Great Business Books

GREAT BUSINESS BOOKS
RECOMMENDED BY BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS WORLDWIDE
EDITED BY
JIM PENNYPACKER
MAVEN HOUSE PRESS

2
W
e hope that this compendium of great business books,
recommended by your colleagues, can help you discover possible
solutions to your complex business problems, enhance your
business knowledge to improve your performance, train you to think better,
inspire you to personal greatness, or simply entertain you.
We started this project because we wanted to know what books business
professionals found most useful in their work. So we posted a simple
question on 30 business LinkedIn groups: What business books would
you recommend to your colleagues? What we got was an overwhelming
response that continues even though we’ve passed the cutoff date to list the
recommendations in this e-book.
This e-book lists all books that were recommended, except books by authors
who recommended their own titles. We list the books in alphabetical order
by title and include the recommender’s names and their brief descriptions
of the book when given. We also list the books by subject (we categorized
the books into 15 subjects) and by author. This e-book features extensive
hyperlinks to help you navigate and find more information about the books.
» Click on red text to go to appropriate pages in this e-book.
» Click on blue text links and book cover graphics go to appropriate pages
on the Internet. Most of these links go to the appropriate amazon.com
pages (there are a few exceptions, not listed in amazon.com). We chose
amazon.com because they generally provide more information about the
book than other sites, not because we recommend that you buy the book
from them (see our list of online bookstores or visit your local bookstore
for sources to buy books).
If you are participating in a LinkedIn group book discussion please continue.
We’ll update this e-book in a few months with additional recommendations.
If you haven’t been participating, visit the groups that appeal to you and join
the discussions. They’ve been some of the most active and most “liked” that
we’ve ever seen.
Good reading,
Jim Pennypacker
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Maven House Press
Contents
Booklist by Title 3
Booklist by Subject 32
Booklist by Author 47
LinkedIn Groups 71
Maven House Press 72
INTRODUCTION

3
A B C D E F G H I J L M N O P R S T U V W Y
– A –
The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice by
Todd Henry. – Teresa Huff, Adeo Development Solutions
The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in
Business by Patrick Lencioni. – Jack Rech, National Gypsum Company
The Adventures of an IT Leader by Robert D. Austin, Richard L. Nolan, and
Shannon O’Donnell. – Fabio Scarselli, Manpower
Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results by Thomas H.
Davenport, Jeanne G. Harris, and Robert Morison. Big Data is circling in the
Cloud, analytics is also a must read topic. – Pearl Zhu, Brobay Corporation
The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict by The Arbinger
Institute. – Jacques (Jack) Mailloux, Canadian International Development
Agency
The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life
by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander. This is a book that’s
been used worldwide in organizational team trainings, and I can see why,
if you value relationship-building as part of successful team work. I think
it’s a wonderful book that encourages creating opportunities to find new
possibilities to challenging career and life situations! – Eve Siegel, San
Francisco Coaches
The Art of War by Sun Tzu. For a different strategic point of view. – Charles
Petit-Debut, HC&L Solutions; also recommended by Gary Leech, Tandus; and
Jayaraj Thangarasu, Tata Consultancy Services
Asking: A 59-Minute Guide to Everything Board Members, Volunteers
and Staff Must Know to Secure the Gift by Jerold Panas. This is a quick
read that can help engage members of your board and fund-raising
committee while dispelling some of the myths and fears associated with
fund-raising. – Sheryl Soukup, Soukup Strategic Solutions
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Speaks towards individuality, drive,
innovation, persistence and other qualities of successful humans and
businesses. – Anwar Timol, Optimum Lightpath
Online
Bookstores
• Amazon.com
• Alibris
• Barnes & Noble
• Books-A-Million
• BooksOnBoard
• 800-CEO-READ
• Powell’s City of
Books
• Safari Books Online
eBookstores
• Amazon Kindle
Store
• Apple iBooks App
• Barnes & Noble
Nook Bookstore
• eBooks.com
• Google Books
• Kobo
• Small Business
Marketing eBooks
• Sony Reader Store
BOOKLIST BY TITLE

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– B –
Becoming a Person of Influence by John C. Maxwell and Jim Dornan.
Outstanding book that anyone in business should read as we all have the
power to positively impact the lives of others. – Kim Manuel, Agile Business
Performance Improvement
Beyond HR: The New Science of Human Capital by John W. Boudreau and
Peter M. Ramstad. – Robert Bateman, Strategic Talent Solutions
Beyond Traditional Marketing: Innovations in Marketing Practice by
Kamran Kashani, Jean-Pierre Jeannet, Jacques Horovitz, Sean Meehan, Adrian
Ryans, Dominique Turpin, and John Walsh. A great book, easy to read and
hands on. – Marcel van Enckevort, SABIC Innovative Plastics
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim
Nicholas Taleb. – Kenny Madden, Spiceworks
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell.
While not truly a business book, it provides incredible insight into marketing
and even economics. – Laura Grieco, Laura Grieco Consulting
Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and
Make Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne.
Creating uncontested markets that delight customers and lack competitors.
– Bill Wellman, Healthways International; Helps you position yourself in
the market, away from the blood wars. – Sanghmitra G., Altran Europe; One
should always start with this book and complete the reading by a practice
learning. – Marie-Annabelle Quillon, GDF SUEZ; also recommended by Sean
T. Shallis, Weichert Headquarters Sales Office; Isaac Nickell, CPI Solutions; and
Ron Hayes, integrated marketing expert
The Board Building Cycle: Nine Steps of Finding, Recruiting, and
Engaging Nonprofit Board Members by Berit M. Lakey. – Sheryl Soukup,
Soukup Strategic Solutions
The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi. – Jose Santiago, Detecon
International GmbH
The Book That Changed My Life: 129 Recommendations from Nonprofit
Leaders Around the World edited by Nancy Schwartz [free download
available]. – Simone Joyaux, Joyaux Associates
Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for
Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing
and Selling by Michael Port. Great book, great ideas, and lots of learning
tools. – Natalie Innella, A Touch of Heaven, Message Therapy

