10 Business and Strategy Books for Curious Product Managers

“I am just too busy to read.” This is what people usually say when I ask for book recommendations. But are you really too busy? I would argue that there are things you could probably limit or remove to make room for even 15 minutes of reading each day. One less Netflix binge? Not checking social media before bed?

To help our team at Aha! grow, we build out specialized training programs. One of my favorite things that we do as a team is read a book together twice a year. We share our thoughts in person at our offsites and fold the lessons we learned into our work.

I think that most of us are natural self-improvers — we all want to keep learning and growing.

What about you? Your knowledge of everything related to your work may run both wide and deep. But I bet you are also constantly seeking new things to learn and ways to gain skills — areas such as negotiation, tenacity, and communication.

Recently, I went looking for books focused on business strategy. I did a Google search thinking there would already be several good lists. But I was in for a surprise — I could not find one that fit the unique requirements of a product manager. So I decided to put one together, with input from our team at Aha!

Here are a few of our favorite business and strategy books:

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni “This book was eye opening. It is written as a fable, so it is a much more engaging read than your typical business book. It provides some great insights into why some teams succeed and others fail, as well as lessons on building a high-performing team. As a product manager, try reading it with cross-functional co-workers and working through the exercises together. It is sure to improve the dynamic on the team and may just set you up for success.” — Austin Merritt

For the Win! by Kevin Werbach and Dan Hunter “This was the book that helped define ‘gamification.’ I was fascinated by Werbach’s take on how games work and how they can be used in business and life to drive engagement. It helped inform my work as a product manager by teaching me important lessons on what motivates people and how to design experiences that people keep coming back to.” — Tom Bailey

Great by Choice by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen“Based on theories backed up by empirical evidence and case study examples, this book was a fascinating and factual insight into why some companies thrive in the face of adversity while others do not fair so well. It challenges you to focus on developing skills to deal with any situation and to set a cadence for big goals so that, no matter how ambitious, you can sustain steady progress to achieve them.” — Justin Woods

Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal “I dislike the word ‘viral’ because that makes something seem like a fad, when ultimately you want long-term engagement in your products. But this book makes good points about creating ‘viral loops’ that your customers want to come back to over and over again. Even if you don’t have a consumer application (or an application at all) the idea of creating interest and love with your customers so that they want to come back over and over again can be applied to any business.” — Dru Clegg

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie “When I think about the best strategic product managers, they have the uncanny ability to build great relationships with key team members and customers. They lead cross-functional business planning despite a lack of clear authority over the entire organization. In other words, it all starts with people. In the end, what is the greatest strat