online, based on our experiences and what we have found helpful. As mentioned in the first Fuel Your Learning blog it is certainly a common characteristic of all successful people in business and entrepreneurs to have a desire to keep learning at every opportunity. With it being National Book Day today, its only right to focus on two books and the insights/ lessons they can offer. Both are of course available in digital formats, but its just not the same as turning the pages, highlighting and scribbling in the margins!

1. Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed
I was initially attracted to this book by its core principal that everyone in life should embrace mistakes and learn from them, a belief I share and have tried to build in to the culture of teams and businesses I have lead. What kept me turning the pages was that it quickly became clear I have only ever scratched the surface. Black Box Thinking examines the underlying human processes through which we learn, innovate, create and succeed.

Using real world examples from all spheres linking the Mercedes Formula One team with Google and Team Sky with the aviation industry (yes, David Beckham even gets some analysis) it becomes clear they are all Black Box Thinkers and share the same attitudes and behaviours that drive their success. The depth of the theory and research in to cognitive flaws couldn't be described as light reading, but fascinating none the less. This book carries implications for all; business, politics, students, parents and sport and should definitely be on your reading list.

2. Zero to One: Notes on Startups and How to Build the Future by Blake Masters and Peter Thiel
A #1 New York Times bestseller that may be off the radar of many entrepreneurs outside of tech or Silicon Valley. Venture capitalist Peter Thiel has an amazing as an entrepreneur and an investor having Co-Founded Pay-Pal and seen the early promise at Facebook and committed an early and sizeable investment. Interestingly the foundations for the book are from notes taken by students in his class taught at Stanford University.

Each chapter deals with a separate thought/ challenge and I definitely took more from some than others. The overarching proposition that it is better to find a secret (something no one has thought of) and build a business around it thank to copy something that already exists, breaking this down further offering ways to find new solutions to old problems. I like this core principal of innovation, but some of the narrative around it and the use of dated infographics left me a bit underwhelmed. A book that is worth reading for entrepreneurs to extract the nuggets from a master, but may be hard going for everyone else.

As usual we welcome your recommendations as we continue our own learning journey so please do comment below.

Thanks