The Art of Profitability by Adrian Slywotzky

This book is focused on explaining 23 different models of profitability that different firms have followed. The author uses the realtionship between a wise mentor and an eager mentee to take the reader through the process of understanding the different models. The book is aimed at describing and giving the reader some insight into each model; it is not an in depth analysis of profitability. Given its aim, it is well written.
It is not a step by step process to apply at a business. This is a book to make a manager reflect, not follow. Each chapter is one story that describes a model; the style seems to follow the general outline of Harvard Business School cases, which, given the author's professorship there, is not so surprising.
I highly recommend it to someone looking for an entertaining read that will make one reflect. However, disregard the recommendation that you go through one chapter per week. It is too little, I think I would probably lose the book by the 3rd week. It is, instead, a book to be read in 3 days, and be referred back for ideas.

As a recent MBA graduate, I found this book to be far more valuable than most strategy texts I had read in school. While the focus is on explaining different profitability models, the lessons learned are easily applied to new ways to think about your enterprise. The book encourages the reader to read a chapter a week and suggests other books to read and thought exercises to do. While I'm sure this would be the ideal way to go through the material, I found the book suitable and enjoyable to read quickly. The writing is clear and to the point. And while comparisons to "The Goal" are unavoidable, I found the balance of storytelling and teaching in "Art of Profitability" to be skewed toward teaching. As a result, Slywotzky provides the reader more bang (quality insights) per page without compromising the books readability. Highly recommended.