5
Born to Win: Transactional Analysis with Gestalt Experiments by Muriel
James and Dorothy Jongeward. – Ross Kingsland, Inception Business Services
Building the Bridge As You Walk On It: A Guide for Leading Change by
Robert E. Quinn. – Deborah Connors, The Health Work & Wellness Group
Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by James
C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras. – Anita Shilton, Anita Shilton Coaching &
Consulting; and Prasanna Jena, eBay
The Business Analyst/Project Manager: A New Partnership for
Managing Complexity and Uncertainty by Robert K. Wysocki. – Daniel
Protopopov, Bakers Delight
Business in the Cloud: What Every Business Needs to Know About Cloud
Computing by Michael H. Hugos and Derek Hulitzky. – Pearl Zhu, Brobay
Corporation
Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game
Changers, and Challengers by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Peigner A
practical guide to brainstorming your overall approach to establishing or
developing a business. Relevant regardless of the size of the company or the
business you are in. – Peter Blake, Prudent View; Because every organization,
whether not-for-profit or for-profit, has a business model. – Roddy Porter,
The Royal Over-Seas League
– C –
The Carrot Principle: How the Best Managers Use Recognition to
Engage Their People, Retain Talent, and Accelerate Performance by
Adraian Gostick and Chester Elton. – Ron Hayes, integrated marketing expert
The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation
by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson. Predictable revenue and snap
selling. – Brad Miller, Fathom Online Marketing; also recommended by Carnot
Antonio Romero, Methodicum
Change and Conflict Management by B. Hiriyappa. – Jose Santiago, Detecon
International GmbH
The Change Handbook: The Definitive Resource on Today’s Best
Methods for Engaging Whole Systems by Peggy Holman, Tom Devane, and
Steven Cady. – Steven Bolton, Systemic Solutions
There’s no better way
to inform and expand
your mind on a regular
basis than to get into
the habit of reading
good literature…. You
can get into the best
minds that are now or
that have ever been in
the world.
– Stephen Covey

6
The Change Leader’s Roadmap: How to Navigate Your Organization’s
Transformation by Linda Ackerman Anderson and Dean Anderson. – Gail
Severini, Conner Partners
The Change Monster: The Human Forces That Fuel or Foil Corporate
Transformation and Change by Jeanie Daniel Duck. – Ian Matchett,
engagement lead
Changing Conversations in Organizations: A Complexity Approach to
Change by Patricia Shaw. – Pete Burden, SeeStep; and Tricia Lustig, LASA
Development UK Ltd.
The Choice by Eliyahu M. Goldratt. – Mark Atkinson, VCSchange
Classic Drucker: From the Pages of Harvard Business Review by Peter F.
Drucker. A classic. – Pearl Zhu, Brobay Corporation
Clear Leadership: Sustaining Real Collaboration and Partnership at
Work by Gervase R. Bushe. Speaks towards individuality, drive, innovation,
persistence and other qualities of successful humans and businesses.
– Anwar Timol, Optimum Lightpath
The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual by Rick Levine,
Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger. – Kenny Madden,
Spiceworks
Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning by Thomas H.
Davenport and Jeanne G. Harris. A great one since we are interested in the
business view, not the technical view. – Mahmoud Youssef Ahmed, consultant
Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and
Competitors by Michael E. Porter. His theories still stand true today. I love
tweaking some of his theories and frameworks to adapt to modern day
commerce. If you learn to play with his frameworks, then there’s something
tangible for almost all business professionals. – Jason King, Jason King
Consultancy
Complex Adaptive Systems: An Introduction to Computational Models
of Social Life by John H. Miller and Scott E. Page. – Gary Leech, Tandus
Confusion of Confusions: An Adaptation of the Classic Masterpiece by
Josseph de la Vega on the 17th Century Amsterdam Stock Exchange.
A review of market structures that suggests market experts drive market
actions – helps readers consider a second view of how markets operate.
– Malcolm McKinnon, McKinnons

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Conquering An Enemy Called Average by John Mason. – Jim Mello,
University of Hartford
Conscious Business: How to Build Value Through Values by Fred Kofman.
Shows leaders how great business can be if you connect the heart and mind
that can transform you and your business world. – Nabeela Akhtar, Ericsson
Corporate Lifecycles: How and Why Corporations Grow and Die and
What to Do About It by Ichak Adizes. – Sharon Walsh, Innovation Bound
Creating Contagious Commitment: Applying the Tipping Point to
Organizational Change by Andrea Shapiro. – Judith Hirst, Greenbank
Limited
Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at
Disney by Lee Cockerell. This fast read provides leadership in ten nutshells,
with useful and specific action steps provided for implementing each
strategy. My most meaningful takeaway from the book: “Many people talk
about having a business and personal life, but in reality you have only one
life, and the best leaders are passionate about everything in it.” I have shared
this book with many of my customers, and to a person, they endorse it.
– Phill Domask, The Phill Domask Consultancy
Creative Leadership: Skills that Drive Change by Gerard J. Puccio, Mary C.
Murdock, and Marie Mance. – Sharon Walsh, Innovation Bound
Crtitical Chain: A Business Novel by Eliyahu M. Goldratt. Written like a
novel so reading is real fun. Read in one-two days. Shows the strength of
common sense in management. – Robert Tulicki-Sypolowski, IT executive
Critical Chain Project Management by Lawrence P. Leach. – Darren Lunn,
Barclays
Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to
Mainstream Customers by Geoffrey A. Moore. – Doug Kessler, Velocity
Partners Ltd; and Mark Jensen, Lampo Group
Crucial Confrontations: Tools for Resolving Broken Promises, Violated
Expectations, and Bad Behavior by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny,
Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler. It’s important for business leaders to
understand change and change management, but not before understanding
confrontations on the road to change. – Rudolfo Jimenez, executive retail
manager
A book is the only
place in which you
can examine a fragile
thought without
breaking it, or explore
an explosive idea
without fear it will go
off in your face. It is
one of the few havens
remaining where a
man’s mind can get
both provocation and
privacy.
– Edward P. Morgan

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Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry
Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler. It was an
entertaining read and serves as a “how to” guide for starting and/or
being a part of difficult conversations. – Susan Russo, Short Hills Surgery
Center; Helps you understand how dialog between colleagues, personal
relationships, etc., fail; how to avoid the pitfalls; and ultimately how to
achieve successful outcomes. – Larry Salomon, CA Technologies
Culture Shock: A Handbook For 21st Century Business by Will McInnes.
– Mike Scialom, Cambridge Newspapers
– D –
The Daily Drucker: 366 Days of Insight and Motivation for Getting
the Right Things Done by Peter F. Drucker. A classic. – Pearl Zhu, Brobay
Corporation
The Dance of Change: The Challenges to Sustaining Momentum in a
Learning Organization by Peter Senge, Art Kleiner, Charlotte Roberts,
Richard Ross, George Roth, and Bryan Smith. – Yvonne van Driel, advisor on
citizenship, governance, and development
Decide and Deliver: Five Steps to Breakthrough Performance in Your
Organization by Marcia W. Blenko, Michael C. Mankins, and Paul Rogers.
– Stephen Driggs, PSAV
The Decision Book: 50 Models for Strategic Thinking by Mikael Krogerus
and Roman Tschäppeler. Nice little concise reminder of some of the great
decision making tools. – Deirdra Barr, Trolex, Ltd.
Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony
Hieh. Great ideas for organizational development and, of course, their
now world-famous customer-driven approach. – Robert Grabel, Teens Run
Yonkers; also recommended by Brad Miller, Fathom Online Marketing
The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive
Advantage by Roger L. Martin. Martin is one of the best commentators on
modern business that I’ve read. It will help you understand the patterns that
business follows. – Jim Love, IT World Canada; also recommended by Bruce
Madole, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Designing Dynamic Organizations: A Hands-On Guide for Leaders at All
Levels by Jay Galbraith, Diane Downey, and Amy Kates. – Robert Bateman,
Strategic Talent Solutions

