The Financial Times and McKinsey selected the best business books of 2019
Editor’s note: This article comes from the WeChat public account “ read far oceans “(ID: readabroad), author: ReadAbroad.
In the beginning and end of the year, it is a good time for major media to inventory good books for a year, and the annual book lists of major platforms have begun to appear one after another.
Some time ago, the Financial Times selected the Best Business Book of 2019 in conjunction with McKinsey.
This judging event began in August 2019 and continues until the end of the year. From finalists to step-by-step screening, the best business book of the year and 5 finalist books were finally selected.
Be careful! This book list is not just for fun, there are big prizes awarded.
The author who wins the top spot in this list will receive a 30,000 GBP (equivalent to about RMB 270,000). The top five finalists will also each receive a 10,000 GBP (equivalent to about 90,000 yuan) bonus.
So, the books that can enter this list are all high-quality blockbusters. For example, the best business book of the year 2018 is famous: Ba d Blood (“Bad Blood”, we have already read it in the first place).
Which work was selected as the “Best Business Book” in 2019? Which books have been successfully selected?
Best Business Book
Invisible Women
The Invisible Woman
Author: Caroline Criado-Perez
One sentence introduction:
No women do not work, only women do free work.
There is no such thing as a woman who does n’t work. There is only a woman who is n’t paid for her work.
Editor’s recommendation:
It’s all 2020. Is the situation of women better?
The answer given by the author Caroline is no. She tells us that the world is designed and built for men, and women are like invisible people and are rarely considered.
For example, the vast majority of medical research is directed at men, so women have higher misdiagnosis rates. For example, in a car crash test, the dummy tested is usually male, and the size and proportion of women are rarely taken into account, which leads to a 47% higher death rate for women in car accidents.
The author tells stories, stories, and studies from around the world, showing how women are forgotten. We may rarely realize this.
The lack of such awareness is precisely the source of permanent and systematic discrimination against women. Only when we realize that there are problems, women’s situation will become better.
Finalists:
Range
Broadness Wins
Author: David Epstein
One sentence introduction:
In a “bad” world, relying on experience in a single field is not only limited, it can be devastating.
In a wicked world, relying upon experience from a single domain is not only limiting, it can be disastrous.
Editor’s recommendation:
What is the best way to succeed in a field?
Many experts believe that if you want to develop any skill, you need to start early, stay highly focused, and practice as much as possible.Study.
Just like your familiar 10,000-hour rule, it takes 10 years of deliberate practice to succeed.
But the author Epstein believes that this method is no longer suitable for the present and the future, because the world is more and more chaotic, the technology is more and more developed, the skills that are deliberately practiced are not flexible enough, and the adaptability is not good. And it is easily replaced by artificial intelligence.
In fact, the New Age Pass is the ability to respond flexibly to a rapidly changing society.
So how do I get this pass? This book will tell you the answer.
Kochland
The Coriolis Empire
Author: Christopher Leonard
One sentence introduction:
Whales that have surfaced will be caught. If you want to avoid making enemies, you must learn to hide.
The whale that comes above sea level gets harpooned. If you want to avoid enemies and get things done.
Editor’s recommendation:
Koch Industries may not be familiar to you, but it is a veritable business giant whose annual revenue exceeds the combined revenues of Goldman Sachs, Facebook and US Steel.
It covers a wide range of fields: from crude oil extraction to trade, to agriculture and animal husbandry, it is almost everywhere.
If this company chooses to go public, Charles Koch, CEO of Koch Industries, will be worth more than today’s richest man, Bezos.
But Charles insists on not going public. This company is mysterious and few people really know about Coriolis Industry. This is exactly what Charles and his brother David Koch wanted.
For 50 years, Charles has been committed to making Coriolis Industry operate in the most secretive way to achieve long-term profits.
However, the author has spent 7 years writing this book, telling you another storyFace: How a family business rose and killed American unions, damaged the climate, manipulated the entire industry, and even affected markets and elections.
The whole story is like a real thriller …
This book will help you understand, How capitalism makes the American people today feel alienated and alienated.
The Third Pillar
The Third Pillar
Author: Raghuram Rajan
One sentence introduction:
Let’s not hope that the future will surprise us. Instead, we will shape the future of surprise.
Let us not let the future surprise us. Instead, let us shape it.
Recommendations for editing: strong>
Author Raghuram Rajan is the first world-class Indian economist and chief economist of the Monetary Organization Fund, known as one of the most important economic thinkers of this era.
Seeing the names of the authors, you may think that this is a difficult economics work. In fact, it is indeed a grand economic work, but it is not difficult to read.
