Hi All,

I made it a point to read 6 books by the end of this year that are self-improvement related - specifically in project management (industrial) and Career Development.

Basically, I am motivated to learn more about my industry (downstream oil & gas), develop skills that will increase my managerial and business/finance acumen, and "get ahead" at a large organization in order to get to the jobs that I want in the future (executive leadership).

Some basics of where I am at:
-Past: 10 yrs experience in upstream projects and engineering / offshore drilling specifically
-Currently: Middle management / project management in large O&G services company working on downstream technologies now (of which I know little)

What books / material do you recommend?

For anything technical related, I'd be more interested in the "how things work" versions that give fundamental operating principles of Turbomachinery (steam turbines, gas turbines, compressors, turboexpanders, etc.)

For anything business related, I'd be more interested in leadership strategies, how to advance your career ethically and with integrity, organizational strategies, learning more about services / finance.

Gig'em

Good to Great is an awesome choice.

Friend of mine wrote a book called Call an Audible. It's another I've read recently and enjoyed and fits your "career change" subcategory. It's more in the motivational aspect of going and doing it, but it's a quick not super in depth read that will be a step down from the deeper analytical aspects of Good to Great.

I haven't read Good to Great since 2003. Have they updated it to address the failure of comapnoes like Circuit City and Fannie Mae?

Execution by Larry Bossidy is a good one. Anything by Drucker stands the test of time. The Innovator's Dilemma is good. I may add to this later.

Lots of people like John Maxwell, but I feel like he's mostly fluff and BS.

Three good ones that I've read over the past couple years:

Knowledge and Power - The Information Theory of Capitalism by George Gilder.
It's a macro type book on where the world has been and is going, but a great perspective on technology and capital. Can get into the weeds a little on some things, and can be a little technical, but if that's your thing, it's a good read.

The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done by Peter Drucker
The book is 50 years old but timeless. There's an updated version that just came out and the foreword is by Jim Collins. As mentioned above, Drucker is (still) the man.

Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
Just a great book on the perspective of leadership and how to think about, and how to act, in whatever your situation in business and in life. Good stuff.


I'm sure there are plenty of others, but these three I've read a couple times each, which to me is the ultimate test of whether it is a worthwhile book to read.

Thanks!

Ten Day Mba is helpful and interesting, plus the books mentioned above especially Good to great.

Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg is good even for guys.

oops

Titans Series

Quote:

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Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

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Has to be the audio book version though.

jschroeder said:

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I haven't read Good to Great since 2003. Have they updated it to address the failure of comapnoes like Circuit City and Fannie Mae?

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Agreed. Good to Great is a great example of BS and fluff. It is great how many of its example companies are no longer around. I doubt the book will be in print in 10 years. It was a waste of my money and time. For a few years after it was written it did allow me to laugh at people who quoted it in meetings.


Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People
- Easy read and easy concepts; it is one of the few books of the genre that I have read multiple times

jschroeder said:

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Quote:

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Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

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Has to be the audio book version though.

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Opened the thread to post this. I've been listening to the audio book and only have 1 chapter left. Awesome book on leadership

SpreadsheetAg said:

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Hi All,

I made it a point to read 6 books by the end of this year that are self-improvement related - specifically in project management (industrial) and Career Development.

Basically, I am motivated to learn more about my industry (downstream oil & gas), develop skills that will increase my managerial and business/finance acumen, and "get ahead" at a large organization in order to get to the jobs that I want in the future (executive leadership).

Some basics of where I am at:
-Past: 10 yrs experience in upstream projects and engineering / offshore drilling specifically
-Currently: Middle management / project management in large O&G services company working on downstream technologies now (of which I know little)

What books / material do you recommend?

For anything technical related, I'd be more interested in the "how things work" versions that give fundamental operating principles of Turbomachinery (steam turbines, gas turbines, compressors, turboexpanders, etc.)

For anything business related, I'd be more interested in leadership strategies, how to advance your career ethically and with integrity, organizational strategies, learning more about services / finance.

Gig'em

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For basic O&G wells/technology, I bought this to learn:
O&G production in non-technical language

They have a couple of other books in that series that helps break down some of the fundamentals for easy reading. Granted, I have a Ph.D. in CHEN, but it was actually easy.

I don't know if some of these links will work, but they are good articles on compressors (mostly centrifugal):

Article #1

Article #2

Article #3


Hope this helps.

