Behind every successful entrepreneur is a list of books that have helped them navigate the intricacies of running a business and living a victorious life.
While more recent books like Phil Knight's "Shoe Dog," Ray Dalio's "Principles" and Simon Sinek's "Start with Why" stand out as a few favorites of top CEOs, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates both agree that the best business book of all time was written 50 years ago.
When the two billionaires first met back in 1991, Gates asked Buffett to recommend his favorite business book. Without missing a beat, the Berkshire Hathaway CEO answered: "Business Adventures" by John Brooks, then said he would send his copy to Gates.
"More than two decades after Warren lent it to me — and more than four decades after it was first published — 'Business Adventures' remains the best business book I've ever read. John Brooks is still my favorite business writer," Gates wrote in his blog back in 2014. (He cheekily added, "And Warren, if you're reading this, I still have your copy.")
It stands the test of time
"Business Adventures" is a compilation of 12 stories — previously published in The New Yorker, where Brooks was a staff writer — about some of the most important events in 20th Century corporate America. Each profile is a fascinating account of how a certain moment in history shaped an entire company.
But what truly makes the book so brilliant (apart from its wonderful prose) is that it can appeal to readers who aren't even interested in the nature of finance. It offers a goldmine of lessons about people and life — our instinctive behaviors, what makes us excel and what troubles lie ahead if we give into our inherent savageries.
Here are most essential life lessons from "Business Adventures":
1. When you become blind to change, you become obsolete.
In his book, Brooks writes about one of Ford Motor Company's biggest failures: the 1958 Ford Edsel, which the automaker had intended to be the "new and ultimate" car for middle-class Americans. Brooks notes that Ford wanted to make a car that fit the needs of the American public, so it polled the population to see what they wanted most.
