--- title: What Books and How Books | The Sales Blog description: Business books tend to fall into one of two categories. The first category is “what” books. These books teach you what you need to do, and they are good and useful as far as that goes. The second category is “how” books. The “how” books teach you how to do the “what.” What Books There […] image: https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_256409470.jpg --- ### [Now booking SKO meetings for 2026/27! 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[Latest from  **The Sales Blog**](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog) - [Categories](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog-categories) # What Books and How Books ![Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/ai-blog-profile-crop.jpg) Post by [Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/author/anthony-iannarino) May 6, 2019 Business books tend to fall into one of two categories. The first category is “what” books. These books teach you what you need to do, and they are good and useful as far as that goes. The second category is “how” books. The “how” books teach you how to do the “what.” ## What Books There are a lot of books about artificial intelligence and machine learning now. The new capabilities they enable are going to shape our future, for good or for ill—or more likely, both. These books are an excellent example of books that teach what’s happening, why it’s happening, and what it means. You don’t see a lot of books about how to use these new capabilities, in part because the technologies are still in their infancy. I read a lot of “what” books to develop a greater understanding of the world. Books like *Sapiens* by Yuval Noah Harari, *Scale* by Geoffrey West, *She Has Her Mother’s Laugh* by Carl Zimmer, and *The Master and His Emissary* by Ian McGilchrist. ## How Books I also read a lot of “how” books, books that include some framework or methodology that is useful, even if you have to adjust it to your needs. I find that “how” books are beneficial in their practical application of certain principles, and I have always found that a book that gives me access to something that took another person two decades to master is worth a little over $20 and something like six hours of my time. *Principles* by Ray Dalio, *Getting Things Done* by David Allen, *Deep Work* by Cal Newport, and *When* by Dan Pink are all “how” books, some of them being more prescriptive than others, but all providing guidance on how you can produce some improved result. As a writer, I write “how” books. I haven’t found that books on selling are as useful when they provide the “what” without also providing the “how,” which is why I have ended every chapter of all three of my books ([Book 1](http://amzn.to/2ejSajx), [Book 2](http://amzn.to/2hXXgCx), and [Book 3](https://amzn.to/2qzlLel)) with a little exercise that begins with the words “Do This Now!” When the outcome is more than a better understanding, when it is really a better outcome in some area, I find “how” books tend to be more helpful. ###### Tags: [Books](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/books) [2019](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/2019) Post by [Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/author/anthony-iannarino) on May 6, 2019 Written and edited by human brains and human hands. ![Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/ai-blog-profile-crop.jpg) Anthony Iannarino is an American writer. He has published daily at [thesalesblog.com](https://www.thesalesblog.com) for more than 14 years, amassing over 5,300 articles and making this platform a destination for salespeople and sales leaders. Anthony is also the author of four best-selling books documenting modern sales methodologies and a fifth book for sales leaders seeking revenue growth. His latest book for an even wider audience is titled, The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success. Anthony speaks to sales organizations worldwide, delivering cutting-edge sales strategies and tactics that work in this ever-evolving B2B landscape. He also provides workshops and seminars. Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn, X or Youtube. 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The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of S. Anthony Iannarino.  **Copyright © 2009 - 2026 S. Anthony Iannarino. All Rights Reserved. [Privacy / Terms of Use](https://www.thesalesblog.com/terms-of-use)** ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org/", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Anthony Iannarino" }, "dateModified" : "2021-06-15T5:55:44 PM", "datePublished" : "2019-05-06 19:57:12", "description" : "Business books tend to fall into one of two categories. The first category is “what” books. These books teach you what you need to do, and they are good and useful as far as that goes. The second category is “how” books. 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