10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead) | Hacker News Reader

10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)

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40 pointspg20 comments

Malkiel's book on investing is really good if you want to understand how the markets work, but it's not really necessary if you all you want to do is maximize the returns on your retirement fund. Dilbert's 9-point financial plan gives the exact same advice, but in only 123 words:

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7BBE5...

The only exception is that if you are young then instead of investing in the index you'd probably be better to invest in the index of small cap stocks. Your returns will probably be much better over time, although in any given the variance will be much higher. You can't do this when you get older because if you need the money and the market has been down three years in a row then you're in trouble. The only other thing worth mentioning is that Roth IRAs may be better than traditional IRAs depending on your tax bracket. (And also there are some special retirement vehicles you have access to if you run your own business, though I don't really remember the details.)

The Malkiel covers some technical stuff, like what it means to invest in assets with a negative beta. (Negative beta securities tend to move against the market, so for example when the index is down gold tends to go up.) However there isn't really much reason to invest in these obscure securities unless you're running a hedge, so knowing about them is really only good for intellectual curiosity value.

Two thumbs up for the Dilbert financial plan. May it spread far and wide.

If you're the kind of person who can't bring himself to follow a simple and sensible plan like Dilbert's, I have the book for you: William Bernstein's "The Four Pillars of Investing".

http://www.amazon.com/Four-Pillars-Investing-Building-Portfo...

If you follow Bernstein's advice you will end up with Dilbert's financial plan, except that instead of one giant index fund you'll have a bunch of smaller index funds - some small-cap, some large-cap growth, some international, and so on. Plus bonds, of course. In other words, you'll be a Vanguard customer. But there's nothing wrong with that.

This additional layer of complexity might be good for an additional point or two of growth. Or it might turn out to be a useless exercise in micromanagement. But it's a nice safe way to satisfy your urge to pretend that doing a lot of higher math and complicated bookkeeping is making you richer. The book is careful to steer you away from stupid stock-picking strategies, stupid stock newsletters, and advisers who work on commission (who are, by definition, not on your side).

This kind of stood out:

"Read this instead: 'The Prince' by Niccolo Machiavelli. Why: It will provide you with the precise moral foundation you'll need to be successful on the corporate ladder."

I dont recall PG ever bringing this up in his essays. But I think this is why a lot of hackers gravitate towards startups. They cant get themselves to follow the advice in that book.

Read it more carefully. It's satire.

Edit: I'm referring to "The Prince," not the list.

I didnt dispute that. Its still true.

But if you're looking at satire for clues about what to expect, you're already screwed. Catch-22 doesn't really tell you what the military is like; Liar's Poker doesn't tell you what being a trader is like; and The Prince pokes fun at idiot Borgias and their revoltingly clumsy politics.

I wonder how much it's really satire. You'd definitely be better off with their replacements than the original list.

I think it's meant to be snarky, not satirical.

I'd go for 'tongue-in-cheek'.

(not sure if that's largely an English phrase, or if there is a similar American term) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongue-in-cheek

edit: oh, the book

Machiavelli seems to have gone through a lot of trouble just to write a satire.

Which parts indicate that? BTW, the original is on line...cool!

http://it.wikisource.org/wiki/Il_Principe

The Little Prince > The Prince. :)

Though I'd agree with his portrayal of 7 Habits. Reads kind of like those How To Get Rich books that are meant to get the author rich.

Talk about a straw man argument. The ten "over rated" books are - on the whole - a pretty poor list. I'd also call them over-hyped, rather than over-rated (who honestly would rate 'Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work' as a serious business book)?

I'd have been far more interested in seeing books selected from the 'recommended reading' list used for (say) Harvard Business School, and then an examination of the merits of those. It could also be very interesting to compare the reading lists of the top b-schools to get a glimpse at their emphasis and biases.

Like most 'top 10' lists, I suspect this was intended more as a space-filler than as a serious contribution.

This just made #1 on my '10 Overrated Articles'. Now I just need to find what to read instead...

At the first company I worked at after graduating, many of the supervisor and manager cubicles had little certificates on them saying that they completed some sort of "Who Moved My Cheese" seminar. I remember seeing copies of "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" as well. Right before I left I saw someone with a copy of a book like "Love 'em or Lose 'em" a book about how to keep good employees. It's cover looked suspicious to me but I don't know much about it.

Honestly, though, most managers simply did not read, and those who did certainly didn't read anything about how to become a better manager, unless it was forced on them from corporate. Even those who took the initiative to read the bad books on that list will probably benefit.

While 'The Prince' is a better read, I think the business community takes it too seriously. The prevalent episteme at the the time of writing and the audience for that book effect its interpretation. Today, we live in a completely different world and that book is not suited for business, neither is Sun Tzu.

PS: It is possible to find some advice, thought or concept in anybook which you can apply to business.

Also, this list isn't the best list of over hyped business books.

Don't like Sunzi? Try the Book of Five Rings.

A lot of business books, like some of the ones on this list, suffer from overly anecdotal arguments. All the books that have actually affected the way I do things tend much more towards theory and frameworks of thought.

Our little startup has three holy texts: "Nonzero" by Robert Wright, "The Paradox of Choice" by Barry Schwartz, and "Fooled By Randomness" by Nassim Taleb (which is even more sanctimonious than "The Seven Habits...", but a lot better, too).

These are debunked in "[How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered the World](http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Mumbo-jumbo-Conquered-World-Delu...)"

Jesus CEO?

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