Data Science for Business - Foster Provost & Tom Fawcett

What You Need to Know About Data Mining and Data-Analytic Thinking

Written by renowned data science experts Foster Provost and Tom Fawcett, Data Science for Business introduces the fundamental principles of data science, and walks you through the "data-analytic thinking" necessary for extracting useful knowledge and business value from the data you collect.
This guide also helps you understand the many data-mining techniques in use today.
Based on an MBA course Provost has taught at New York University over the past ten years, Data Science for Business provides examples of real-world business problems to illustrate these principles. 
You’ll not only learn how to improve communication between business stakeholders and data scientists, but also how participate intelligently in your company’s data science projects. 
You’ll also discover how to think data-analytically, and fully appreciate how data science methods can support business decision-making.

• Understand how data science fits in your organization—and how you can use it for competitive advantage
• Treat data as a business asset that requires careful investment if you’re to gain real value
• Approach business problems data-analytically, using the data-mining process to gather good data in the most appropriate way
• Learn general concepts for actually extracting knowledge from data
• Apply data science principles when interviewing data science job candidates

[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ]


Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 4.17 out of 5 ( 932 Ratings ,67 Reviews   - As on Dec 14 2017)
My Rating:   4 out of 5
My Comments:
This book is an excellent Executive Guide on Data Science. Written in a fairly non-technical manner focusing more on business perspective rather than deep technicalities. Serves as a very good introduction to Data Science..

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Running Lean - Ash Maurya

Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works
We live in an age of unparalleled opportunity for innovation. 
We're building more products than ever before, but most of them fail--not because we can't complete what we set out to build, but because we waste time, money, and effort building the wrong product.
What we need is a systematic process for quickly vetting product ideas and raising our odds of success. 
That's the promise of Running Lean.

In this inspiring book, Ash Maurya takes you through an exacting strategy for achieving a "product/market fit" for your fledgling venture, based on his own experience in building a wide array of products from high-tech to no-tech. 
Throughout, he builds on the ideas and concepts of several innovative methodologies, including the Lean Startup, Customer Development, and bootstrapping.

Running Lean is an ideal tool for business managers, CEOs, small business owners, developers and programmers, and anyone who's interested in starting a business project.

Get to know how to:

• Find a problem worth solving, then define a solution
• Engage your customers throughout the development cycle
• Continually test your product with smaller, faster iterations
• Build a feature, measure customer response, and verify/refute the idea
• Know when to "pivot" by changing your plan's course
• Maximize your efforts for speed, learning, and focus
• Learn the ideal time to raise your "big round" of funding

[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com  ] 


Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 4.07 out of 5 (5,970 Ratings; 141 Reviews - As on March 31 2017)
My Rating:  4 out of 5
My Comments:  Nice cook book to jump start your Lean Startup process !
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Traction by Gino Wickman

Get a Grip On Your Business
Do you have a grip on your business, or does your business have a grip on you?

All entrepreneurs and business leaders face similar frustrations—personnel conflict, profit woes, and inadequate growth. 
Decisions never seem to get made, or, once made, fail to be properly implemented. 
But there is a solution. It’s not complicated or theoretical.The Entrepreneurial Operating System® is a practical method for achieving the business success you have always envisioned. 
More than 2,000 companies have discovered what EOS can do.

In Traction, you’ll learn the secrets of strengthening the six key components of your business. 
You’ll discover simple yet powerful ways to run your company that will give you and your leadership team more focus, more growth, and more enjoyment. 
Successful companies are applying Traction every day to run profitable, frustration-free businesses—and you can too.

[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ] 


Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 4.15 out of 5 (713 Ratings; 78 Reviews - As on December 29 2016)
My Rating:  3.5 out of 5
My Comments: Sort of simplified version of Verne Harnish's book Scaling Up. Useful for startup companies.


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101 Design Ingredients to Solve Big Tech Problems by Eewei Chen

One page, one ingredient. 101 reasons to become more successful at solving those big technology problems. 
101 Design Ingredients will help your technology team identify problems, share responsibilities, and work better together.

In parts 1 through 4, you'll find 101 problem-solving ingredients grouped into project stages, to help you apply the right ingredient at the right time. 
Start at any point and page through the humorously illustrated ingredients until you find one that matches your needs best. 
The ingredients cover the spectrum your business needs to be successful, with tips on team-building, creating a business model, product launch, productivity, and much more. 
Each ingredient includes three practical suggestions to get you started right away.

In part 5, you'll see examples of how companies can blend some of the ingredients used in this book to solve specific business requirements for investment, innovation, leadership, and more. Each recipe shows how a company fine-tuned six of the ingredients to build their own unique solution. 
You'll learn how to mix and match ingredients to create your own recipes for success, tailored to your company's needs.

The ingredients and recipes in this book can be applied by beginners starting out on their first technology project, as well as seasoned professionals who have been tackling the same big problems for years and need a fresh new approach to problem solving.

[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ] 


Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 3.03 out of 5 (30 Ratings; 5 Reviews - As on December 25 2016)
My Rating:  3 out of 5
My Comments: Has got nice cartoons and lots of links which may be of interest. Content wise just OK.


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Scaling Up - Verne Harnish and the team at Gazelles

In Scaling Up, Harnish and his team share practical tools and techniques for building an industry-dominating business.
These approaches have been honed from over three decades of advising tens of thousands of CEOs and executives and helping them navigate the increasing complexities (and weight) that come with scaling up a venture. 
This book is written so everyone -- from frontline employees to senior executives -- can get aligned in contributing to the growth of a firm. 
There's no reason to do it alone, yet many top leaders feel like they are the ones dragging the rest of the organization up the S-curve of growth. 
The goal of this book is to help you turn what feels like an anchor into wind at your back -- creating a company where the team is engaged; the customers are doing your marketing; and everyone is making money. 
To accomplish this, Scaling Up focuses on the four major decision areas every company must get right: People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash. 
The book includes a series of new one-page tools including the updated One-Page Strategic Plan and the Rockefeller Habits Checklist (TM), which more than 40,000 firms around the globe have used to scale their companies successfully -- many to $1 billion and beyond. 
Running a business is ultimately about freedom.  
Scaling Up shows business leaders how to get their organizations moving in sync to create something significant and enjoy the ride.

