Method and Curriculum

Method and curriculum
The methodology is a little complicated that just listen to the book. I suggest you to use the 3 basic styles of learning.

Step 1 Auditory Learning: You basically listen to the book.

Step 2 Visual Learning: You read the book summary (I plan on providing them as I finished them).

Step 3 Kinesthetic / Tactile Learning: You apply the book to your work (you are on your own on this one).

This system works best for me. After I go through all of these steps, I usually retain the book well.

Here is the curriculum. There is no particular order. Just go through them. I will update them as I find more Audio Books from the MBA reading list. So, check back frequently or subscribe for updated list.


General
1. The New York Times Pocket MBA: Leadership and Vision By Ramon J. Aldag, Ph.D. and Buck Joseph, Ed.D.
2. The New York Times Pocket MBA: Sales and Marketing By Michael A. Kamins, Ph.D.
3. The New York Times Pocket MBA: Growing and Managing a Business By Kathleen R. Allen, Ph.D.
4. The New York Times Pocket MBA: Analyzing Financial Statements: 25 Keys to Understanding Numbers (Unabr.) By Eric Press, Ph.D., CPA
5. The New York Times Pocket MBA: Business Planning: 25 Keys to a Sound Business Plan By Edward E. Williams, Ph.D., James R. Thompson, Ph.D. and H. Albert Napier, Ph.D.
6. The New York Times Pocket MBA: Going Global By Jeffrey H. Bergstrand, Ph.D.
7. The New York Times Pocket MBA: The Board of Directors By Marianne Jennings, J.D.
8. The New York Times Pocket MBA: Forecasting Budgets By Norman Moore, Ph.D.
9. The New York Times Pocket MBA: Organizing a Company By S. Jay Sklar, J.D. and Joseph N. Bongiovanni, J.D.
10. The New York Times Pocket MBA: Tracking & Controlling Costs By Mohamed Hussein, Ph.D.
11. The New York Times Pocket MBA: Business Financing By Dileep Rao, Ph.D. and Richard Cardozo, Ph.D
12. The New Portable M.B.A. By Eliza G.C. Collins and Mary Anne Devanna
Finance/Accounting
13. The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch
14. The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley & William Danko
15. The Lazy Person’s Guide to Investing by Paul Farrell
16. Work Less, Live More by Bob Clyatt
Leadership
17. Lead the Field by Earl Nightingale
18. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
19. Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler
20. 12: The Elements of Great Managing by Rodd Wagner & James Harter
21. What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith
22. Judgment by Noel Tichy & Warren Bennis
23. Getting to Yes
24. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You by Maxwell (Summary)

25. The Art of Exceptional Living by Jim Rohn

Entrepreneurship
26. Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson
27. The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
28. The Portable M.B.A. in Entrepreneurship By William D. Bygrave
Strategy
29. Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
30. Seeing What’s Next by Clayton M. Christensen, Erik A. Roth, Scott D. Anthony
31. Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter F. Drucker
Economics
32. The Portable M.B.A. in Economics By Philip K.Y. Young and John J. McAuley
Marketing
33. All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin
34. The Sales Bible: The Ultimate Sales Resource, New Edition by Jeffrey Gitomer (Summary)
35. The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes
36. SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham
37. 3-D Negotiation by David A. Lax and James K. Sebenius
Management

38. Getting Things Done: The Art Of Stress-Free Productivity by Allen (Summary)

39. Cut to the Chase by Stuart Levine
40. The Unwritten Laws of Business by W.J. King
41. On Writing Well by William Zinsser
42. Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath
43. Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales
44. The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt
45. Lean Thinking by James Womack and Daniel Jon

Audible MBA

A play called by the quarterback at the line of scrimmage to make a change from the play that was called in the huddle. It can be applied to a change of plan or alternative plan.

I am a scientist in my early 30s. I got my PhD from U of Kentucky. I then worked in a start-up and a large biotech, and had 3 kids in the mean time. I will get my MBA from U of South Florida this year. School is always easy for me. And my wife and family have been really supportive and give me enough time to do all that while enjoying my kids. I am really lucky.

But not everyone is so lucky……

My friend Joe is an excenllent scientist in his early 30s. He enrolled in a really good MBA school to futher his career in science, and then his wife get pregnant ..with twins. Joe have no choice by quit his MBA.

Billy is another excellent scientist in his early 30s. He work in a large Biotech company for almost 10 years. He want to get an MBA since his BS degree is not able to help him to get promotion. However, he just had his fist kid last year, and he play in a band. Something have to give, he have to chose his passion in music or MBA. Billy choose music.

3 people, same stage of life. Why the two have to give up their MBA? Life is not fair… The need an audible.

Lasr year, I want to solidfy the knowledge my MBA program. I was looking for a list of good business books. I found that on Josh Kaufman’s Personal MBA blog. Here is the briefing:

“The Personal MBA (PMBA) is an experiment in educational entrepreneurism… Just set aside some dedicated reading time, pick up a good book, learn as much as you can, and go out and make great things happen… the core of the PMBA is a list of 42 books and periodicals. By investing time and effort in using these resources, you will progressively develop a greater understanding of business and increase your effectiveness at work… If you decide not to go to business school, the Personal MBA is a low cost way to educate yourself about business. (Even business school graduates can benefit greatly from reading these books.)”
It is a great concept. Only one problem: I don’t want to read all of these freaking books (some of them are freaking text book). As I look through these book, I found out some of them are audio book. I thought, “ if I jus tlisten to these books, it will save me tons of time”. Here is the activities that I can do while I am “reading”. It is 5 times more effiecnt that regular books.

John Richardson has the same experience as me in his MBA on the run blog. He said, “After looking at the list of books and the probable time commitment (for PMBA), I considered doing this.…(but) I’m already time strapped and a commitment this big may not fit.” So, Jon decided to listen to whole bunch of audio books while he is running. To keep his progress, “as each book is completed you can read about it here…(his blog). Not only the book report but the business experience and an interview with someone in the business field.”I though what a great idea! I bet Jon and Zach can really used this audible & audio books. We can be at the gym, cooking, changing diaper while you are listening to all of these books. But the problem with MBA on the Run is that it is a blog full of book reports. It is not structural. Thus, I did some research into the curriculum of famous MBA programs (such as U of South Florida, Washington U and Harvard). I then create a curriculum and method for to go through these list of books and obtain the knowledge it withhold! I hope this can provide an audible for someone’s life.