Lamont & Company

We all benefit from continued education and learning. Here are some of my favorite books.

Current Books:

• The Origin of Brands. This brilliant book about marketing and positioning answers the long-running question about the importance of category versus brand, and describes how to "own" your selected sub-category.

• Let's Get Real or Let's Not Play: Transforming the Buyer/Seller Relationship. This well-structured approach to selling resonates in me in just about every selling event I face.  

• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. I normally stay away from self-help books, but this approach to organizing has improved my life. I use Evernote as my favorite tool and "inbox". 

• Word Up! How to Write Powerful Sentences and Paragraphs. Written communications is vital, even in this internet age. This book is one of the best ones I have read in a while to tune up the writing ability.

• Your Brain at Work.  Great insights into how the way our brain functions affects our work life, and practical strategies for improving work effectiveness.

Top-10 All-time Book List for Management Consultants:

In my work in consulting I often shared my list of top ten books that should be on anyone's bookshelf, in no particular order.

1. The Minto Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing, Thinking, & Problem Solving. This is book #1 on the must-read list for anyone in business. 
2. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I reread this every few years. It is valuable to lay the groundwork for problem-solving.
3. Say It With Charts: The Executive's Guide to Visual Communication. This is the original "bible" of how to tell a story with various forms of charts. I wish every presenter read this. 
4. Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. Michael Porter launched the entire field of strategy with this book. The tools form the basis of every good strategy.
5. Marketing Imagination. The frameworks in this book about marketing resonate in my head many years later. 
6. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. Start with yourself before you can help others well. 
7. Strategic Selling: The Unique Sales System Proven Successful by America's Best Companies. We all have to sell -- products, services, ideas, or ourselves. 
8. In Search of Excellence. This was the first business best-seller. Although some of the highlighted companies have stumbled, this book helps illuminate the balance of "hard" and "soft" attributes of managing. 
9. The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business. This is a classic. Just about every industry is in the midst of a transformation of some sort. 
10. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. This book will stretch your mind about how to convey information and tell more compelling stories.