• by Beverly Weinstein , December 18, 2009

Whether it is change in business, technology or your job responsibilities, one thing is certain: change, though sometimes good, is not easy. Here are some great books on tackling and understanding change from media executives at companies ranging from Google to Time Inc. and CBS to OMD.

Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing - by Adam Greenfield

"Although not a new book (2006) and not strictly a business book, this is a totally

absorbing work. It explores the implications of a not-too-distant future where

computers will be embedded everywhere in our physical space, including our homes,

our vehicles and our bodies.  Greenfield is a great writer and he discusses both the

scary and encouraging aspects of this inevitability with complete authority." -- Peggy Kelly, EVP, Universal McCann

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference -- by Malcolm Gladwell

The premise of this facile piece of pop sociology has built-in appeal: Little changes can have big effects. When small numbers of people start behaving differently, that behavior can ripple outward until a critical mass or "tipping point" is reached, changing the world.

"All of Gladwell's books are great. This is a classic." --Gail Stein, group account director, OMD

Only the Paranoid Survive by Andy Grove & Leading Change by John Kotter

"We live and work in a time of rapid transformations. There are two business books which are complementary for succeeding in the midst of change. "Only The Paranoid Survive" by Andy Grove (retired CEO of Intel) is the best book ever written on the subject of external change -- how to view it clinically, understand it and get out ahead of it. Leading Change by John Kotter (Harvard Business School) is the best management book for leading internal change -- how to organize it, lead it and make sure it becomes institutionalized. Taken together, these books are my touchstones for leadership strategies that halt the feeling that your company is a victim of circumstance. Instead, they create the direction by which any company can be empowered to embrace change as a competitive and cultural advantage."

--Mark McLaughlin, president of McLaughlin Strategy

Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More - by Chris Anderson

A New York Times bestseller and winner of the Gerald Loeb Award for best business book of the year, Long Tail introduced the business world to a future that's already here.

"It really changed the way that I thought about how to aggregating the consumer in different media forms." --Gail Stein, group account director, OMD

Curse of the Mogul: What's Wrong With the World's Leading Media Companies- by Columbia University professor, Jonathan Knee

The media industry is facing multiple financial and operational crises on an unprecedented scale, and Knee focuses in on the usual suspects to analyze and discuss the dilemma.

"It's controversial. He attacks their business models--acquiring rather than building, not paying attention to shareholder value etc. It's kind of cool." --Nick Loria, media executive

The Shift: The Transformation of Today's Marketers into Tomorrow's Growth Leaders by Scott M. Davis

"The Shift is a must-read to help marketers and their respective organizations move ahead and thrive." --From the foreword by Philip Kotler, S.C. Johnson and Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

Recommended by Mark Hosbein, former SVP marketing at Nielsen Business Media

 Book summaries taken from Amazon.com