How do you measure success?
There’s a lot of conversation around business success, what it means, and how to measure it. (And we probably talk even more sometimes about lazy metrics and poor measurement.)
I’m not going to talk about measurement at all today. Just success. Because sometimes you need to celebrate the small victories.
One of my 2011 goals was to read more business books. I set two goals: (1) to read at least one book a month about business, entrepreneurship, and/or marketing communications; and (2) to review a book a month.
Velcro helps.
Velcro was one of my three little words for 2011. In a blog post to start the year, I wrote:
I’m good at coming up with ideas, but sometimes I need more focus to see them come to fruition… I need to keep the velcro handy to keep me locked in.
It worked. I started the year thinking about how 21st century businesses are putting the power of collaboration and openness to work. I also read about what makes a good entrepreneur and how to tap into your entrepreneurial DNA, received tips on how businesses can leverage social media to thrive, and ended the year thinking about being weird.
12 Books for 12 Months
Here’s what was on my 2011 reading list:
- Macrowikinomics
- The New Small
- The NOW Revolution
- Energize Growth Now
- Smarter, Faster, Cheaper
- Rework
- The Entrepreneurial Equation
- Speaking PowerPoint
- Entrepreneurial DNA
- Content Rules
- Beyond Performance
- We Are All Weird
As for 2012? I have four books in the queue, including Mastering Uncertainty and The Introvert’s Guide to Business. Stay tuned.
What successes are you celebrating as 2011 draws to a close?
Photo by D. Sharon Pruitt (Flickr).