9
Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together: A Pioneering Approach
to Communication in Business and in Life by Bill Isaacs. – Pete Burden,
SeeStep; and Tricia Lustig, LASA Development UK Ltd.
The Diamond Cutter: The Buddha on Managing Your Business and Your
Life by Geshe Michael Roach. This is a wonderful business book regardless
of your personal/spiritual slant. Although it is a Buddhist writing (I am not
a Buddhist) there are many practical things in it that allow for those seeking
balance in genuine ethics with business, stretch your mind, worth a read.
– Deirdra Barr, Trolex Ltd.
The Differentiated Workforce: Transforming Talent into Strategic
Impact by Brian E. Becker, Mark A. Huselid, and Richard W. Beatty. – Robert
Bateman, Strategic Talent Solutions
Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age by
Maggie Jackson. – Simone Joyaux, Joyaux Associates
Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
by Steve Krug. It’s about web usability but it’s insanely easy to read and
its principles can be applied to any customer interaction. – Peter Wilson,
Polarisoft; One that clients have actually bought on my recommendation and
always make a point of praising. – Steve Morris, Seedr Creative Ltd.
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink.
– Laura Grieco, Laura Grieco Consulting; Richard Gambino, University of New
Mexico/Central NM Community College; and Lynette Reed, Where Expectations
Meet Reality
Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business
Marketing Guide by John Jantsch. For small businesses, it’s filled with great
tips and offers a systematic approach to marketing. It’s one of those books
that I have highlighted and pull as a reference source. – Mary Donato, Applied
Principles
– E –
The E Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What
to Do About It by Michael Gerber. – Teresa Huff, Adeo Development Solutions
Eat That Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More
Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy. – Donald Zeigler, City of Reading
Always read something
that will make you look
good if you die in the
middle of it.
– P.J. O’Rourke

10
The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right
Things Done by Peter F. Drucker. This is one of the best books I’ve read
about working in IT. Some people seem to think it’s about management –
more fool them. Drucker was talking about working in the IT industry of
the 21st century – he just didn’t know it when he wrote it in the 60s. – Dave
Bremer, Southern District Health Board
The Elements of Content Strategy by Erin Kissane. For anyone who is
involved with Content (intentional capital “C”). Clear, succinct, and hugely
informative. – Steve Morris, Seedr Creative Ltd.
11 Rules for Creating Value in the #SocialEra by Nilofer Merchant. Some
challenging ideas and interesting perspective on how we engage with our
staff/fellow workers. – Maggie Forrest, Kallidus Ltd.
The 11 Secrets of Highly Influential IT Leaders: The Critical Path to
Accessing and Succeeding in the Executive Suite by Marc J. Schiller.
– Sachin Gopal, Ittiam Systems
Emotional Equations: Simple Truths for Creating Happiness + Success
by Chip Conley. Great message for all. – Douglas H. Wheeler, Summit
Performance Group
Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel
Goleman. – Simone Joyaux, Joyaux Associates; and Anita Shilton, Anita Shilton
Coaching & Consulting
Employees Not Doing What You Expect: Find Out Why, Fix It, Prevent It
in the Future, Turn Negative Situations Into Positive Relationships by
Greg Schinkel and Irwin Schinkel. Provides an outline of how to deal with all
types of employees. – David Neal, independent consultant
Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and
Transform Your Business by Josh Bernoff and Ted Schadler. If social
business is new to you. – Gareth Murran, MindLeaders
The End of Business as Usual: Rewire the Way You Work to Succeed
in the Consumer Revolution by Brian Solis. Has some great insights into
what’s changing as a result of the connections we now have online. – Gareth
Murran, MindLeaders
The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team With
Positive Energy by Jon Gordon. One of those great business fable books
in the mold of a Ken Blanchard and equally applicable to for-profits or
nonprofits. – Robert Grabel, Teens Run Yonkers

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EntreLeadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the
Trenches by Dave Ramsey. Very practical information and told from
someone who has been in the trenches leading a team for a number of years.
It contains many specifics on the implementation of best practices as well.
– Dave Bratcher, West Tennessee Healthcare; and Mark Jensen, Lampo Group
Entrepreneur Journeys – Bootstrapping: Weapon Of Mass
Reconstruction by Sramana Mitra. – Sachin Gopal, Ittiam Systems
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Ram Charan
and Larry Bossidy. Helps CIOs to become true business strategists
and transformational leaders. – Pearl Zhu, Brobay Corporation; also
recommended by Jim Love, IT World Canada; and Mark Jensen, Lampo Group
The Executive Director’s Guide: To Thriving as a Nonprofit Leader by
Mim Carlson and Margaret Donohoe. Great book for a new executive director.
– Deb Taylor, Senior Community Services
Exploration in Management by Wilfred Brown [free download available].
– David Rasmusson, Tierforemen
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles
MacKay. A review of market bubbles and a review of market participant
behaviours that suggests market behaviours are driven by herds that self
assemble – helps readers consider one view of how markets operate.
– F –
The Fall of the Human Intellect by A. Parthasarathy. A good read on
thought, reason, and judgement and why Intellect and Intelligence are
different. These are fundamental to strategy, culture and change. – Santosh
Kumar Nair, TechnoConstruct
Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation by Sally
Hogshead. A truly fascinating book. Highly recommended for some other
angles than the usual change management literature. – Kalle Söderman,
Nordea
The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization
by Peter M. Senge. Strong emphasis on learning and change as a team-based
process. – Mark Alpert, Pegasus Communications; also recommended by
Gary Leech, Tandus; Simone Joyaux, Joyaux Associates; Gail Severini, Conner
Partners; Corey King, Unisys; and Vinay Kulkarni, Horizon Moving Systems
You can bypass those
with more degrees,
intelligence, and
experience by taking
advantage of the
knowledge in carefully
selected books.
– Dan Miller

