Below is a list of books that you are unlikely to find in any list of “Books For Business Analysts”. For most of them, I found by chance, whether they were recommended by a podcast, or came up on a random best-seller list. For whatever reason, I gave them a shot, and not only did they make me a better business analyst, but they also made me an all-around better friend, partner, teammate, husband, and now a parent.

3: Finding the Confidence to Be A Strong Problem Solver

 The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life

Why It Helped: As a business analyst, part of your job is to solve problems, and when you have to deal with the constraints of reality, sometimes you need to be able to get creative to solve those problems. Contrary to what many believe, creativity is not some genetic anomaly we’re born with. It is a trainable skill. This book breaks down the creative process that comes naturally to some, so it is accessible to anybody. That creative process is not about a sudden spark of genius. There are methods of thinking that prepare you to be a more creative thinker and problem solver that can help you in all areas of your life.

2: Effectively Leading My Stakeholders to Better Decisions

Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work 

Why It Helped: As a business analyst, your job is to help your stakeholders make the best possible decision. This book breaks down how we as humans often get to decisions, the biases that we’ve built for ourselves that sometimes hinder our ability to make the best decisions, and ways we can overcome many of the obstacles in the decision-making process. This will help you lead your projects, your teams, and yourself through the decision-making process for better results.

1: Quickly Creating Trust with My Stakeholders

How to Win Friends & Influence People

Why It Helped: All of us through our experiences with the different people in our lives (friends, siblings, parents, teachers, coaches, mentors, etc), have developed habits around how we interact with others. This book is broken down into several sections from creating good first impressions to having to criticize someone’s work without making them hate you. For me, it helped me highlight my habits that are working in my favor as well as those that aren’t helping me develop the kinds of relationships I want to develop. If you are going to read only 1 book from this list, it should be this one. 

Bonus: The Path To Greatness & Leadership

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

Why It Helped: The key to creating strong teams is motivation. A team that is motivated to put in work will likely achieve more and a common mistake most people believe the best way to motivate is with rewards. That’s been proven to be quite incorrect. The benefit of this book is twofold. By breaking down what motivates us at our core, we learn a little more about how to motivate ourselves to be great, and in the process, we learn how to motivate others.