Articles, Ideas, and Books That Have Changed My Life As an Entrepreneur

February 6th, 2010 Sean Murphy

This is a start articulating a set of resources that are for the most part not yet part of entrepreneurial thinking but that have had a significant impact on my perspective. I welcome any suggestions or lists from readers for what has influenced you, and opened you to new perspectives on your entrepreneurial journey.

What follows are my two year old answers, in no particular order to a question on Hacker News:  Articles, Ideas, Books and/or Concepts that have changed your life.

I developed the list thinking about my approach to business and entrepreneurship, which is narrower than “life” and accounts for a lack of spiritual, marital, self-mastery, and personal improvement books and ideas.

• Myers-Briggs Model for Personality
• “Four Steps to the Epiphany” by Steve Blank
• John Boyd’s OODA Loop as a model for competitive decision making
• Decision Analysis techniques: in particular decision trees, expected value of perfect information, and “good decision, bad outcome.”
• BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) concept for negotiation planning
• “Secrets of Consulting” by Gerald M. Weinberg
• “Bionomics: Economy as Ecosystem” by Michael Rothschild
• SimCity computer game
• Analysis of Competing Hypotheses methodology
• wiki (social process) model for small team collaborative document development
• community of practice model for knowledge management
• “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” by Robert Heinlein (in particular TANSTAAFL)
• activation energy, catalyst, and phase change concepts from physics/chemistry
• Amplify Positive Deviance model from Jerry Sternin (Save the Children)
• “The Empowered Manager” by Peter Block, in particular his trust vs. agreement matrix
• “Crossing the Chasm” & “Inside the Tornado” by Geoffrey Moore
• “Maneuver Warfare Handbook” by William Lind
• “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life” by Daniel Amen
• “Micromotives and Macrobehavior” by Thomas Schelling
• Appreciative Inquiry Techniques

Here are a few more techniques or perspectives that I have added upon some further reflection.

• Russell Ackoff’s Decision Record Model
• Gary Klein’s Premortem Technique
• Saras Sarasvathy’s Effectual Reasoning Model from What Makes Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial
• better version here: “What Makes Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial” on Effectuation.Org
• See also “Saras Sarasvathy’s Effectual Reasoning Model for Expert Entrepreneurs“
• Andrew Grove’s “High Output Management” in particular “always review drafts” and his model for one on one meetings.
• “Computers, Networks, and the Corporation” by Tom Malone and John F. Rockhart (1991 Scientific American Article)
• see “Cisco Presents Collaboration Technology as Sufficiently Advanced“
• “The Computer and the Dynamo: The Modern Productivity Paradox in a Not Too Distant Mirror” Paul David (1989)
• “Gunfire at Sea” Elton Morison
• “Persistent Forecasting of Disruptive Technologies” by National Research Council (2010)
• “Technology Singularity” by Vernor Vinge, in particular the “Intelligence Amplification” section

Entry Filed under: Books, Tools for Startups, skmurphy