The Top Ten Technology Books Of 2016
As we kick off a new year, I wanted to take a quick look back to offer some thoughts on the top ten technology books from 2016.
Click here for my list of the best technology articles of 2016.
Here goes:
The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future
By Kevin Kelly
Kelly was a founding editor of Wired magazine, and in this book, he offers an optimistic view into what the future of technology holds. His ability to see and interpret the future, as well as connect the dots to the past makes for an especially enlightening read.
The Industries of the Future
By Alec Ross
Alec Ross is a former Senior Adviser for Innovation to the Secretary of State, a post that took him to 41 countries. He draws on that experience to predict which industries will emerge and grow more than others, offering genomics, cybersecurity, robotics, and blockchain (among others) as examples. Ross includes anecdotes and stories from government officials and entrepreneurs alike. It helps that he has a gift to make the complex easily digestible.
Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built
by Duncan Clark
Jack Ma went from English teacher to billionaire and CEO of one of the most influential and successful retailers in the world: Alibaba. Clark met Ma in 1999, and would become an adviser to him early in his journey as an entrepreneur. The story provides insights into early victories and failures, and how Ma was able to take on digital leaders in China and in the US. An otherwise fascinating story is made more intimate given the history between author and subject.
Whiplash: How to Survive Our Faster Future
by Joi Ito & Jeff Howe
The authors of Whiplash argue that global complexity and volatility have never been higher. As technology gets faster and cheaper, and as social networks make everyone accessible in ways that were unfathomable not long ago, most aspects of our daily lives will be impacted. In order to succeed in this new paradigm, one must think differently. Ito and Howe have developed nine principles for thriving in this chaotic period.
The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds
by Michael Lewis
Michael Lewis thought that he had seized upon some truly new ideas when he wrote Moneyball, highlighting how the Oakland Athletics used data to outfox the competition who, for decades, had been making irrational decisions. As he got to know the work of two Israeli academics, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, he realized that these ideas had been mined before. The two university psychologists whose work would revolutionize the field of economics (Kahneman would win a Nobel Prize in that discipline) would also impact many fields beyond that. It is a fascinating story of their friendship, their collaboration, and the powerful ideas that they developed, which are as relevant today as they were in the 1970s.
Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World
by Adam Grant
Wharton professor, Adam Grant, provides many stories from leaders who thumb their noses at inherited knowledge and garner great victories for doing so. Among other anecdotes, he highlights how to procrastinate well, why first mover advantage is hokum, and how doubt can be an invaluable source of motivation. Grant provides insights into the sources of great ideas, and how we can recognize them, even if at first they do not appear to be worth pursuing.
How to Make a Spaceship: A Band of Renegades, an Epic Race, and the Birth of Private Spaceflight
by Julian Guthrie
Julian Guthrie tells the story of Peter Diamandis, a serial entrepreneur. Ever since he watched the Apollo Moon landing, Diamandis wanted to explore space. NASA’s decision to end manned missions to space provided further fodder for him to get involved to help create the private spaceflight industry. Inspired by Charles Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight to win $25,000, he created the XPRIZE, which would offer a $10 million prize to the team that could successfully fly to space. The audacity of Diamandis’ vision together with the number of major players who were pulled in for the ride make for a splendid read.
Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley
by Antonio Garcia Martinez
Silicon Valley executives take themselves seriously. Author Antonio Garcia Martinez offers a reality check for all of the talk from every CEO in that region who claim to be “changing the world.” It offers new and deep stories from leading companies like Facebook, but also shines a light on the less often discussed companies that are not world-beaters. Since we read so much more about the rocket-like successes, it is refreshing (if at times depressing) to be reminded that most companies, even in Silicon Valley, fail.
The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb, and the Killer Companies of the New Silicon Valley Are Changing the World
by Brad Stone
Brad Stone, who wrote the terrific biography of Jeff Bezos and Amazon called The Everything Store, is back to shine a light at some other world-beating companies and the entrepreneurs behind them. The focus is on Uber co-founder, Travis Kalanick and Airbnb co-founder, Brian Chesky, highlighting how these executives helped usher in companies that have profoundly changed industries and our lives in many ways
The Great Convergence: Information Technology and the New Globalization
by Richard Baldwin
Richard Baldwin offers a sweeping overview of how globalization fueled by the industrial revolution and international peace helped usher in a period of dominance for a select group of companies. He argues persuasively that now that technology has lowered the cost of ideas (rather than goods) to be shipped around the world, which has led companies to ship labor intensive work to developing countries. Thus, a group of developing countries have grown rapidly on the back of this phenomenon, while the global leaders de-industrialize to a great extent. The “great convergence” will continue for some time to come, according to Baldwin, but the impact will be less predictable and more chaotic. In order to maintain order and social cohesion, governments must think about policies that will help to harness opportunities while limiting the damage that could be wrought in the wake of this change.
Peter High is President of Metis Strategy, a business and IT advisory firm. His latest book is Implementing World Class IT Strategy. He is also the author of World Class IT: Why Businesses Succeed When IT Triumphs. Peter moderates the Forum on World Class IT podcast series. He speaks at conferences around the world. Follow him on Twitter @PeterAHigh
Originally published at www.forbes.com on January 3, 2017.
