These are so far my most favorite books this year…
1) Hacking Growth:
I read it the 2nd time in 2018. It’s not a book but a complete guide to starting off a journey towards growth hacking.
Author Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown did an outstanding job describing how it feels to be in a team of growth and how it shaped their understanding about growth components more deeply.
The first part of the book is all about how growth hacking team should form, how the tests should be executed as well as how the reporting and meetings should be done. The theory part about acquisition, activation, retention and revenue with lots of practical examples are contained in the second part. If you are to begin the extraordinary path of growth hacking, this book is a must for you. Because as they say,
“Creativity should not be up to chance, it should be hacked”
2) The Art of Thinking Clearly:
As a data analyst, I need to have a clear understanding of data and insights all the time. But as most of the people, I have my biases in thinking too.
This book by Rolf Dobelli came as a savior for me. There are almost 99 biases in this book that we face in our thinking. Believe me, if you read it, you will be completely shocked at how many of them will be a total match with you. It’s like the author is talking about you personally.
The book is very well written and explained with lots of examples that helped me understand the context more clearly. One of my favorite quote of the books is…
“If 50 million people say something foolish, it is still foolish”
3) Go For No:
It doesn’t happen regularly a book as small as this one (only 56 pages) can inspire you so deeply that you start to recommend it anytime and every time. I was completely moved by the size and concept of the book.
Author Andrea Waltz and Richard Fenton wrote a non-fiction concept in the disguise of fiction so mystically that it amazes me even now.
How a simple “no” can transform our personal and professional life and how it can have a long-lasting effect in our future is the main concept of the book. It’s so small that if you are determined, you can finish it at a time easily. I like the following line the most in this book…
“‘No’ doesn’t mean never. No means not yet!”
I read books to inspire me as well as others. I have read almost 8–10 non-fiction books this year and among them, these 3 made significant effects in my life.
I take books as a shortcut for years of year’s research. If you read a good book it’s like you are living a good life. As Ryan Holiday says that if someone doesn’t have a book in his bag, you should not trust him. I like to think of books as a learning tool because as Sean Ellis says “Learning more by learning faster is the goal” and books are the fastest way of learning to me.
Originally published at medium.com