The best business books of 2023 – 01/05/2024 – Market

Big projects, small mistakes, hidden and prominent figures in the world economy are some of the themes covered in the selection of the best business books of the year by Andrew Hill, who writes on the topic for the Financial Times.

See the list of 12 works below.

How Big Things Get Done: The Surprising Factors Behind Every Successful Project

[Como as Coisas Grandes São Feitas: Os Surpreendentes Fatores por Trás de Todo Projeto Bem-Sucedido]

by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner (Macmillan/Currency), 304 pp., R$100.17 and R$54.90 (ebook)

From the Sydney Opera House to the UK’s HS2 rail line, “megaprojects” often run over time and over budget. Flyvbjerg and Gardner present reasons why this happens (lack of advance planning, for example), but more importantly, they draw some important lessons from high-profile failures that readers can apply to mini-projects. Nominated for the FT/Schroders Business Book of the Year award.

Right Kind of Wrong: Why Learning to Fail Can Teach Us to Thrive

[O Tipo Certo de Errado: Por que Aprender a Falhar Pode nos Ensinar a Prosperar]

by Amy Edmondson (Cornerstone Press/Atria), 361 pp., R$ 262.40 and R$ 72.90 (ebook)

Entrepreneurs have generated a series of platitudes about the need to “embrace” and “celebrate” failure. In this book, another finalist for the FT/Schroders Business Book of the Year award, the Harvard professor presents a clearer path on how to stop avoiding failure and take smarter risks. An important step is to admit that you made mistakes.

Wonder Boy: Tony Hsieh, Zappos, and the Myth of Happiness in Silicon Valley

[Wonder Boy: Tony Hsieh, Zappos e o Mito da Felicidade no Vale do Silício]

by Angel Au-Yeung and David Jeans (Torva/Henry Holt), 384 pp., R$74.48 and R$69.77 (ebook)

Tony Hsieh turned Zappos, the Amazon-owned shoe retailer, into a case study in how to create joy at work. But publicity and his success turned against him as his mental health deteriorated and his associates began to work against his best interests. A tragic cautionary tale of how money genuinely cannot buy happiness.

The Case for Good Jobs: How Great Companies Bring Dignity, Pay, and Meaning to Everyone’s Work

[O Caso dos Bons Empregos: Como Grandes Empresas Dão Dignidade, Salários e Significado ao Trabalho de Todos]

by Zeynep Ton (Harvard Business Review Press), 272 pp., R$ 133.59 and R$ 126.91 (ebook)

Ton, an MIT professor, continues her quest to prove that better, better-paying jobs lead to a virtuous cycle of worker well-being, corporate competitiveness, and productivity. An important contribution, based on real-world examples, from retail to fast food, on how to make capitalism work for everyone.

Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future

[Mundo Material: Uma História Substancial do Nosso Passado e Futuro]

by Ed Conway (WH Allen/Penguin Random House), 512 pp., R$388.85 and R$59.90 (ebook)

Six raw materials—sand (used for concrete), salt (for fertilizers), iron (and steel), copper (for electrical wires), petroleum and lithium—are the focus of Conway’s global research into the critical substances that sustain the modern world. The book, shortlisted for the FT/Schroders Business Book of the Year award, is an eye-opening celebration of human ingenuity.

Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Hollywood Media Empire

[Unscripted: A Batalha Épica por um Império de Mídia em Hollywood]

by James B Stewart and Rachel Abrams (Cornerstone Press/Penguin Press), 416 pp., R$108.13 and R$93.64 (ebook)

Sex and power were the enduring obsessions of vivacious media mogul Sumner Redstone, whose life and career became increasingly bizarre as he aged and family and friends sought to get their hands on his empire. The saga helped inspire the HBO series “Succession.”

Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech

[Sangue na Máquina: As Origens da Rebelião Contra a Tecnologia Gigante]

by Brian Merchant (Little, Brown and Company), 496 pp., R$124.35 and R$51.20 (ebook)

Merchant, author of a study of the iPhone, “The One Device,” produces an entertaining analysis of the Luddites, much-misunderstood machine-breakers of the Industrial Revolution. When describing the context and motivation of his protests, he draws parallels with Uber drivers and warehouse workers and their struggles in the face of technology-driven changes.

You May Never See Us Again: The Barclay Dynasty: A Story of Survival, Secrecy and Succession

[Você Pode Nunca Mais Nos Ver: A Dinastia Barclay: Uma História de Sobrevivência, Sigilo e Sucessão]

by Jane Martinson (Penguin Business), 320 pp., R$286 and R$139.17 (ebook)

“Reclusive media mogul” is the kind of description that makes investigative journalists sharpen their pencils, so the existence of the reclusive media twins, the Barclay brothers, has often proved irresistible to courageous reporters, despite the family’s litigiousness and obsession with privacy. Martinson’s lively account of the vicissitudes of the Barclays empire, which included the Telegraph newspaper group and interests in some of London’s best-known hotels, is the best effort yet to penetrate the essence of two brothers from humble beginnings who ended up in influence at high levels.

Beijing Rules: China’s Quest for Global Influence

[Regras de Pequim: A Busca da China por Influência Global]

by Bethany Allen (John Murray/Harper), 336 pp., R$229 and R$50.29 (ebook)

A revealing account of the multiple ways in which China’s Communist Party seeks to exert its power abroad. Allen highlights how, through trade policy, indirect influence over Western brands, investment in technology, and traditional manipulation of powerful people, “authoritarian economic craftsmanship” allows China to shape the world.

Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives

[Cobalto Vermelho: Como o Sangue do Congo Alimenta Nossas Vidas]

by Siddharth Kara (St Martin’s Press/Macmillan), 288 pp., R$ 279.82 and R$ 102.86 (ebook)

A major investigation into the dirty side of the supply chain that connects the developed world’s tablets, cell phones and electric car batteries to the vital raw material, cobalt. Kara describes shocking scenes of poverty, desperation and abuse among exploited “artisanal” miners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in this FT/Schroders Business Book of the Year finalist.

Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall

[Número Subindo: Dentro da Ascensão Selvagem e Queda Surpreendente das Criptomoedas]

by Zeke Faux (W&N/Crown Currency), 304 pp., R$295.93 and R$48.97 (ebook)

It will be a while before a definitive account of the cryptocurrency phenomenon emerges, but this Bloomberg reporter provides an entertaining and enlightening look. He places his own, sometimes faltering, investigation at the center of the story, but also manages to paint a picture of the damage that speculation in cryptocurrencies can cause — often to those who can least bear it — while casting a skeptical eye on the protagonists.

Elon Musk

by Walter Isaacson (Simon & Schuster, Intrínseca), 656 pp., R$87.15 and R$18.87 (ebook)

From its cover (echoing the design of Isaacson’s previous biography of Steve Jobs) to its size (nearly 700 pages), this account of the world’s most prominent technology entrepreneur screams importance. While Jobs’ legacy was clear when his biography was released after his death, Musk’s is still ongoing. Still, in this FT/Schroders Business Book of the Year finalist, Isaacson does a good job of illustrating the mad genius of his multiple projects.