12
Finance for the Arts in Canada by Heather Young. Has the ability to take
the fear out of numbers for those of us who suffer that way. – Jerry Smith,
First Stage
The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All
Levels by Michael Watkins. A must have for any career transition. – Daniel
Lamb, Singtel Optus; also recommended by R. Bruce Buchanan, Exelis; Anita
Shilton, Anita Shilton Coaching & Consulting; and Robert Bateman, Strategic
Talent Solutions
First Time Manager by Loren B. Belker, Jim McCormick, and Gary S.
Topchik. Great for the transition from a technical job to a managerial job.
– Mahmoud Youssef Ahmed, consultant
Fish! A Proven Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results by Stephen
C. Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen. A very quick read about one
person’s experience at Seattle’s famous fish market. The take away is – Why
are you doing what you’re doing if you’re not happy? There is a way for you
to find a way to be happy and fulfilled. Finding something or somewhere that
you can be happy and have true joy at work makes all the difference to you
and your customers. – Darci Larsen, Lowe’s Home Improvement
Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni.
To make sure you can handle business and understand why you cannot get
things done with your team. – Rich Fierson, DTS Consulting; And the other
six or so books in his series, especially The Advantage. We have just used
these principles to transform the culture of our department, achieving great
results. – Jack Rech, National Gypsum Company; Story about how teams
function – helps readers frame and prepare for better teams. – Malcolm
McKinnon, McKinnons; also recommended by Jason Little, Workplace Safety
and Insurance Board
Fixing the Problem: Making Changes in How You Deal With Challenges
by G.L. Reed. – Lynette Reed, Where Expectations Meet Reality
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the
Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. – Kenny Madden, Spiceworks
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of
Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. – Thomas Cooper,
Global Wealth Consultants
FREE: How Today’s Smartest Businesses Profit by Giving Something for
Nothing by Chris Anderson. Shows you how to make money in the world of
freemium. – Sanghmitra G., Altran Europe

13
The Future is Fluid Form: Practical Steps for Designing Flat, Flexible
Organizations by Ord Elliott. – Charlotte (Charlee) Hanna, Confluence
Experience
The Future of Management by Gary Hamel. Advantages and insights
of management beyond command and control. How to build a dynamic
organization of contributors. – Steve Giese, small business consultant
– G –
Getting More: How to Negotiate to Achieve Your Goals in the Real
World by Stuart Diamond. Practical advice with “real world” applications in
business and personal life. – Danna Zacharek, Calmra
Getting Naked: A Business Fable about Shedding the Three Fears That
Sabotage Client Loyalty by Patrick Lencioni. – Jason Little, Workplace Safety
and Insurance Board
Getting the Right Things Done: A Leader’s Guide to Planning and
Execution by Pascal Dennis and Jim Womack. – Gary Leech, Tandus
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen.
If you liked Tipping Point, you should then consider this book. Very useful
for personal productivity and getting organized. – Mahmoud Youssef Ahmed,
consultant
Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher,
William L. Ury and Bruce Patton. Treatise on negotiation that focuses on
value maximization rather than winning or losing – helps readers frame
their negotiation goals. – Malcolm McKinnon, McKinnons; also recommended
by Dave Bremer, Southern District Health Board;
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu M. Goldratt
and Jeff Cox. It’s a novel about Theory of Constraints and how to engage
bottlenecks in organisations. It is very easy to read, message is clear, and it
has quite a few examples on innovative organisational changes. – Vaidotas
Paradauskas, quality engineer; Written like a novel so reading is real fun.
Read in one-two days. Shows the strength of common sense in management.
– Robert Tulicki-Sypolowski, IT executive; Provides an idea of how to
identify bottlenecks in your company and how to address them. – David
Neal, Independent Consultant; Story about theory of constraints – helps
readers understand how to view changing processes practically. – Malcolm
McKinnon, McKinnons; also recommended by Gary Leech, Tandus; Darren
Lunn, Barclays; Jose Santiago, Detecon International GmbH; Sachin Gopal,
Ittiam Systems; and Mark Atkinson, VCSchange
What we become
depends on what
we read after all of
the professors have
finished with us.
– Thomas Carlyle

14
The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea by Bob Burg
and John David Mann. – Donna Krech, Thin & Healthy’s Total Solutions
The Gold Mine: A Novel of Lean Turnaround by Freddy Ballë and Michael
Ballë. – Gary Leech, Tandus
Good Strategy, Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters by
Richard Rumelt. Helps CIOs to become true business strategists and
transformational leaders. – Pearl Zhu, Brobay Corporation
Good to Great and the Social Sectors: Why Business Thinking is Not the
Answer by Jim Collins. A very stimulating and short read. It accompanies his
much wider work Good to Great. – Roddy Porter, The Royal Over-Seas League;
also recommended by C. T. O’Donnell, O’Donnell’s Strategy & Results; Simone
Joyaux, Joyaux Associates; and Frank Hamilton, Eckerd College
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others
Don’t by Jim Collins. Old school, however all relevant. – Lee Morgan,
Oakwood Media Group; You’re right Lee – Jim Collins may be old school,
but the book has been a constant source of inspiration for me personally,
particularly his point about finding the key denominators behind a
company’s “economic engine” – the magic model that enables the business
to start on a strong growth path. My own company has recently found its
economic engine and the results are a broad spectrum of pluses from the
bottom line to cultural energy. – Jonathan Winch, Branded Mails ApS and Eye
For Image ApS; To be well rounded read the infamous, or famous (depending
where you sit), Good to Great. – Rich Fierson, DTS Consulting; I appreciated
that it dealt honestly with the difficulty of transitioning a business from
good to great. There are no silver bullets and it is hard work but the study
does reveal common criterion of these great companies and compares them
against less successful counterparts. – Isaac Nickell, CPI Solutions; Should be
on everyone’s reading list regarding growing a business. – Mike Newman,
Michael Newman Consulting; Gives you an idea of what great companies
do. – David Neal, independent consultant; Goes beyond the typical notion
of a successful company built on a basis of a master strategy. Must read for
everyone. – Prasanna Jena, eBay; Based on vast research, the book is relevant
regardless of the size of the company or the business you are in. – Peter
Blake, Prudent View; Collins’s hedgehog strategy is brilliant and workable.
– Jim Love, IT World Canada; A well-defended review study on sustainable
corporate economic success – helps readers embed historically successful
strategies in plans. – Malcolm McKinnon, McKinnons; also recommended by
Corey King, Unisys; Ganesh Arunachala, management consultant; Mark Jensen,
Lampo Group; Frank Hamilton, Eckerd College; and Robert Bateman, Strategic
Talent Solutions