~egon

Dr. Doctor said:

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SpreadsheetAg said:

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Hi All,

I made it a point to read 6 books by the end of this year that are self-improvement related - specifically in project management (industrial) and Career Development.

Basically, I am motivated to learn more about my industry (downstream oil & gas), develop skills that will increase my managerial and business/finance acumen, and "get ahead" at a large organization in order to get to the jobs that I want in the future (executive leadership).

Some basics of where I am at:
-Past: 10 yrs experience in upstream projects and engineering / offshore drilling specifically
-Currently: Middle management / project management in large O&G services company working on downstream technologies now (of which I know little)

What books / material do you recommend?

For anything technical related, I'd be more interested in the "how things work" versions that give fundamental operating principles of Turbomachinery (steam turbines, gas turbines, compressors, turboexpanders, etc.)

For anything business related, I'd be more interested in leadership strategies, how to advance your career ethically and with integrity, organizational strategies, learning more about services / finance.

Gig'em

---

For basic O&G wells/technology, I bought this to learn:
O&G production in non-technical language

They have a couple of other books in that series that helps break down some of the fundamentals for easy reading. Granted, I have a Ph.D. in CHEN, but it was actually easy.

I don't know if some of these links will work, but they are good articles on compressors (mostly centrifugal):

Article #1

Article #2

Article #3


Hope this helps.

~egon

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Excellent, and yes the articles do work

Give and Take by Adam Grant.
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries.
7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.
To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink.

I was an ME major but took and ID course and Dale Carnegie's book was required reading. It was truly a good read and those basic principles are timeless and can be used in every aspect of life and business.

LatinAggie1997 said:

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I was an ME major but took and ID course and Dale Carnegie's book was required reading. It was truly a good read and those basic principles are timeless and can be used in every aspect of life and business.

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ID major here and How to Win Friends was still (then) required reading. It's an awesome book. I try to read it every year.

if you are a new manager or thinking about being a people manager:

Monday Morning Leadership

Easy read, great mindset.

Amazon Link

AgBank said:

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jschroeder said:

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I haven't read Good to Great since 2003. Have they updated it to address the failure of comapnoes like Circuit City and Fannie Mae?

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Agreed. Good to Great is a great example of BS and fluff. It is great how many of its example companies are no longer around. I doubt the book will be in print in 10 years. It was a waste of my money and time. For a few years after it was written it did allow me to laugh at people who quoted it in meetings.

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I disagree. I think that the failures of the example companies reinforce the core concepts. I'm not a huge fan of Collins -- he comes across as very self-important, in my opinion -- but he does say several times throughout the book that just because these companies made the transition is no guarantee that they will stay on top. I think you can tie the failures of the example companies back to them taking their eye off the ball and abandoning their core identities.

I actually liked reading it with the failures as example companies because it offered cautionary tales of what can happen if you allow your company to drift or abandon your identity in order to chase business.

If you've never read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People I highly recommend it. Most powerful book I've ever read.

I have tried and tried to read 7 Habits and can't get through it. I don't know if it is the writing style or that I am not connecting to it. Everyone says to read it but I feel like it just drags.

not business, but still a good read for business people:

The Art of Happiness

Odin said:

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I have tried and tried to read 7 Habits and can't get through it. I don't know if it is the writing style or that I am not connecting to it. Everyone says to read it but I feel like it just drags.

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I'm a big fan of the audio production where Covey narrates it. Not everyone I've recommended it to agrees, so maybe that would be no better for you. If you give it a shot set it to 1.25x or 1.5x.

Odin said:

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I have tried and tried to read 7 Habits and can't get through it. I don't know if it is the writing style or that I am not connecting to it. Everyone says to read it but I feel like it just drags.

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I read it during my sr year at a&m and thought it was great.

I still have my hand written 'core values' that were prompted by Covey. I'm pretty amazed how applicable the same ideas I put to paper as a kid are today.

But more importantly, Covey's 'quadrant' description of time was very influential on how I've lead my life since.

Try The 5 Choices, The Path to Extraordinary Productivity.

Its an updated (condensed and simplified) version of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and a quick and easy read.

I also love True Professionalism by David Maister, and re-read it every summer. Its really best applicable if you work at a professional services firm though.

I give a copy of both books to my new hire mentees. Starting personal development early will hopefully pay off for them.