books

annotated lists of recommended books – pick a category

Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Robotics

Innovation, Creativity & Entrepreneurship

  • The ONE Thing: The surprisingly simple truth behind extraordinary results, Gary Keller, 2013. Actionable wisdom from the founder and Chairman of the board of the largest real estate company in the world.
  • The Innovator’s Dilemma: When new technologies cause great firms to fail, Clayton Christensen, 2016 (or ANY book by Clay Christensen on Distruptive Technology like “The Innovator’s Solution” or “School’s Out”). This provides essential background for the innovator regarding the immense difficulty of existing organizations to truly innovate. It reveals how the innovative entrepreneur has opportunities to aggressively compete against established enterprises in education and business.
  • Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days, Chris Guillebeau, 2017 (free audiobook with Audible.com trial). #1 best-selling book on Amazon in New Business Enterprises category. How to get started without quitting your day job!
    • “Chris Guillebeau is back with another book that will teach you not just how to earn more, but ultimately how to live better.  He says we can all benefit from a ‘side hustle,’  work you we do in addition to our day job. And he shows us how to make it happen. In fact … you can establish your own side hustle in just 5 weeks.”  — Daniel H. Pink, bestselling author of Drive and To Sell is Human
  • The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses, Eric Rise, 2011. #1 best-selling book on Amazon in Lean Management category. “Eric Ries defines a startup as an organization dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty.”
    • “Ries shows us how to cut through the fog of uncertainty that surrounds startups. His approach is rigorous; his prescriptions are practical and proven in the field. The Lean Startup will change the way we think about entrepreneurship.” —Tom Eisenmann, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Harvard Business School
  • Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future, Peter Thiel, 2014. Thiel is the legendary founder of PayPal and other companies. He and his venture capital firms have funded Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp, SpaceX, Airbnb, and MANY others. He knows how to start and how to fund successful enterprises. #1 best-seller in Amazon’s Economic Policy category, New York Times Bestseller.
    • “Peter Thiel has built multiple breakthrough companies, and Zero to One shows how.” –  Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla
  • Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, 1996. “Mike” Csikscentmihalyi invented and named the concept of “flow.” This book is his classic description of the creative process and how to nurture it.

Social Entrepreneurship

Educational Entrepreneurship

  • The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined, Salman Khan, 2012. Sal Khan is the creator of Khan Academy and talks about how he stumbled into a new career and life that addressed his ideals in a way that his hedge fund work could never approach. NOTE: This is a required text in TLT 472, so you may want to read something else if you will take TLT 472 (Online Teaching & Learning).
  • Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That’s Transforming Education, Sir Ken Robinson, 2015. If you haven’t encountered Sir Ken Robinson, READ THIS! He was knighted by the Queen of England for his contributions to innovating British education. He has one of the strongest voices (and best writing and speaking) that is arguing for innovation in education. He won’t tell you how to create your own, but he will tell you why it’s important and how to think about learning.
  • Building the Intentional University: Minerva and the Future of Higher Education, Stephen Rosslyn, Ben Nelson, and others, 2018. This book covers how to create an innovative university, from scratch! If you’re interested in higher education, this is your book. You can’t do it as a lone entrepreneur, but it does show how to build a world-class team and overcome the obstacles of bureaucracy, regulation, and tradition.