I've binged on books over the last couple of weeks -- here's some of what I've been reading.
The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson. Like I said a week or two ago, I'm a little behind the times with this book, but it was full of fantastic graphs, explanations and theories as to how the internet has changed so many business models for the better, and the important of niches.
The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. Again, I'm hugely behind the times, but I finally got around to reading this, and I thought it was great. I can't instantly put into practice much of what Tim talks about (in order to escape 9-5 I would first have to find myself a 9-5 job from which to escape) but I really admire what he's done, and I think it's inspiring. Your life doesn't have to be work all week, party on friday and saturday night, rinse and repeat for 40 years: you control it, you can shape it and you can do what you want. There's some fantastic productivity advice in here as well.
The Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth with Innovation by Lafley and Charan. This book is a fascinating look at how Proctor and Gamble focus on customer-centric innovation and how every decision is driven by trying to improve the day-to-day life of the customer. I knew P&G were a big company, but I was blown away by the sheer number of brands they own. 21 brands with sales of over $1bn per annum. A lot of P&G's success comes from hugely extensive market research, immersing themselves in the customer's world and seeing things as they do, defining what the issue is and then coming up with a way to 'delight' the customer.