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Books to Read Prior to B-School

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Books to Read Prior to B-School

by JasLamba » Fri Apr 09, 2010 8:33 pm
What books did you read are you reading before getting ready to go to B-School?

Here are some that I recommend:

The Machine that Changed the World - James Womack, Daniel Jones
7 Habits of Highly Effective people - Stephen R. Covey
The Toyota Way - Jeffrey Liker
The Remarkable Story of Risk - Peter Bernstein
The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
Your MBA Game Plan - Omari Bouknight and Scott Schrum
Lessons Learned at the Dinner Table - Jeffrey Fox
The World is Flat - Thomas L. Friedman
The Goal - Eliyahu Goldratt and Jeff Cox
Wealth of Nations - Adam Smith
Good to Great - Jim Collins

Best,
Jas
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by maverick_andy » Fri Apr 09, 2010 11:39 pm
Thanks for sharing

Here some more books from my experiences ,

1. Snapshots from Hell. Amazing book
2. Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School. Amazing book
3. Resilience at Work - How to Succeed No Matter What Life Throws at You. HBS Working Knowledge. (some interesting cases) :) Amazing book
4. How to stay struck in the wrong career. HBR
5. Escape the Mid-Career Doldrums - What to do next when you are bored, retired, or fired.
The journey is everything...
https://outfromdeep.blocked
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by beatthegmat » Sun Apr 11, 2010 3:07 pm
Some books that I recommend:

1. Made to Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath
2. I Will Teach You To Be Rich, by Ramit Sethi
3. The Purple Cow, by Seth Godin
4. Permission Marketing, by Seth Godin

I'll try to think of some more to add. Thanks Jas for starting this!
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by dmateer25 » Sun Apr 11, 2010 3:14 pm
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
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by Jessica@VeritasPrep » Sun Apr 11, 2010 5:54 pm
I'll add "Nudge" (by Richard Thaler) to the list. He's one of the most popular behavioral economists out there (and professor at Booth).

Barbarians at the Gate is also fantastic.

And, anything by Micheal Lewis (the New New Thing is a good place to start!)
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by money9111 » Fri Apr 23, 2010 10:59 am
I came across this article just now... thought it was pertinent:

https://www.businessweek.com/bschools/co ... 033043.htm
My goal is to make MBA applicants take onus over their process.

My story from Pre-MBA to Cornell MBA - New Post in Pre-MBA blog

Me featured on Poets & Quants

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by JasLamba » Sat Apr 24, 2010 7:33 am
Thanks money :)

On that note, just wanted to add a podcast:

https://www.mbapodcaster.com/MBA_MoreInf ... Episode=41

J
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by JasLamba » Sat Apr 24, 2010 10:26 pm
ManhattanGMAT's opinions...

https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... ring-mbas/
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by hk » Tue Apr 27, 2010 3:09 am
I am currently reading Bounce - The art of turning tough times into Triumph by Keith McFarland and I love it.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Bounce-Turning-To ... 327&sr=8-1

I'm also a fan of Micheal Lewis and recommend the following books:

1. Liar's Poker
2. The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
3. The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story
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by JasLamba » Sat May 01, 2010 5:04 am
The Economist and its views...
Global Financial Crisis brings opportunities to some...

https://www.economist.com/business-finan ... extfeature
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by aveekguha » Mon May 10, 2010 5:39 am
I would add:
- 4 hour work week -- Timothy Ferris: found it very creative, but pragmatic in how to be entrepreneurial. If nothing else, its an entertaining read.
- any tax book -- anyone should know how to deduct items, both in business school and out. I've found this very useful over time.

Good luck!
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by Aman verma » Fri May 28, 2010 1:47 am
Many thanks to all for providing their insights !!
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by beatvit » Fri May 28, 2010 8:25 am
aveekguha wrote:I would add:
- 4 hour work week -- Timothy Ferris: found it very creative, but pragmatic in how to be entrepreneurial. If nothing else, its an entertaining read.
Ditto for '4-Hour Workweek'. I am still reading it right now, but found quite a few thngs that are directly related to my MBA studies, among other valuable perspectives. I just wrote a short review https://parttimembadegree.com/2010/05/27 ... m-ferriss/
Just a couple of Ferriss' advices that echoed in my MBA:
* When you get less than A for the paper which is not multiple choice test, go to professor and "drill" him/her for the explanation why they graded it lower than you expected.
* Getting rid of the bottom 80% customers who give you just 20% in profit (and 100% of headache :-) ). This same concept was introduced as 'Demarketing' customers in my Marketing course just yesterday.
Details are in the book and it's an easy and good read.
Last edited by beatvit on Fri May 28, 2010 9:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by DanaJ » Fri May 28, 2010 9:06 am
Awesome sticky! Thanks Jas for starting it and thanks to the others for their contributions. I'm currently reading Ahead of the Curve and feeling slightly depressed/discouraged by it... I've only gone through half the book, though. Did you guys get the same feeling?
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by beatvit » Fri May 28, 2010 9:28 am
DanaJ wrote:... I'm currently reading Ahead of the Curve and feeling slightly depressed/discouraged by it... I've only gone through half the book, though. Did you guys get the same feeling?
I am a poet myself, like the author of this book, so I was mostly concerned with his lamentations on that matter and general workload of the MBA. As for the "cutthroat" environment of HBS and some others at the top, it is their "signature". In most other schools it is not nearly as bad. Certainly much more laid back in that regard at GWSB where I am now doing part-time MBA. For me the feeling at reading was more of the anxiety, not depression though. Still, I found the book very helpful in my pre-MBA gauging of the business school experience.
If you want more of that kind, try also Snapshots from Hell: The Making of an MBA , another poet's recount of Stanford MBA experience some 20 years ago.
I liked both of these books.
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