The author does not use very boring terms. Instead, he uses simple language to help us better understand today’s global economic and political issues.
This book covers the current chaotic political situation (such as the US elections, Brexit), global trends in industry and employment, and trends in technology companies.
What should we do in the face of economic and political crisis? The author believes that the country, market, and community forces need to be balanced.
But people often overlook the third pillar: the power of the community.
So Rajan proposed that the power of the community should be brought into play and a three-pronged approach should be taken together to deal with the economic difficulties of the world today.
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
Author: Shoshana Zuboff
One sentence introduction:
Its purpose is not to destroy us, but to create us and profit from it.
Its aim is not to destroy us but simply to author us and to profit from that authorship.
Editor’s recommendation:
Just like in the 20th century, industrial capitalism disrupted nature. In the 21st century, capitalism is undermining human rights. It monitors us everywhere with a variety of technologies, which the authors call “monitoring capitalism” .
Global capitalists first monitored every aspect of our lives and collected huge amounts of data. They then use this data to predict and modify user behavior to align with expected business results.
To the author’s surprise, people don’t seem to care, they don’t care about the amount of data held by technology giants like Google, Apple, Facebook, etc., and think that these data are irrelevant.
The author will tell us how this all developed into what it is today, and how these data will invade our lives, coerce and control us. They will seduce profits to sacrifice democracy, freedom and The future of humanity comes at the cost.
Today, the scene described in “1984” has actually taken place. We live transparently under technology without any privacy at all.
So where is this society going tomorrow? What will the next step in surveillance look like? This book may help you see more clearly.
The Man Who Solved the Market
The Man Who Beats the Market
Author: Gregory Zuckerman
One sentence introduction:
The truth of life is subtle, you can have various interpretations … that’s why I like mathematics, it has clear answers.
Truth in life is broad and nuanced; you can make all kinds of arguments… That ’s why I love math problems—they have clear answers.
Recommendations: strong>
Jim Simons is the most profitable businessman in the history of modern finance. Overtakes Buffett, Peter Lynch and Ray Dalio.
Since 1988, his average annual rate of return has reached 66%, which has earned him more than $ 100 billion in profits. He is also worth $ 23 billion. However, Simmons’s operating strategy has been unknown, and no one knows how he controls the market.
Zuckerman, a senior investigative reporter for The Wall Street Journal, uncovered Simmons’ mystery after making secret contact with dozens of current and former employees.
Of course, this book is not a tool reading to teach you how to make a profit in the market. It is a biography of Simmons. In this book, you can see how Simmons conquered financial markets as a world-class mathematician and a former code cracker.
Although the people he found, including himself, knew very little about financial markets, he used mathematics, physics, and computer science to collect a large amount of data and build algorithms to find hidden in global markets The deepest money making model.
While financial experts scoff at this, it doesn’t prevent Simmons from becoming one of the richest people in the world.
Author: Caroline Criado-Perez
One sentence introduction:
No women do not work, only women do free work.
There is no such thing as a woman who does n’t work. There is only a woman who is n’t paid for her work.
Editor’s recommendation:
It’s all 2020. Is the situation of women better?
The answer given by the author Caroline is no. She tells us that the world is designed and built for men, and women are like invisible people and are rarely considered.
For example, the vast majority of medical research is directed at men, so women have higher misdiagnosis rates. For example, in a car crash test, the dummy tested is usually male, and the size and proportion of women are rarely taken into account, which leads to a 47% higher death rate for women in car accidents.
The author tells stories, stories, and studies from around the world, showing how women are forgotten. We may rarely realize this.
The lack of such awareness is precisely the source of permanent and systematic discrimination against women. Only when we realize that there are problems, women’s situation will become better.
