Why am I passionate about this?

I never had a real career. Closest I came was the Air Force Reserve for 27 years. Along the way, I built fighter-vs-fighter computer models for the Defense Department, served as an advisor to a Saudi Air Force prince, led a team that designed a replacement for the Air Force’s A-10 tankbuster (which was never built, unfortunately), sold C-130 transport aircraft in Saudi Arabia, taught statistics in business school, became a yoga instructor, and did PR work in Atlanta. Starting in 1975, I collaborated a little with a retired Air Force colonel, John Boyd, creator of the infamous “OODA loop.” I was never a published author in the US, although I am in India, Portugal, and Japan. 


I wrote

Certain to Win

By Chet Richards,

Book cover of Certain to Win

What is my book about?

War is nothing like business. Countries go to war to compel opponents to do things they’d rather not: Change governments,…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Essentials of Statistics for Business & Economics

Chet Richards Why did I love this book?

Here’s some bad news for non-STEM people: You’re going to have to learn a little about statistics. Otherwise, at some point, you going to get, as Nassim Nicholas Taleb puts it, “fooled by randomness.” An example: Suppose you’ve been a sales manager for a long time but recently you failed to close a string of prospects. How unusual is this? It could be just a run of bad luck, or is it time to make some significant personnel moves? Basic knowledge of statistics can help. If your math is rusty, you might want to take a stat course for non-math majors. Otherwise, here’s a book that I used with my MBA students that features scenarios from businesses.  

By David R. Anderson, Dennis J. Sweeney, Thomas A. Williams , Jeffrey D. Camm , James J. Cochran

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Essentials of Statistics for Business & Economics as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Discover how statistical information impacts decisions in today's business world as Anderson/Sweeney/Williams/Camm/Cochran/Fry/Ohlmann's leading ESSENTIALS OF STATISTICS FOR BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS, 9E connects concepts in each chapter to real-world practice. This edition delivers sound statistical methodology, a proven problem-scenario approach and meaningful applications that reflect the latest developments in business and statistics today. More than 350 new and proven real business examples, a wealth of practical cases and meaningful hands-on exercises highlight statistics in action. You gain practice using leading professional statistical software with exercises and appendices that walk you through using JMP (R) Student Edition 14 and Excel (R) 2016.…


Book cover of Light in August

Chet Richards Why did I love this book?

I have colleagues in the STEM fields, on the other hand, who brag about not having read fiction since sophomore lit. This is a mistake. Faulkner observed that the only worthy subject for the poet and novelist is “the human heart in conflict with itself.” They must portray “love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice.” Novels, then, can help you develop an intuitive feel for empathy and so for human behavior. Where the heart leads, after all, the mind will follow. Much of this comes, of course, from personal experience, but great novels can add depth to our inventory of experience and so produce a deeper understanding of the “heart.” Faulkner has a reputation for being difficult. Ignore it. Here’s a master storyteller at the top of his game. Just pick it up and read it. 

By William Faulkner,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Light in August as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A landmark in American fiction, Light in August explores Faulkner's central theme: the nature of evil. Joe Christmas - a man doomed, deracinated and alone - wanders the Deep South in search of an identity, and a place in society. After killing his perverted God-fearing lover, it becomes inevitable that he is pursued by a lynch-hungry mob. Yet after the sacrifice, there is new life, a determined ray of light in Faulkner's complex and tragic world.


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Book cover of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

Tap Dancing on Everest by Mimi Zieman,

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route up…

Book cover of Tao Te Ching

Chet Richards Why did I love this book?

There’s a class of books sometimes called “ancient texts” or “accumulated wisdom.” The idea is that they represent distilled knowledge that was passed down orally for hundreds or thousands of years before the invention of writing froze them in their present forms. To represent this collection, I’ve chosen the Tao Te Ching. It’s short — 81 brief chapters — and talks about things that concern us today, like how to handle anxiety and how to lead groups of people. But a word of caution: These texts will repay serious study and contemplation, but don’t take them too seriously. For one thing, compare two translations and you’ll wonder if they’re working from the same ancient manuscript. And for another, embrace the notion that once you think “this is it,” then it isn’t it (another ancient idea to ponder). 