15
Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck – Why Some Thrive
Despite Them All by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen. I’ve been so
impressed with Collins’s writing style – the books in the Good to Great series
are all truly page turners demonstrating that some of the most compelling
narratives are as common to business as they are to human nature. – Laura
Grieco, Laura Grieco Consulting; Pure gold contained within. – Stephen
Johnston, The Co-operators; also recommended by Ken Thiessen, Gazelles
International
Growing Pains: Transitioning from an Entrepreneurship to a
Professionally Managed Firm by Eric G. Flamholtz and Yvonne Randle.
A valuable resource providing a framework and a practical approach for
dealing with what matters most to the success of any growing organization.
– Vladimir Kuryakov, York Strategies Consulting
Guide to Organisation Design: Creating High-Performing and Adaptable
Enterprises by Naomi Stanford. Recommend for the summary of theory,
but more importantly for the practical application. – Jo Alexander-Jones, BG
Group; also recommended by Tricia Lustig, LASA Development UK Ltd.
Guts: 8 Laws of Business from One of the Most Innovative Business
Leaders of Our Time by Robert A. Lutz. – Donald Price, VCU Health System
– H –
Handbook of Business-to-Business Marketing edited by Gary Lilien and
Rajdeep Grewal. There are 38 chapters written by internationally renowned
scholars. The book is targeted for marketing academics and more forward-
thinking B2B practitioners. In other words, it’s a little “deeper” reading so
you have to be really into the subject of marketing. – Mary Donato, Applied
Principles
Helping: How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help by Edgar H. Schein. While
it’s obviously not only about helping in an organisational development
context I often recommend it to practitioners because I think it’s about
the fundamental positions we need to take when helping others, including
groups and even large organisations, to change. – Pete Burden, SeeStep
The Heretic’s Guide To Best Practices: The Reality of Managing Complex
Problems in Organisations by Paul Culmsee. – Daniel Protopopov, Bakers
Delight
The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents,
Control Markets, Wage Wars, and Save Our Lives by Shankar Vedantam.
– Simone Joyaux, Joyaux Associates
Today a reader,
tomorrow a leader.
– Margaret Fuller

16
Hot Spots: Why Some Teams, Workplaces, and Organizations Buzz
with Energy and Innovation – and Others Don’t by Lynda Gratton. Very
enjoyable and interesting reading. – Elizabeth Wade, Department of Justice-
Victoria, Australia
How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know by Byron Sharp.
Everyone should read at least one business interpretation of Sun Tsu.
– Isabel Myburgh, Family Care Health Services
How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In by Jim
Collins. Be cautiously optimistic, learning failure before doing business
strategic planning for success. – Pearl Zhu, Brobay Corporation; also
recommended by Vivek Tuljapurkar, management consultant; and Mark
Jensen, Lampo Group
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Lessons and
stories on aligning objectives – helps readers share the goals of others and
help them share theirs. – Malcolm McKinnon, McKinnons; also recommended
by Stephen Driggs, PSAV; and Greg Burns, Scotiabank
– I –
Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer. – Simone Joyaux, Joyaux
Associates
Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in
Yourself and Your Organization by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey.
– Pete Burden, SeeStep
Influence: Science and Practice by Robert B. Cialdini. Getting anything
accomplished in the business world (or life, for that matter) is about
persuasion and politics, and this book teaches you how to be compelling in
any situation. – Jason Myrowitz, University of Wyoming
Influencer: The Power to Change Anything by Kerry Patterson, David
Maxfield, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler. A truly easy to remember
framework with the six sources of influence and a great way of presenting
them in the book. – Kalle Söderman, Nordea
Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy by Karl
Shapiro and Hal R. Varian. – Doug Kessler, Velocity Partners Ltd.
The Innovator’s Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change
the Way You Do Business by Clayton M. Christensen. This book has been
around a long time and most people associate it with product development.
However, the book’s focus on disruptive technology and that technology’s

17
impact on organizations, markets, and societies is immediately relevant
and applicable to organizational change management issues. – Corey King,
Unisys; Keeping vigilance of a continual innovation priority. Being blinded
by success. – Steve Giese, small business consultant; Opens you to the concept
of Disruptive Innovation and how just listening to customers isn’t enough.
– Sanghmitra G., Altran Europe; A classic. – Pearl Zhu, Brobay Corporation;
also recommended by Angela J. Penteado, Stakeholder Engagement; and Doug
Kessler, Velocity Partners Ltd.
Inside Change: Transforming Your Organization with Emotional
Intelligence by Joshua Freedman and Massimiliano Ghini. A different look
at organisational change and a great roadmap. – Kimberly Kniveton, Ascent
Coaching & Consulting
The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge by Doc Searls.
– Kenny Madden, Spiceworks
Isn’t It Obvious by Eliyahu M. Goldratt. – Mark Atkinson, VCSchange
IT Savvy: What Top Executives Must Know to Go From Pain to Gain by
Peter Weill and Jeanne W. Ross. Discusses various levels of strategic maturity
in IT organizations; how transitions are made along the maturity curve; and
the effect those transitions have made on other, world-class organizations.
– Larry Salomon, CA Technologies
It Starts with One: Changing Individuals Changes Organizations by J.
Stewart Black and Hal B. Gregersen. – Gail Severini, Conner Partners
It’s Not Luck by Eliyahu M. Goldratt. Written like a novel so reading is
real fun. Read in one-two days. Shows a strength of common sense in
management. – Robert Tulicki-Sypolowski, IT executive; also recommended by
Darren Lunn, Barclays; and Mark Atkinson, VCSchange
It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the
Navy by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff. This book describes Capt. Abrashoff’s
transforming the USS Benfold from a ship with a mediocre record at best into
the leading ship in the U.S. Navy. An enjoyable read with good takeaways.
– Michael McCann, program manager
– J –
John P. Kotter on What Leaders Really Do by John P. Kotter. – Robert
Bateman, Strategic Talent Solutions
Juran’s Quality Handbook: The Complete Guide to Performance
Excellence by Joseph M. Juran and Joseph A. De Feo. – Gary Leech, Tandus
Books can be
dangerous. The best
ones should be labeled
“This could change
your life.”
– Helen Exley

18
– L –
Lead Your Boss: The Subtle Art of Managing Up by John Baldoni. – David
Egan, Synopsys
The Leader’s Guide to Radical Management: Reinventing the Workplace
for the 21st Century by Stephen Denning. – Pearl Zhu, Brobay Corporation
Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box by The Arbinger
Institute. Companies can have the best business strategy in place, the best
processes, even the most skilled staff, but still fall short of expectations. This
book focuses on human behavior and the things we do even with the best
intentions that often undermine what we are ultimately trying to achieve. It’s
written in a way that you will enjoy and appreciate, and when you’re done
reading it you might ask rhetorically, “why didn’t I read this sooner?” – Scott
P. Bennett; also recommended by Richard Gambino, University of New Mexico/
Central NM Community College; Gary Vant, public safety professional; and
Jacques (Jack) Mailloux, Canadian International Development Agency
Leadership Brand: Developing Customer-Focused Leaders to Drive
Performance and Build Lasting Value by Dave Ulrich and Norm
Smallwood. – Robert Bateman, Strategic Talent Solutions
The Leadership Machine: Architecture to Develop Leaders for Any
Future by Robert W. Eichinger and Michael M. Lombardo. – Robert Bateman,
Strategic Talent Solutions
Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive through the Dangers of Leading by
Ronald A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky. – Ken Thiessen, Gazelles International;
and Deb Taylor, Senior Community Services
Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun by Wess Roberts. Great for
scholars and practitioners. – Lawrence Houston, Penn State University; also
recommended by Sean T. Shallis, Weichert Headquarters Sales Office
Leading Change by John P. Kotter. He examines the efforts of more than
100 companies to remake themselves into better competitors. He identifies
the most common mistakes leaders and managers make in their attempt to
create change and shows how to overcome the obstacles and carry out the
firm’s agenda: establishing a greater sense of urgency, creating the guiding
coalition, developing a vision and strategy, communicating the change
vision, empowering others to act, creating short-term wins, consolidating
gains and producing even more change, and institutionalizing new
approaches in the future. – Pamela Y. Bodley, Nepperhan Community Center;
The fundamental purpose of management is to keep the current systems
functioning. The fundamental purpose of leadership is to produce useful