[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ] 


Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 4.24 out of 5 (761 Ratings; 64 Reviews - As on November 27 2016)
My Rating:  4 out of 5
My Comments: Very practical guide to scaling up your business. Provides several useful tools and techniques.  A slightly dry read but the utility of the book more than makes it up for it.


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Visual Meetings - David Sibbet

How Graphics, Sticky Notes and Idea Mapping Can Transform Group Productivity

Use eye-popping visual tools to energize your people!
Just as social networking has reclaimed the Internet for human interactivity and co-creation, the visual meetings movement is reclaiming creativity, productivity, and playful exchange for serious work in groups.
Visual Meetings explains how anyone can implement powerful visual tools, and how these tools are being used in Silicon Valley and elsewhere to facilitate both face-to-face and virtual group work. 
This dynamic and richly illustrated resource gives meeting leaders, presenters, and consultants a slew of exciting tricks and tools, including

• Graphic recording, visual planning, story boarding, graphic templates, idea mapping, etc.

• Creative ways to energize team building, sales presentations, staff meetings, strategy sessions, brainstorming, and more
• Getting beyond paper and whiteboards to engage new media platforms
• Understanding emerging visual language for leading groups

Unlocking formerly untapped creative resources for business success, Visual Meetings will help you and your team communicate ideas more effectively and engagingly.

   
[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ] 

Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 3.79 out of 5 (783 Ratings; 22 Reviews - As on October 9 2016)
My Rating:   2 out of 5
My Review: Lots of interesting ideas but too much of self-promotion. Felt like I was reading a  long and dry brochure of the author's company. OK for people who have never been exposed to the concept of Visual Meeting but the rest can look elsewhere.


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Simplicity - Edward de Bono

Simplicity is the classic work about making the complicated simple, from world-renowned writer and philosopher Edward de Bono. 
From confusing manuals to uninterpretable jargon to bureaucratic red-tape, modern life can be highly complicated and frustrating. 
For many of us it is almost impossible to make sense of. 
In Simplicity, lateral-thinking guru Edward de Bono shows us how to bring simplicity into our increasingly complicated lives. 
Through his ten rules of simplicity, he encourages us to be creative and break down the complex into manageable and recognisable parts. 
By making the complicated simple, you will free up time, reduce stress and make better decisions.
[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ] 

Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 3.7 out of 5 (297 Ratings; 23 Reviews; as on Aug 13 2016)
My Rating:  3 out of 5
My Comments: Though there are no path breaking techniques taught in this book, the concept of Simplicity and the general approaches to achieve is well explained in a concise manner. 
The book is "Simple" and light read, living up to its title. 
Liked it more than than the previous book of Edward de Bono  (Lateral Thinking) which was rather an insipid read, though the technique "Lateral Thinking" was path breaking.


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Making Sense of Change Management - Esther Cameron & Mike Green

A Complete Guide to the Models, Tools and Techniques of Organizational Change
The world we live in continues to change at an intense rate. 
The rate of change and discovery outpaces our individual ability to keep up with it. 
The organizations we work in or rely on to meet our needs and wants are also changing dramatically, in terms of their strategies, their structures,their systems, their boundaries and of course their expectations of their staff and their managers. 
Written for students and professionals alike, Making Sense of Change Management is the classic text in the field. 
It is aimed at readers who want to understand why change happens, how it happens and what needs to be done to make change a welcome concept rather than a dreaded one. 
It offers insights into the many frameworks, models and ways of approaching change and helps the reader apply the right approach to each unique situation.

[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ] 

Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 4.17 out of 5 (6 Ratings, 0 Reviews)

My Rating:  4 out of 5 
My Comments: Quite a comprehensive & useful guide for change management professionals. Nice explanation of the theories underpinning change management.  


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(Anybody can read Kindle books—even without a Kindle device—with the FREE Kindle app for smartphones and tablets.)

Data Science For Dummies - Lillian Pierson

Discover how data science can help you gain in-depth insight into your business – the easy way!

Jobs in data science abound, but few people have the data science skills needed to fill these increasingly important roles in organizations. 
Data Science For Dummies is the perfect starting point for IT professionals and students interested in making sense of their organization’s massive data sets and applying their findings to real-world business scenarios. 
From uncovering rich data sources to managing large amounts of data within hardware and software limitations, ensuring consistency in reporting, merging various data sources, and beyond, you’ll develop the know-how you need to effectively interpret data and tell a story that can be understood by anyone in your organization.

• Provides a background in data science fundamentals before moving on to working with relational databases and unstructured data and preparing your data for analysis
• Details different data visualization techniques that can be used to showcase and summarize your data
• Explains both supervised and unsupervised machine learning, including regression, model validation, and clustering techniques
• Includes coverage of big data processing tools like MapReduce and Hadoop

It’s a big, big data world out there – let Data Science For Dummies help you harness its power and gain a competitive edge for your organization.

[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ]
Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 2.22 out of 5 (9 Ratings; 1 Review)
My Rating:  3 out of 5. Provides a good overview of lots of topics, but definitely not written in a manner so that dummies can understand. It is more like a refresher for experts. 

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(Anybody can read Kindle books—even without a Kindle device—with the FREE Kindle app for smartphones and tablets.)