By Lao Tzu, Gia-fu Geng (translator), Jane English (translator) , Toinette Lippe (translator)

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked Tao Te Ching as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For nearly two generations, this bestselling translation of the Tao Te Ching has been the standard for those seeking access to the wisdom of Taoist thought. Now Jane English and her long-time editor, Toinette Lippe, have refreshed and revised the translation, so that it more faithfully reflects the Classical Chinese in which it was first written, while taking into account changes in our own language and eliminating any lingering infelicities. This beautiful oversized edition features over a hundred new photographs by Jane English that help express the vast spirit of the Tao. Also included is an introduction by the well-known…


Book cover of Fundamentals of Anatomy & Physiology

Chet Richards Why did I love this book?

Your parents always told you to “Sit up straight and don’t slouch when you walk.” Why is this good advice? What are all those bumps along your back and what does it mean if they start to hurt? What is “aerobic exercise” and is it better for you than weight lifting? How do cuts heal, and how does the body fight infections (and pandemics)? What does our brain do while we’re asleep? An anatomy & physiology text can provide the answers to those and thousands of other questions about something we inhabit 24 hours of every day. Here’s one I used in my yoga training. Textbooks tend to be expensive, however, so you may want to look around — there’s even a “For Dummies” book on A&P, which looks pretty good, especially at one-tenth the price of a textbook. 

By Frederic Martini, Judi Nath, Edwin Bartholomew

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Fundamentals of Anatomy & Physiology as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For courses in two-semester A&P.

Using Art Effectively to Teach the Toughest Topics in A&P

Fundamentals of Anatomy & Physiology helps students succeed in the challenging A&P course with an easy-to-understand narrative, precise visuals, and steadfast accuracy. With the 11th Edition, the author team draws from recent research exploring how students use and digest visual information to help students use art more effectively to learn A&P. New book features encourage students to view and consider figures in the textbook, and new narrated videos guide students through complex physiology figures to help them deconstruct and better understand complicated processes. Instructors can…


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Book cover of Call Me Stan: A Tragedy in Three Millennia

Call Me Stan by K.R. Wilson,

When King Priam's pregnant daughter was fleeing the sack of Troy, Stan was there. When Jesus of Nazareth was beaten and crucified, Stan was there - one crossover. He’s been a Hittite warrior, a Silk Road mercenary, a reluctant rebel in the Peasant’s Revolt of 1381, and an information peddler…

Book cover of Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War

Chet Richards Why did I love this book?

In both war and business, size and technology are pieces of a winning strategy, but not the biggest factors. Otherwise, the Fortune 500 would never turn over! To figure out what’s missing, Boyd added insights from thermodynamics, quantum physics, physiology, and mathematics to Sun Tzu’s philosophy of winning without fighting, or, if that proves impossible, to win before fighting. The result was a revolution in the design of fighter aircraft and a doctrine of warfare that has been adopted by militaries from the US Marine Corps to the Royal Norwegian Navy.

Coram was a reporter and novelist before turning to biography, and his story of Boyd and his life, both personal and professional, is a page-turner.

By Robert Coram,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Boyd as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A detailed portrait of American fighter pilot John Boyd examines his distinguished military career during the Korean War and his postwar efforts as a military theorist who took on the entrenched Pentagon bureaucracy to transform the art of modern warfare and the American military with his revolution


Explore my book 😀

Certain to Win

By Chet Richards,

Book cover of Certain to Win

What is my book about?

War is nothing like business. Countries go to war to compel opponents to do things they’d rather not: Change governments, cede territory, etc. Businesses, on the other hand, try to attract customers to their products and services. In his monumental study of warfare, Patterns of Conflict, Boyd described a strategy that had been remarkably successful: Use an advantage in the tempo of decisions and operations to seize the initiative and exploit it before the opponent could figure out what had happened. He also described a set of cultural attributes that enabled the most successful militaries to do this.

I noticed that a number of companies highlighted by Tom Peters in Thriving on Chaos used similar principles. Many conversations later – including between Peters, Boyd, and me  I had the concept for this book. 

Book cover of Essentials of Statistics for Business & Economics
Book cover of Light in August
Book cover of Tao Te Ching

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