19
change. – Rich Fierson, DTS Consulting; This book provides a practical,
eight-stage roadmap for strategic plan implementation. The sections on why
major change efforts fail are spot on. The sections on complacency and vision
communication are especially valuable. – Phill Domask, The Phill Domask
Consultancy; Highly readable for a busy business audience. – Anita Shilton,
Anita Shilton Coaching & Consulting; also recommended by David Scurlock,
Direct Professional Services; and Robert Bateman, Strategic Talent Solutions
Leading with Questions: How Leaders Find the Right Solutions by
Knowing What to Ask by Michael Marquardt. – Darren Lunn, Barclays
The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous
Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries. If
you’re working in a start-up environment, lots of insight on listening to
customers, adjusting products accordingly and simply getting stuff done.
– Marie Steinthaler, SocialGO; I guess that the title already says why this is a
great book. – Sorin Mustaca, Avira GmbH
Learning as a Way of Being: Strategies for Survival in a World of
Permanent White Water by Peter B. Vaill. He has insight into the heart of
most organizational matters and of course, given the subtitle, it speaks of
change – not as an event but a way of life. You’ll get a real measure of the
quality of the man if you read the preface. – Sandy Bennetts, Key Performance
Consulting
Learning to See: Value Stream Mapping to Add Value and Eliminate
MUDA by Mike Rother and John Shook. – Russ Toman, IS&R Services
Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play: The Demise of Dysfunctional Selling
and the Advent of Helping Clients Succeed by Mahan Khalsa. – Papias
Hawlader, LEADS
Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin. It will make you feel like
a superhero. What can you do with your powers? – Stephen Johnston, The Co-
operators
– M –
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath
and Dan Heath. Very good book on delivering a message to a target audience.
– Cherish Nelson, Marinated Media and Marketing; also recommended by
Jason Little, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board; and Lynette Reed, Where
Expectations Meet Reality
Management in 10 Words: Practical Advice from the Man Who Created
One of the World’s Largest Retailers by Terry Leahy. – Darren Lunn, Barclays
A truly good book
teaches me better
than to read it. I must
soon lay it down, and
commence living on its
hint…. What I began
by reading, I must
finish by acting.
– Henry David Thoreau

20
Management of the Absurd: Paradoxes in Leadership by Richard Farson.
My all-time favorite management book. “In Management of the Absurd,
Richard Farson zeros in on the paradoxes of communication, the politics of
management, and the dilemmas of change, exploring relationships within
organizations and offering a unique perspective on the challenges managers
face.” – Steve Jennings, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Managing by Henry Mintzberg. One of the world’s gurus on management,
Henry gets to the essence of what managers really do and discusses making
the small, practical changes to improve how we do things leading to
organizational change. – Warren Cohen, CoachingOurselves International
Managing at the Speed of Change: How Resilient Managers Succeed
and Prosper Where Others Fail by Daryl R. Conner. – Gail Severini, Conner
Partners
Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change by William Bridges.
I have used this book more than any other when working with leadership
teams who want to be effective in moving their organizations through
change. It is very practical as well as simple, honest, and real. – Dorie Ellzey
Blesoff, independent consultant; also recommended by Gail Severini, Conner
Partners; and David Scurlock, Direct Professional Services
Market Segmentation: How to Do It and How to Profit By It by Malcolm
McDonald and Ian Dunbar. – Rob Faulkner, Comparison Creator
Marketing Strategy & Organization: Building Sustainable Business by
Rudy Moenaert, Henry Robben, and Peter Gouw. A very practical roadmap
and based on solid, long-term research. – Marcel van Enckevort, SABIC
Innovative Plastics
The Maxwell Daily Reader: 365 Days of Insight to Develop the Leader
Within You and Influence Those Around You by John C. Maxwell. All
about the TEAM: Together, Everyone, Accomplishes, More. Leadership is the
core to any organization no matter how small or big the company. I begin
each morning with “A Minute from Maxwell” and the word of the day! He is
working on his 73rd book. – Shelly Rufin, EDFIN Cash for College
The Measurement Nightmare: How the Theory of Constraints Can
Resolve Conflicting Strategies, Policies, and Measures by Debra Smith.
– Darren Lunn, Barclays
Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing Out of Sync? by Seth Godin. An
eye opener for me. In fact anything by Seth is generally useful stuff. – Ross
McMinn, Workspace 1

21
Mission-Based Management: Leading Your Not-for-Profit in the 21st
Century by Peter Brinckerhoff. This book provides practical guidance on
how nonprofit leaders can do their jobs and run their organizations more
efficiently and effectively. – Deb Taylor, Senior Community Services
More Lightning Less Thunder: How to Energize Innovation Teams
by Bob Eckert and Jonathan Vehar. It’s a fast read with ideas you can
immediately apply; it’s fun (yes, a business book that is fun to read!); and
it’s told in a conversational tone – one much like the way you talk to your
friends. It leverages important research without getting bogged down or
turning into a snooze fest. – Natalie Jenkins, New & Improved, LLC
The Mormon Way of Doing Business: How Nine Western Boys Reached
the Top of Corporate America by Jeff Benedict. The power of faith;
compilation. – Genevieve R., entrepreneur
My Years with General Motors by Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. Bill Gates once said
that if he were to read just one business book, this would be it. – Vivek
Tuljapurkar, management consultant
The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering by Frederick
P. Brooks, Jr. Still has a lot to say to us managing IT and IT people today.
– Dave Bremer, Southern District Health Board; A seminal study in the
management of software development projects. Written in 1975, most of
Brooks’s conclusions and insights are still valid today. – Blair Spring, IT
Project Management Consulting
– N –
The New CIO Leader: Setting the Agenda and Delivering Results by
Marianne Broadbent and Ellen Kitzis. – Sachin Gopal, Ittiam Systems
The New Normal: Explore the Limits of the Digital World by Peter
Hinssen. – Fabio Scarselli, Manpower
The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One
That Isn’t by Robert I. Sutton. This is seriously one of the most interesting
and entertaining insights on negative methods of leadership and why leaders
fail in the workplace as well as set others up for failure. It’s an easy read and
makes you think every step of the way! Keeps you in check while helping you
understand (and stay clear of) the @$$holes in your organization. – Heather
Ann Pageau, Promotion Management Center; For anyone who has ever
worked in a tough office climate. – Christopher Whann, SUNY-Empire State
College; Great for scholars and practitioners. – Lawrence Houston, Penn State
University; also recommended by Dave Bremer, Southern District Health Board
Tell me what you read,
and I will tell you who
you are
– Slovak proverb

