I thought it might be worthwhile to compile a list of the top reads I recommend for technology leaders:

• The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
• Good to Great by Jim Collins
• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
• Crucial Confrontations by Kerry Paterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler
• Nucleon by Jeppe Hedaa
• Topgrading by Brad Smart
• The Second Machine Age by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee
• Software Runaways by Robert L. Glass
• and I am researching the best books on quality and Deming
• and three good books by Malcom Gladwell:
  • Outliers
  • David and Goliath
  • The Tipping Point

These will broaden your view of the world, enable you to better understand the impacts and trends of technology, address organizational and team issues, and become a better leader and person. As part of your responsibility as a leader, you always want to be learning, as well as fostering a learning environment in your organization.

For those that would like to gain a good understanding of software, which becomes more interweaved with our products and services we deliver and use everyday, I recommend an article in Bloomberg: What is Code? In an era of Twitter and soundbites, this most read article on Bloomberg is a 30,000 word explanation of software that conveys all the fundamentals for our digital age – a good read for the non-technical and technical alike.

For some interesting technology tidbits you can:

• Listen to the Martian wind…NASA’s Insight Martian lander recorded via a seismometer the Martian wind.
• check out the compute capability of the Apollo Program versus a typical iPhone

Best, Jim Ditmore