Finalists:
Range
Broadness Wins Author: David Epstein One sentence introduction: In a “bad” world, relying on experience in a single field is not only limited, it can be devastating. In a wicked world, relying upon experience from a single domain is not only limiting, it can be disastrous. Editor’s recommendation: What is the best way to succeed in a field? Many experts believe that if you want to develop any skill, you need to start early, stay highly focused, and practice as much as possible.Study. Just like your familiar 10,000-hour rule, it takes 10 years of deliberate practice to succeed. But the author Epstein believes that this method is no longer suitable for the present and the future, because the world is more and more chaotic, the technology is more and more developed, the skills that are deliberately practiced are not flexible enough, and the adaptability is not good. And it is easily replaced by artificial intelligence. In fact, the New Age Pass is the ability to respond flexibly to a rapidly changing society. So how do I get this pass? This book will tell you the answer. Kochland The Coriolis Empire Author: Christopher Leonard One sentence introduction: Whales that have surfaced will be caught. If you want to avoid making enemies, you must learn to hide. The whale that comes above sea level gets harpooned. If you want to avoid enemies and get things done. Editor’s recommendation: Koch Industries may not be familiar to you, but it is a veritable business giant whose annual revenue exceeds the combined revenues of Goldman Sachs, Facebook and US Steel. It covers a wide range of fields: from crude oil extraction to trade, to agriculture and animal husbandry, it is almost everywhere. If this company chooses to go public, Charles Koch, CEO of Koch Industries, will be worth more than today’s richest man, Bezos. But Charles insists on not going public. This company is mysterious and few people really know about Coriolis Industry. This is exactly what Charles and his brother David Koch wanted. For 50 years, Charles has been committed to making Coriolis Industry operate in the most secretive way to achieve long-term profits. However, the author has spent 7 years writing this book, telling you another storyFace: How a family business rose and killed American unions, damaged the climate, manipulated the entire industry, and even affected markets and elections. The whole story is like a real thriller … This book will help you understand, How capitalism makes the American people today feel alienated and alienated. The Third Pillar The Third Pillar Author: Raghuram Rajan One sentence introduction: Let’s not hope that the future will surprise us. Instead, we will shape the future of surprise. Let us not let the future surprise us. Instead, let us shape it. Recommendations for editing: strong> Author Raghuram Rajan is the first world-class Indian economist and chief economist of the Monetary Organization Fund, known as one of the most important economic thinkers of this era. Seeing the names of the authors, you may think that this is a difficult economics work. In fact, it is indeed a grand economic work, but it is not difficult to read. The author does not use very boring terms. Instead, he uses simple language to help us better understand today’s global economic and political issues. This book covers the current chaotic political situation (such as the US elections, Brexit), global trends in industry and employment, and trends in technology companies. What should we do in the face of economic and political crisis? The author believes that the country, market, and community forces need to be balanced. But people often overlook the third pillar: the power of the community. So Rajan proposed that the power of the community should be brought into play and a three-pronged approach should be taken together to deal with the economic difficulties of the world today. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism The Age of Surveillance Capitalism Author: Shoshana Zuboff One sentence introduction: Its purpose is not to destroy us, but to create us and profit from it. Its aim is not to destroy us but simply to author us and to profit from that authorship. Editor’s recommendation: Just like in the 20th century, industrial capitalism disrupted nature. In the 21st century, capitalism is undermining human rights. It monitors us everywhere with a variety of technologies, which the authors call “monitoring capitalism” . Global capitalists first monitored every aspect of our lives and collected huge amounts of data. They then use this data to predict and modify user behavior to align with expected business results. To the author’s surprise, people don’t seem to care, they don’t care about the amount of data held by technology giants like Google, Apple, Facebook, etc., and think that these data are irrelevant. The author will tell us how this all developed into what it is today, and how these data will invade our lives, coerce and control us. They will seduce profits to sacrifice democracy, freedom and The future of humanity comes at the cost. Today, the scene described in “1984” has actually taken place. We live transparently under technology without any privacy at all. So where is this society going tomorrow? What will the next step in surveillance look like? This book may help you see more clearly. The Man Who Solved the Market The Man Who Beats the Market Author: Gregory Zuckerman One sentence introduction: The truth of life is subtle, you can have various interpretations … that’s why I like mathematics, it has clear answers. Truth in life is broad and nuanced; you can make all kinds of arguments… That ’s why I love math problems—they have clear answers. Recommendations: strong> Jim Simons is the most profitable businessman in the history of modern finance. Overtakes Buffett, Peter Lynch and Ray Dalio. Since 1988, his average annual rate of return has reached 66%, which has earned him more than $ 100 billion in profits. He is also worth $ 23 billion. However, Simmons’s operating strategy has been unknown, and no one knows how he controls the market. Zuckerman, a senior investigative reporter for The Wall Street Journal, uncovered Simmons’ mystery after making secret contact with dozens of current and former employees. Of course, this book is not a tool reading to teach you how to make a profit in the market. It is a biography of Simmons. In this book, you can see how Simmons conquered financial markets as a world-class mathematician and a former code cracker. Although the people he found, including himself, knew very little about financial markets, he used mathematics, physics, and computer science to collect a large amount of data and build algorithms to find hidden in global markets The deepest money making model. While financial experts scoff at this, it doesn’t prevent Simmons from becoming one of the richest people in the world.