22
Nonprofit Sustainability: Making Strategic Decisions for Financial
Viability by Jeanne Bell, Jan Masaoka, and Steve Zimmerman. This book
is a good resource and guide to understanding the relationship between
the mission of a nonprofit and its finances. – Deb Taylor, Senior Community
Services
– O –
On Top of the Cloud: How CIOs Leverage New Technologies to Drive
Change and Build Value Across the Enterprise by Hunter Muller. – Pearl
Zhu, Brobay Corporation
The One Minute Manager: The World’s Most Popular Management
Method by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. Back to basics of good logic.
– Charles Petit-Debut, HC&L Solutions; Great book on how small behavioral
qualities can have a huge impact on those around you. It isn’t just for
managers either. – Larry Salomon, CA Technologies
Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points that
Challenge Every Company by Andrew S. Grove. – Vivek Tuljapurkar,
management consultant
Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You
Lead by Charlene Li. – Pearl Zhu, Brobay Corporation
The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative
Thinking by Roger Martin. – Bruce Madole, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Organization Change: Theory and Practice by W. Warner Burke. The
author provides us with a solid base of understanding of the nature of
organizational change and the leadership needed to shepherd change
through to a successful completion. – José Antonio Venegas, Consultoría de
Negocios; also recommended by Gail Severini, Conner Partners
Organization Design: The Collaborative Approach by Naomi Stanford.
Recommend for the summary of theory, but more importantly for the
practical application. – Jo Alexander-Jones, BG Group; also recommended by
Tricia Lustig, LASA Development UK Ltd.
Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit by Tupper F. Cawsey,
Gene Deszca, and Cynthia Ingols. I highly recommend this book as a valuable
resource to any organization facing significant organization change. – José
Antonio Venegas, Consultoría de Negocios

23
Organizational Development Series from Addison Wesley.
Recommended by Charlotte (Charlee) Hanna, Confluence Experience
• Building A Dynamic Corporation Through Grid Organization
Development by Robert R. Blake and Jane S. Mouton.
• Designing Organizations for High Performance by David P. Hanna.
• Developing Organizations: Diagnosis and Action by Paul R.
Lawrence and Jay W. Lorsch.
• Organization Development: Its Nature, Origins, and Prospects by
Warren G. Bennis.
• Organization Development: Strategies and Models by Richard
Beckhard.
• Organizational Transitions: Managing Complex Change by
Richard Beckhard and Reuben T. Harris.
• Process Consultation: Its Role in Organization Development by
Edgar H. Schein.
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. – Thomas Cooper,
Global Wealth Consultants; and Akshath Sapalya, IBM India Pvt. Ltd.
Outside In: The Power of Putting Customers at the Center of Your
Business by Harley Manning and Kerry Bodine. It looks at customer
experience (not the same as customer service) and how it can be managed as
a business discipline to provide a sustained source of competitive advantage.
The book is an easy read, includes lots of case studies from B2C and B2B
firms, and provides a framework for how you can implement its lessons in
your business. Fair disclosure: this is published by Forrester, my employer.
But don’t let my bias put you off. This really is a great book. And anything
that gets companies thinking more deeply about their customers has to be a
good thing! – James Ollerenshaw, Forrester Research
Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Field Guide for Leaders,
Managers, and Facilitators by Patrick Lencioni. – Jason Little, Workplace
Safety and Insurance Board
– P –
The Path of Least Resistance: Learning to Become the Creative Force in
Your Own Life by Robert Fritz. Strong emphasis on learning and change as a
team-based process. – Mark Alpert, Pegasus Communications
The oldest books are
still only just out to
those who have not
read them.
– Samuel Butler

24
The Phenomenal Product Manager: The Product Manager’s Guide
to Success, Job Satisfaction and Career Acceleration by Brian Lawley.
Focuses on the strategies, tactics, and techniques for job satisfaction and
career acceleration. – Melissa Holtzer, 280 Group
Poke the Box by Seth Godin. – Ross Kingsland, Inception Business Services
Power, Influence, and Persuasion: Sell Your Ideas and Make Things
Happen by Harvard Business School Press, editor. – Gary Vant, public safety
professional
The Power of Business Process Improvement: 10 Simple Steps to
Increase Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Adaptability by Susan Page. – Greg
Burns, Scotiabank
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by
Charles Duhigg. A layman literature review of habit neuroscience applied –
helps execs think about what encourages repeated human behaviour.
The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things
in Motion by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown, and Lang Davison. – Pearl
Zhu, Brobay Corporation
Practically Radical: Not So Crazy Ways to Transform Your Company,
Shake Up Your Industry, and Challenge Yourself by William Taylor. – Patty
Hampton, Nonprofit HR Solutions
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by
Dan Ariely. This is a great book on the psychology of human decision making
and how we make truly irrational decisions against what seems to be simple
common sense. No matter your business or industry, this is a valuable read.
– Jesse Keirn, executive
Principle-Centered Leadership by Stephen R. Covey. – Gary Vant, public
safety professional
The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement,
and Creativity at Work by Theresa Amabile and Steven Kramer. One scientific
survey explains why our motivations at work change and what we can do to
enhance and create a culture of engagement. One simple and dramatic message,
supported through many examples. – Stephen Johnston, The Co-operators; Fit
for today’s digital era, how to build up a more creative working environment,
embrace abundance of information. – Pearl Zhu, Brobay Corporation
Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth
Godin. Being remarkable. Beyond the ordinary. – Steve Giese, small business
consultant

