Top six business (learning) books of 2009 (so far!!)

6 months of 2009 have already passed me by. Amazon and my local bookstores have been kept pretty busy keeping up with my reading habits and last night I was looking at my bookshelf thinking to myself which books would make a list of the best business books I've read so far this year. 

After sleeping on it I came up with a shortlist of around 10, but have cut that down to 6, one for each month so far! These are, in no particular order:

• The Designful Company by Marty Neumeier
  
• Pow! Right Between the Eyes by Andy Nulman
  
• Tribes by Seth Godin
  
• In Pursuit of Elegant Solutions by Matt May
  
• Remix by Lawrence Lessig
  
• Twitter Power by Joel Comm

I've reviewed some of these in others places on my blog, however I'll quickly explain what each book has provided for me (with an emphasis on learning).

The Designful Company

For me, a learning designer, it gave me a greater sense of the importance of the design process in strategic planning within business. As a result, learning within business must be designed as an integral part of the business strategy, rather than as an added extra.

Pow! Right Between the Eyes

A really great refresher for all learning designers. Learning must be structured so that it has built within it elements that hit the learner right between the eyes. This is what makes knowledge memorable! Andy's book is a great read!

Tribes

Where once there were small tribes of humans joined together by the proximity of their geography,today tribes are becoming important once more. Through the world-shrinking capabilities of the internet and its many tools, learners, designers of learning and in fact everyone can belong to and indeed lead tribes of people brought together by their shared interests. From this has arisen tribes of online learners working and learning together. Truly global learning!

Remix

A different choice, a book on copyright laws and intellectual property! However Lawrence Lessig's book challenges and explores how digital technology has altered who (and how) knowledge and content is created. 

In Pursuit of Elegant Solutions

In some ways a design book, a reminder for learning designers of the need for elegance in their design of learning solutions . For me the book spoke to me of the need for an elegant solution to the currently overly confused world of elearning. Too many competing tools, no single tool stamping itself as obviously and inherently superior in either its symmetry, seductiveness, simplicity or sustainability. 

Twitter Power

For me this has been the last of these books I've read. As a fairly new Twitter user this book steps out really clearly how Twitter works, how businesses can use Twitter and for me I have seen uses of Twitter within learning (another upcoming post)

The main lesson for me in all this is the need to keep reading and digesting new ideas. None of these books is specifically about learning, but for me this is the point! Great ideas come from all fields!