Books 📚
I have penned eight management texts including the award-winning The Age of the Platform and Message Not Received. Number nine will be Slack For Dummies (April of 2020, Wiley). This page provides synopses of each of my books.
According to WorldCat, thousands of colleges, universities, and libraries use my texts. Beyond that, Google Scholar illustrates that my work resonates in plenty of academics as well
Books in Chronological Order
- Why New Systems Fail: An Insider’s Guide to Successful IT Projects
- The Next Wave of Technologies: Opportunities in Chaos
- The New Small: How a New Breed of Small Businesses Is Harnessing the Power of Emerging Technologies
- The Age of the Platform: How Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google Have Redefined Business
- Too Big to Ignore: The Business Case for Big Data
- The Visual Organization: Data Visualization, Big Data, and the Quest for Better Decisions
- Message Not Received: Why Business Communication Is Broken and How to Fix It
- Analytics: The Agile Way
- Slack For Dummies
The book to read is not the one that thinks for you but the one which makes you think.
—Harper Lee
Slack For Dummies
Analytics: The Agile Way
My eighth book explores how Google, Nextdoor, and an increasing number of intelligent organizations are approaching analytics. Rather than attempting to do everything at once, they are employing Agile methods, much like what software developers have done for years. In the process, they are seeing results and gaining valuable insights far faster than their competitors.
“To date I have seen scant attempts at Agile analytics, but this book will most certainly launch a thousand more. It is a must-read for any analytics leader, and a must-do for any analytics professional.”
—Douglas Laney, VP and Distinguished Analyst, Gartner
Message Not Received: Why Business Communication Is Broken and How to Fix It
My award-winning seventh book examines how we communicate, use, and often misuse language and technology at work. We send way too much e-mail and use far too much jargon. It’s time for us to examine not only what we say, but how we say it.
“Simon has given us a 21st-century guide to communicating that is both personal and universal.”
—David H. Freeman, Contributing Editor, The Atlantic, and author of Wrong and A Perfect Mess
The Visual Organization: Data Visualization, Big Data, and the Quest for Better Decisions
Progressive organizations like eBay, Netflix, Wedgies, the University of Texas, and others are using interactive dataviz tools and Big Data to ask better questions and make business decisions. My sixth book explores how.
“Simon demonstrates how it’s possible to see not only the forest, but the also trees.”
–Brad Feld, Foundry Group Managing Director and co-author, Startup Life
Too Big to Ignore: The Business Case for Big Data
My fifth book looks at the nascent trend of Big Data and explains why it’s such a big deal. In plain English, I describe the genesis and applications of Big Data. I detail a wide variety of ways in which intelligent organizations are using it today. It’s a jargon-free, very accessible text with more than 40 positive reviews on Amazon.
“Simon makes you think differently about complex topic via real-world storytelling that resonates.”
–Jay Baer, author of Youtility: Why Smart Companies are Helping not Selling
The Age of the Platform: How Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google Have Redefined Business
My award-winning fourth book examines the most important business model in business today: the platform. I focus on how four companies have embraced platforms, ecosystems, APIs, and external development–and how they have achieved amazing results.
“Essential reading on the state of business today–and where it is going. Ignore this book at your own peril.”
–Adrian C. Ott, award-winning author, The 24-Hour Customer
The New Small: How a New Breed of Small Businesses Is Harnessing the Power of Emerging Technologies
My third book examines the ability of increasingly tech-savvy small businesses to do things that were simply impossible even five years ago. Through the course of eleven engaging case studies, I demonstrate that small is the new big.
“A powerful, important, and eye-opening book. You may want to change your life once you’ve finished reading it.”
—Mitch Joel, President, Twist Image and author of Six Pixels of Separation
The Next Wave of Technologies: Opportunities in Chaos
My second book is about Enterprise 2.0. Organizations are finally getting with the times. That is, they are moving beyond simple e-mail, ERP, CRM, and BI stalwarts. They are adopting emerging enterprise technologies such as open-source software, SaaS, mobility, cloud computing, MDM, and others. My book serves as a primer on successfully navigating this new era.
“If you make a living in IT, you must read this book.”
—David Siegel, author of Pull: The Power of the Semantic Web
Why New Systems Fail: An Insider’s Guide to Successful IT Projects
My first book provides an inside look at IT projects gone bad. Culled from the decade I spent implementing new enterprise systems, this no-holds-barred guide offers a great deal of advice on how minimize the chance of system failures.
“This book’s framework is clear and its examples are compelling. A manifesto for successful IT projects.”
—Michael Krigsman, ZDNet Blogger on IT Project Failures
Other Contributions
- One of my HBR articles appears in Agile: The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review.
- I served as the editor of–and a contributor to–the 2011 book 101 Lightbulb Moments in Data Management.
Click here to see my Amazon page. Or don’t. I really can’t make you.