I learned a lot of things about management and strategy by spending time with restaurant operators...
According to Audible, I listened to more than 11 days (~270 hrs) worth of books in 2023.
At the risk of sounding like an Audible sales person (I promise I’m not), I believe that Audible is the most important business app I use. More important than excel, word or even powerpoint (sarcasm intended … probably a whole different post somewhere about powerpoint). 
Why?
Because I listen to books constantly in order to learn new things.
For example, a few years ago, I took on forming a team in order to build out an analytics department. Not knowing a ton about analytics, I probably listened to about 10 books on the subject in two months. Not saying that made me an expert, but it did make me better able to have intelligent conversations with my team … who were the actual experts.
I recently needed to get up to speed on a new industry, so I listened to two books over a weekend. Again, not an expert, but I knew a lot more Monday than I did on Friday.
So when/how did I listen to 11 days of books in 2023?
First, that’s not as much as it sounds like. Roughly 45 minutes a day. Though, it sounds much cooler when I say it in cumulative days. I probably used to listen to even more in the past when I used to actually have a commute.
Net, though, it was still about 50 books. So that’s still pretty decent.
Part of the story is that I listen when I’m running. Running gets me to listen to books. Books get me to run. It’s a perfect pairing: health/learning … learning/health. One of my favorite books that I read in 2023 was Atomic Habits by James Clear - I think he might call this a form of habit stacking.
Also, I’ve trained myself over the years to listen to books at about 2x. So I’m able to cover a lot of ground. There are a lot of people who swear by this (and 2x isn’t even as fast as some people go) - so if that sounds insane, know I’m not the only one. My family does make fun of me every once in a while when I accidentally play a book out loud, though.
I have heard people question this speed, saying “you can’t really enjoy a book at that speed.” True (maybe) - I make a distinction between “reading” a book for the joy of it and listening to learn. Though, to be completely honest, at this point I find listening at regular speed to be way too slow.
Others will say, “I can’t understand everything at that speed.” Also true, but when you are listening to learn (vs for entertainment), you actually don’t need to understand everything in the first book you read on a topic. That’s what the second and third book are for. Part of the power of audible as a learning tool is that it keeps going when you get to the hard parts - sometimes that’s the best thing to do. You’ll pick it up later. I have gotten through some really challenging books this way.
So what were my favorite books this year?
Simon Sinek’s The Infinite Game
Angela Duckworth’s Grit
Mitchell Waldrop’s Complexity
Uri Levine’s Fall in Love with the Problem not the Solution
James Clear’s Atomic Habits
David Epstein’s Range
Robert Cialdini Pre-Suasion
Anne Morriss & Frances Frei Move Fast & Fix Things
Jocko Willink & Leif Babin Extreme Ownership
Johnjoe McFadden & Jim Al-Khalili Life on the Edge
Most of these were recommended to me by a friend, a family member or a colleague – for which I am very grateful! I love book recommendations. Feel free to drop any book recommendations for next year in the comments, I have a lot of books to read in 2024.
If you are interested in learning more about turning strategy into action, follow Proprioceptive on LinkedIn or shoot me a note at jeff.sigel@proprioceptive.io.
