Help Me Pick: Applied Stats + Product-Strategy Books
The inability to ask questions troubles me, especially in business contexts. When it comes to Analytics or Data Science projects, I have some frameworks and thinking processes in place through which I can ask pertinent questions or smell the BS far away.
But when it comes to strategy/business decisions, my basics are not that strong. I would often see big companies making changes, and the questions I would ask myself would mostly be data-driven (which in a way, is good, but shouldn’t be the only framework of thinking).
For this reason, I asked ‘our’ good friend ChatGPT to suggest some books which would help me develop some strategy-product frameworks. It suggested a few books. Around the same time, I was listening to an episode from Lenny’s podcast - where the guest suggested a similar book, which was one of the top books suggested by ChatGPT. So I started reading that - “Good Strategy/Bad Strategy” by Richard Rumelt.
I am extremely slow when it comes to reading. More than being slow, it is a concentration issue. It has been 1 month and I am only ~50% done. However, that is also not a bad thing for me. Anyway, so far, I liked the book. And it has actually given me some useful frameworks to think about strategies.
So, I asked ‘our’ good friend ChatGPT again: “Suggest me a reading list of 12 books. But - mix in books related to Applied stats. I want to sharpen my skills.” And I added some background details about myself and my work. After this, I shared the list with ChatGPT’s cousin, Claude, to get a second perspective. Claude made some corrections. And this is the final list that I have:
(I had started Nudge earlier — 3 years back — but couldn’t complete it. Felt it was boring and repetitive. And I read ‘The Art of Statistics’ 4-5 years ago, will read it again.)
Dear readers (yes - the ~80 of you), what are your thoughts on this list of books? Do you have any must-haves? Is the list good to go? Drop your thoughts in the comments below, or shoot me an email (shibaprasad.b[at]outlook.com) if you prefer - I genuinely want to hear your recommendations before I commit to this journey.
My initial target is 12 months to complete this list. But even if I can do 8-9 books during that time, then it is a major win.
Needless to say, I will be writing my reflections here. What better way to learn about a subject other than writing (and teaching)?