Top CEOs Don’t Read Getting Things Done

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The New York Times ran an article about the books that sit on the shelves of America’s Top C.E.Os. Surprisingly, there’s not many business or productivity books like Getting Things Done or The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Instead top C.E.Os fill their libraries with fiction, poetry, and biographies.

Take Apple CEO, Steve Jobs. Mr. Jobs has an extensive collection of works by William Blake, an 18th century mystic poet and artist. Michael Moritz, the venture capitalist who took PayPal, Google, and YouTube public, reads T. E. Lawrence’s ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom.’ The article reports C.E.Os with an interest in climate change aren’t reading Al Gore, but rather books from the 15th century about the weather, Egyptian droughts, and even replicas of Sumerian tablets recording extraordinary changes in climate.

Why C.E.Os read fiction, poetry, philosophy, and biographies

It teaches you how to think. Most business books set everything out for the reader in a step-by-step fashion which doesn’t require much mental participation. Fiction, on the other hand, requires the reader to actively take part with the author in order to synthesize the message. The same is true with philosophy or poetry.

New ideas. Reading fiction or the classics from antiquity can help C.E.Os make idea connections they couldn’t make just by reading business books. Perhaps Aristotle could shed light on how to lead or maybe Crime and Punishment can give a marketing director an idea for a new ad campaign.

Learn success from the lives of successful people. If you want to be successful, read about the lives of successful people. Biographies are the original self improvement books. From biographies you can learn how history’s most successful people thought and worked. Take what you read from biographies and apply it in your life.

This article reminded me of the value of reading fiction and other non-business/financial books. I think reading fiction and other genres of literature will help me get new insights for law school and my blog. Perhaps Ovid has something to say about personal finance or maybe Joseph Heller has an insight on how to succeed on law school exams. It’s time I go to the library and find out.

Hat tip my wonderful wife Kate for the article.

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8 Comments

1. Glen on 22.07.2007 at 15:18 (Reply)

   “Michael Moritz, the venture capitalist who took PayPal, Google, and YouTube public, reads T. E. Lawrence’s ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom.’”

   Interesting. T.E Lawrence is also known as Lawrence of Arabia. I read a biography of him, and he seems to have been an odd sort of guy. The book portrays him as very academic and bookish, not the sort of person that hollywood made him out to be.

   Sorry for being off-topic!

2. Whatthe*#$!? on 13.12.2007 at 12:11 (Reply)

   Wow, you sure misquoted the NYTimes article! I read the entire story and nowhere did it mention the Getting Things Done or 7 Habits books. Quit assuming things man; it is extremely unprofessional. You probably don’t give a crap, but you just lost a fan.

   1. Brett McKay on 13.12.2007 at 12:44 (Reply)

      Whatthe*#$!?–
      First, if you’re going to criticize, at least have the courage not to hide behind the cloak of anonymity. Sure, it makes it easier for you to slam me, but it just makes you look like a troll.

      Second, yeah, you’re right, the article does not expressly mention Getting Things Done or Seven Habits books. The point of the article is that top CEOs don’t spend their time reading business books. I used Getting Things Done and Seven Habits as examples of the typical business book.

      The point of my post is that if someone wants to boost their leadership skills, they shouldn’t just pigeon hole themselves with the business section at Boarders. Did you read the rest of the post? I guess not.

      And I’m sorry I’ve lost a fan. I can’t please everyone all the time. But from the looks of your comment, it’s probably best for both of us to go our separate ways. You don’t like how I write and I don’t like how you have to talk to me with anonymous names and anonymous emails. Take care and God Speed.

      1. AnonymousButNice on 22.04.2008 at 16:53 (Reply)

         Good job standing up to “Whatthe*#$!?” You didn’t quote the article wrt Getting Things Done or 7 Habits, nor did I think you did. You posted a good article and keep you the good thoughts. Cheers to you and your wife.

3. Paul Klipp on 08.01.2008 at 09:36 (Reply)

   Great observation. As an MBA with a background in literature and Anthropology, I couldn’t agree more. I get a lot more out of Shakespeare then I get from David Allen. David Allen has some good ideas, but he’s not worth more than an hour, whereas no excessive amount of leisure can be spent in the classics. Cardinal Newman’s Idea of a University is a great tract on the broad benefits of a liberal education, and that doesn’t end at graduation.

   1. Brett McKay on 10.01.2008 at 13:41 (Reply)

      Thanks for stopping by Paul. I’ll admit I need to spend more time reading fiction and less time reading non-fiction. Every time I sit down with a good book, I always get something out of it. Any suggestions for books I should read or revisit?

4. Organize IT Recap 11th Jan 2008 - Advice on organized and productive living through lifehacks and GTD on 20.01.2008 at 09:47

   […] Interestingly, despite being written for CEO’s, few of them actually read books like Getting Things Done. In fact, according to research a lot of them instead read fiction, poetry and biographies. You can read more at the Frugal Law Student. […]

5. Mike on 27.02.2008 at 22:22 (Reply)

   I think that it depends on the type of person you are (to a large degree, luck in what type of disposition you have towards your daily activities and if it has made you successful)
   i.e. you are naturally an A type personality, who has developed good habits (through environment or personal choice or natural talent) so you do well.
   I have ADD and I struggle with engineering. “Getting things done” is good for me.
   I think people don’t realize how much a disposition of theirs towards “getting things done” may not be natural (or provided) to everyone else… so good on you if you don’t need it - but then there’s the rest of us…

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