Why You Should Read Books on Entrepreneurship as a Corporate Employee
If you read through my book list from last year, you might wonder why, despite working a corporate job, I read so many books on entrepreneurship. Many would assume it's driven by a desire to launch my own business, and while that prospect intrigues me, it's not the primary motivation behind my entrepreneurial reading. Most books written about leadership or advancing your career in the corporate world are bound by the corporate norms. When you step outside of those boundaries and enter the world of starting and running your own business you gain a fresh perspective. This perspective is often times through the eyes of company owners. Treating your work as if you own the organization is a powerful way to make a lasting impact.
One of my favorite books for entrepreneurs is The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss. This book challenges the traditional corporate mold by explaining working less can lead to greater productivity. In most corporate settings the person that comes in early and stays late every day is seen as dedicated to the company and labeled a high achiever. While they may get the results, it takes great effort, and they have little time and energy for things other than their primary work task. Often times they get stuck as a doer and fail to advance into leadership roles. This book explains how to break this cycle and take control of your time. The author emphasizes just how valuable your time is and gives many tips and tricks to make the best use of your time.
One key practice from the book that has transformed my daily routine is Ferriss' approach to handling emails. If you’re not careful, emails can hijack your day and derail your progress on the most important items. I used to check my email first thing in the morning and try to get responses out to everyone immediately. This often times caused me to go down a rabbit hole chasing other people’s issues that weren’t the best use of my time. The solution to solve this problem is simple and powerful: pick a time window in the afternoon to sit down and go through emails, but only respond to urgent emails or emails from your boss/upper management. I found that by not responding immediately to emails, most of the time the issues would get resolved on their own without my involvement. Also for those issues that are urgent, I would usually get a text or phone call before I sat down to respond to emails. This strategy has proven effective in preventing unnecessary diversions and allowing me to concentrate on high-priority tasks.
Another book for entrepreneurs that has had an impact on me is Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson. There are two crucial concepts highlighted in this book that really hit home. Firstly, a business becomes official only through sales, emphasizing the importance of making that first sale before delving into more intricate business workings. Secondly, the title itself suggests the need to act swiftly rather than endlessly preparing and aiming. Masterson argues that taking the initial shot, even if imperfect, is more efficient, as you learn and adjust with each subsequent attempt.
Personally, I resonate with Ready, Fire, Aim because I tend to overanalyze decisions, often succumbing to analysis paralysis. I’ll go through every possible scenario to a specific situation in my head and start to realize I’m getting stuck in the aiming stage, and I haven’t even fired the first shot. Acknowledging this tendency as a shortcoming, I now strive to get an idea or concept 70% ready and implement it, fine-tuning the remaining 30% as needed. This approach enables me to reap the benefits of early implementation while continuously refining the details.
One notable instance of this approach was when I was leading a project to transition a manufacturing boat building process from batch building to one-piece flow. We knew the numerous benefits of going to a one-piece flow operation versus batch building, but just couldn’t bring ourselves to pull the trigger on moving equipment and implementing the change. Finally, as a team, we came to the realization that if we kept overanalyzing the project we would never implement it. Setting a final date, we moved equipment and initiated the change, resolving issues in real-time and aiming closer to the “bullseye” with each adjustment. Once we started running production through the new process, we immediately saw some issues that we hadn’t thought of but were able to quickly resolve them. The reason they were resolved so swiftly is because we had to get them resolved or production would come to a grinding halt.
Entrepreneurial books have had a big impact on my career in the corporate world. They’ve provided me with a fresh perspective on many aspects of business and helped me understand the bigger picture outside of the departments I’ve been a part of. Shifting from an employee mindset to an owner's perspective has opened my eyes to the interconnectedness of various facets within a business.
