The Award Archive
The second year of our book awards — the first under the Non-Obvious brand, reimagined and expanded to consider more books from a wider range of categories. Five winners and ten shortlist selections.
After taking a break in 2015 due to the publication of Wall Street Journal bestseller Non-Obvious, this year the awards were rebranded and expanded. This year's awards did not include a Longlist.
The 2016 Winners
Tim Harford argues that disorder, in our desks, our plans and our lives, is a creative force, and that our instinct to tidy everything comes at a real cost.
TED curator Chris Anderson reveals how the world’s best speakers build talks that spread. The closest thing there is to an official manual for modern public speaking.
Journalist Dan Lyons’s riotous memoir of going from Newsweek to a tech startup at age 50. Still the funniest and sharpest book ever written about startup culture.
Brand detective Martin Lindstrom shows how tiny human clues, a worn sneaker, a fridge magnet, reveal desires that big data completely misses.
Al Pittampalli makes the counterintuitive case that the willingness to change your mind, being persuadable, is a defining strength of modern leadership.
The Shortlist
The finalists — ten standout books revealed alongside the winners. This year's awards did not include a Longlist.
Former FBI lead hostage negotiator Chris Voss brings life-or-death negotiation tactics to business. Arguably the most useful negotiation book ever written.
David Burkus challenges management’s sacred conventions, from email to vacation policies, with evidence that many of our oldest workplace rules deserve to be retired.
Nancy Duarte and Patti Sanchez show leaders how to use speeches, stories and ceremonies to guide people through change. Communication as torchlight.
Jonah Berger on the hidden social forces that shape every choice we make, including the ones we are sure we made on our own.
Adam Grant on how non-conformists move the world: when to trust your instincts, how to champion new ideas, and why originality can be cultivated.
Steven Johnson makes the delightful case that play, not necessity, is the real mother of invention, tracing how amusements created the modern world.
Ryan Holiday draws on history’s greatest rises and falls to show how ego sabotages ambition, and how humility keeps success from destroying you.
Angela Duckworth’s landmark research on why passion and perseverance beat talent. One of the most influential ideas about achievement of the decade.
Jay Baer turns customer complaints into competitive advantage: embrace every hater, answer every gripe, and watch loyalty grow.
Tim Sanders introduces a team-based method for cracking the toughest sales challenges, brainstorming built specifically for closing deals.
Your Turn
Entries for the 2026 Non-Obvious Book Awards are now open — and it costs nothing to enter.
How To Enter →
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