Coming in January and February

...are several business(y) books of note: The most-eagerly awaited (certainly by Random House) is former eBay CEO Meg Whitman's The Power of Many: Values for Success in Business and in Life (Crown). The would-be California Gov tells all about work-family balance, the purchase by eBay of of PayPal, and lessons she learned working at Procter & Gamble, Bain, Stride Rite, and, very interestingly, at FTD. Values, schmaluuus--the worth of this volume is in its stories, not its "rules" for business. Still, I came away persuaded that it would be cool to have a chat with Meg. (Pub date: Jan. 26)

Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath (Broadway). So you liked Made to Stick, that Malcolm Gladwell-ish prescription for how successful products attract fans? Then, Switch may be for you: More tales about how our brains are constructed, with supporting evidence drawn from such sources as Save the Children and BP. (Pub date: Feb 16)

And speaking of brains, there's Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by former Al Gore speechwriter and best-selling author Daniel Pink (Riverhead Books). You like to get paid--lots--for your work? Think about it: Pink surveys a variety of scientific experiments and corporate experiences that point to other factors as more significant in motivating workers. It's all about "autonomy, mastery, and purpose," he says--and makes us readers believe it. Put down your whips and your carrots, Mr. Bossman--what matters is getting your colleagues to apply a sense of play and imagination to their daily tasks. (Pub date: January 4).