Learning – Through Business Novels

Winter is coming, the days get shorter and colder, so what can be better than to pick up a good book and get cozy in your favorite armchair? I often prefer books I can learn from rather than just being entertained by. But it can be hard to feel compelled to keep reading, when facts and data are just piled on and on, until you can absorb no more for the day.

Dr. Eli Goldratt may have been one of the first to convey business concepts through a novel – The Goal (1), where the reader is learning with the book's protagonist, often a few pages ahead in his or her thinking. He explained that:

"The Goal was written using the Socratic approach […]. Just ask yourself about the outcome had Jonah given Alex all the answers at the outset. Intuitively we know that Alex would never have implemented them. […] The Goal deliberately elaborates on Alex’s struggle to find answers, so that the intuition of the reader will have sufficient time to crystalize. This is so the reader will figure out the answers before he reads them." – Goldratt, 1990, pp. 17-18 (2)

I have found business novels, like those written by Dr. Goldratt, to be an immensely powerful way to learn the "theory", while you better understand the "context", and where you can almost visualize the "environment/situation", with my own thinking "in the shoes of" the protagonist, and being "entertained" rather than bored. Not all business novels have all these features or benefits to a full degree, but often they are good enough - you will still learn a lot. So, this post is mostly my recommendations about great business novels you can pick up and learn from.

Theory of Constraints (TOC) business novels by Goldratt:

• The Goal by Eli Goldratt and Jeff Cox (production)
• It's Not Luck by Eli Goldratt (thinking processes, sales, marketing)
• Critical Chain by Eli Goldratt (project management)
• Necessary, But Not Sufficient by Eli Goldratt, Eli Schragenheim, and Carol Ptak (new technology)
• Isn't It Obvious by Eli Goldratt, Ilan Eshkoli, and Joe Brownleer (distribution, inventory, buy-in)
• Late Night Discussions by Eli Goldratt (several conceptual topics in short articles)

Other TOC business novels:

• Hanging Fire by Jeff Cox, Dale Houle, and Hugh Cole (project management, portfolio management)
• Velocity by Dee Jacob, Suzan Bergland, and Jeff Cox (TLS - TOC, Lean, Six Sigma, used in a factory)
• Epiphanized by Bruce Nelson and Bob Sproull (TLS - TOC, Lean, Six Sigma, used in a factory)
• Focus and Leverage by Bob Sproull and Bruce Nelson (TLS - TOC, Lean, Six Sigma, used in a MRO as well as a hospital setting)
• Pride and Joy by Alex Knight (healthcare/hospital)
• We All Fall Down by Julie Wright and Russ King (healthcare/hospital)
• The Cash Machine by Richard Klapholz and Alex Klarman (sales)
• Release The Hostages by Richard Klapholz and Alex Klarman (customer support)
• Rolling Rocks Downhill by Clarke Ching (software development)
• Get It Done On Time! by Eric Bergland (project management)

Lean business novels:

• The Gold Mine by Freddy Ballé and Michael Ballé (lean turnaround)
• The Lean Manager by Michael Ballé and Freddy Ballé (lean transformation)
• Lead With Respect by Michael Ballé and Freddy Ballé (lean leadership)
• Getting Lean by Jerry Feingold (lean production implementation with kaizen)
• Lean Administration by Jerry Feingold (lean administration implementation with kaizen)

IT business novels:

• The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford (DevOps, portfolio, TOC, security)
• The Adventure of an IT Leader by Robert D. Austin and Richard L. Nolan (CIO challenges)
• The Rollout by Alex Yakyma (scaled agile - SAFe®)

Leadership by Ken Blanchard (only a few listed, many more good exist in series)

• The New One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson (goals, feedback)
• The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey by Ken Blanchard and William Oncken Jr. (delegation)

Leading Change business novels by John P. Kotter

• Our Iceberg Is Melting by John P. Kotter and Holger Rathgeber (leading change)
• Buy-In by John Kotter and Lorne A. Whitehead (getting buy-in)
• That's Not How We Do It Here! by John P. Kotter and Holger Rathgeber (ambidextrous mode, explore & exploit, leadership vs management)

Business novels on leadership, innovation, sales, and more

• The Cure by Dan Paul and Jeff Cox (company culture)
• Harder than I Thought by Robert D. Austin, Richard L. Nolan, and Shannon O'Donnell (CEO challenges)
• How Stella Saved the Farm by Vijay Govinderajan and Chris Trimble (innovation)
• Selling the Wheel by Jeff Cox and Howard Stevens (sales)
• Heroz by William C. Byham and Jeff Cox (empowerment)
• Alice in Corporate Land by Tulika Tripathi (leadership)
• Fish! Omnibus by Stephen C. Lundin, Henry Paul, and John Christensen (engagement)

I have read all these books except two of these, which I am currently reading (Selling the Wheel and The Rollout). Therefore, I can recommend them all - they are all good to great books with lot of ideas to learn or get new input from.

So, in concluding this post, I would like to encourage you to start reading more business novels. They are a great way to learn and if written well, you can really imagine how it would feel like to be in the shoes of the protagonist, in that environment with those challenges or issues to solve. Every day you did not learn something new is a day wasted, so pick up a book and get comfy! /LAX

Extra suggestions from readers of this article:

• Addicted to Hopium by Kevin Kohls (published 2017-09-06)
• The Human Constraint by Angela Montgomery (ebook only, published 2014)
• Who Moved My Cheese by Dr. Spencer Johnson (originally published 1998)
• I Moved Your Cheese by Deepak Malhotra (published 2011)
• I see that Caroline Mondon have authored a DDMRP business novel called The Missing Links - A Demand Driven Supply Chain Detective Novel.(published 2016)

References:

1) Goldratt, Eliyahu M. & Jeff Cox, (2004), The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement, 3rd Revised Edition (1st Edition Copyright © 1884), North River Press

2) Goldratt, Eliyahu M., (1990), What is this thing called Theory of Constraints and how should it be implemented?, North River Press.