10 Must-Read Books for Innovators

Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big
By Bo Burlingham

Bigger isn’t always better. This book highlights how organizations that are in business to be great focus on culture first and are driven by purpose and values.

The Forever Transaction: How to Build a Subscription Model So Compelling, Your Customers Will Never Want to Leave
By Robbie Kellman Baxter

The world continues to swivel from transactional business to the subscription model. Baxter highlights companies that have successfully achieved long-lasting client loyalty and transformed their industries.  

Traction: Get a Grip on your Business
By Gino Wickman

This is a “must read” for small business owners ready to evolve their companies into sustainable organizations. Wickman provides a step-by-step guide to setting vision, getting right people in the right seats, and introducing a system of accountability. 

Change, Inc: An Agile Fable of Transformation
By Kristin Runyan

This is the book to read and share if you want to introduce your organization to agility and create a new mindset of adaptability and change. It’s an easy read for all levels and departments in your organization. 

Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter
By Liz Wiseman 

Are you a multiplier—a leader who empowers and motivates a team? Or a diminisher who stifles potential by relying on your intelligence and micro-managing? This is an excellent book by a respected researcher and executive advisor. Wiseman helps leaders understand how they “show up” and how to use the multiplier effect to make teams more productive and empowered.

Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect
By Will Guidara

Count on hearing and seeing this book referenced everywhere. Guidara guides readers through the pursuit of excellence that led to his Eleven Madison Park restaurant in New York City being named one of the top 50 restaurants in the world. The concepts are transferable to any industry focused on delighting customers and reimagining their experiences.

The Infinite Game
By Simon Sinek

Sinek defines the “infinite mindset” and how it leads to organizational longevity by embracing a higher purpose, building trust in teams, finding worthy rivals, displaying the flexibility to make strategic shifts, and summoning courage.

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants
By Malcolm Gladwell

Why does everyone root for the underdog? Gladwell highlights how those who are not expected to win do so consistently by using their “weaknesses” as hidden advantages to innovate and beat rivals with bigger budgets, resources, and power.

Agentic Artificial Intelligence: Harnessing AI Agents to Reinvent Business, Work, and Life
By Pascal Bornet and others

Don’t wait to read this accessible, insightful, non-technical guide to the agentic AI revolution. Bornet and the other authors describe vividly the transformative role of autonomous intelligent systems in all corners of professional life.

1,000 Places to See Before You Die
By Patricia Schultz

It’s so vital to step outside our comfort zones and explore extraordinary places and cultures.  It deepens your appreciation of the beauty and infrastructure both in the United States and the incredible world beyond.