25
– R –
Radical Collaboration: Five Essential Skills to Overcome Defensiveness
and Build Successful Relationships by James W. Tamm and Ronald J. Luyet.
A great read. – Jon Warner, PaySwyft/BillSwyft
Rapid Transformation: A 90-Day Plan for Fast and Effective Change by
Behnam N. Tabrizi. The methodology is extremely effective in organizations
that are either young and malleable or that have strong leadership that
is seeking to transform the organization. I’ve applied it (along with
organizational change management best practices) and it works very well.
– Corey King, Unisys
The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself by John
Jantsch. Research suggests about two-thirds of small business owners
feel that more than half their business comes from referrals. But the same
research reveals only about two in ten small business owners have effective
systems in place to leverage the power of referral leads. If you are one of
the 20 percent, this book will help you to fine-tune your referral system. If
you one of the 80 percent, this book will help you to develop an authentic
and systematic approach for starting customer conversations, educating
prospects, generating referral leads, and converting your referral prospects
into customers. – Phill Domask, The Phill Domask Consultancy
The Resiliency Advantage: Master Change, Thrive Under Pressure, and
Bounce Back from Setbacks by Al Siebert. – David Egan, Synopsys
Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences by Nancy
Duarte. Great presentations with an emphasis on story – helps readers move
others to action. – Malcolm McKinnon, McKinnons
Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier. It’s inspiring, easy to read,
and crammed full of stuff that make complete sense. – Steve Morris, Seedr
Creative Ltd.; also recommended by Darren Lunn, Barclays
Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest In, That the Poor
and Middle-Class Do Not by Robert T. Kiyosaki. This is the book I would
recommend if you would like to become an entrepreneur. – Sinaly Dembele,
Le Premier Pas S.A.U.
Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works by Ash Maurya.
A practical handbook for “Lean Startups” – gives readers a practical
framework to entrepreneurial action. – Malcolm McKinnon, McKinnons
The best of a book
is not the thought
which it contains, but
the thought which it
suggests; just as the
charm of music dwells
not in the tones but
in the echoes of our
hearts.
– Oliver Wendell
Holmes

26
– S –
Secrets & Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World by Bruce Schneier.
He demonstrates a deep understanding of the fundamentals of security and
in the process demolishes a lot of conventional wisdom. – Steve Jackson,
Business-Led IT
A Sense of Urgency by John P. Kotter. Urgency is Kotter’s latest book, and it’s
great. – Rich Fierson, DTS Consulting
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal
Change by Stephen R. Covey. – Ganesh Arunachala, management consultant
Seven Steps to Mastering Business Analysis by Barbara A. Carkenord.
– Daniel Protopopov, Bakers Delight
Simply Effective: How to Cut Through Complexity in Your Organization
and Get Things Done by Ron Ashkenas. Fit for today’s digital era, how
to build up a more creative working environment, embrace abundance of
information. – Pearl Zhu, Brobay Corporation
Social Marketing to the Business Customer: Listen to Your B2B Market,
Generate Major Account Leads, and Build Client Relationships by Paul
Gillin and Eric Schwartzman. It cuts through all the noise around “social” and
is not only great on the theory but a really useful practical guide too. – Steve
Morris, Seedr Creative Ltd.
The Social Organization: How to Use Social Media to Tap the Collective
Genius of Your Customers and Employees by Anthony J. Bradley and Mark
P. McDonald. – Pearl Zhu, Brobay Corporation
The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything by Stephen
M.R. Covey. Trust literally translates into revenue, profits, and prosperity.
– Bernadette Channer, Management Sciences for Health; also recommended
by Mark Jensen, Lampo Group
Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie. Incredibly inspiring
and full of great “guerilla” ideas for attracting interns and developing an
organization. – Robert Grabel, Teens Run Yonkers
The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and
Transform Your Career by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha. It keeps you
thinking about your next career move. – Gareth Murran, MindLeaders
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. Regardless of your thoughts on the man,
there are many great ideas on management and control that can be gleaned
from the book. I regret giving my copy away and plan to get another to
reread. – Gary Petzer, Towerjazz

27
Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire: A Roadmap to a Sustainable Culture of
Ingenuity and Purpose by Braden Kelly. Organizing the innovation process.
Creating innovation energy. – Steve Giese, small business consultant
The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence, and Persuasion Through
the Art of Storytelling by Annette Simmons. It’s the story that people
remember. The story can influence, persuade, and inspire. Your story is who
you are. – Steve Giese, small business consultant
Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation by Robert
Burgelman, Clayton Christensen, and Steven Wheelwright. A conglomeration
of all concepts and cases you need to know for a successful innovation-based
endeavor. – Sanghmitra G., Altran Europe
Strategic Organizational Change: A Practitioner’s Guide for Managers
and Consultants by Michael A. Beitler. Beitler has provided a singular
roadmap to assist internal and external consultants in maximizing value
through organizational change. – José Antonio Venegas, Consultoría de Negocios
The Strategy-Focused Organization: How Balanced Scorecard
Companies Thrive in the New Business Environment by Robert S. Kaplan
and David P. Norton. – Robert Bateman, Strategic Talent Solutions
Switch: How to Change When Change is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan
Heath. Provides eye-opening examples of how dramatic changes can
be and have been achieved and embraced. – Stephen Johnston, The Co-
operators; Anything by the Heath brothers is worth reading. – Elizabeth
Wade, Department of Justice-Victoria, Australia; also recommended by Kalle
Söderman, Nordea; Ian Matchett, engagement lead; Laura Grieco, Laura
Grieco Consulting; and Jason Little, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board
Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership by Joseph Jaworski.
– Richard Gambino, University of New Mexico/Central NM Community College
– T –
Ten Faces of Innovation: Ideo’s Strategies for Beating the Devil’s
Advocate & Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization by Tom
Kelley. Paraphrasing from the title, this book is for beating the devil’s
advocate and building up a creative and innovative culture within your
organization. – Roddy Porter, The Royal Over-Seas League
The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk. The world of business is
coming full circle. The rise of the Internet and the empowerment of the
common consumer has created a fundamental shift in how businesses are
expected to behave. – David Mitchell, The Profit Generator
My imagination
doesn’t require
anything more of the
book than to provide
a framework within
which it can wander.
– Alphonse Daudet

28
Theory U: Leading from the Future as It Emerges by C. Otto Scharmer.
– Lynette Reed, Where Expectations Meet Reality
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Changed my business and life.
– Sean T. Shallis, Weichert Headquarters Sales Office; also recommended by
Dorothy Manning, Ageless
Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative Thinking Techniques by Michael
Michalko. Reminder to think beyond the obvious. Our old habits can keep us
from the future. – Steve Giese, small business consultant
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Kahneman is the only
non-economist ever to win the Nobel Prize in economics. You’ll start to
understand why we think and act the way we do. – Jim Love, IT World Canada
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
by Malcolm Gladwell. Speaks towards individuality, drive, innovation,
persistence, and other qualities of successful humans and businesses.
– Anwar Timol, Optimum Lightpath
The Tom Peters Seminar: Crazy Times Call for Crazy Organizations by
Tom Peters. Great for re-inventing your business or methods. – Charles Petit-
Debut, HC&L Solutions
Toyota Kata: Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness and
Superior Results by Mike Rother and John Shook. Look to understand with
your eyes and witnessing the work. – Russ Toman, IS&R Services
The Toyota Way: Fourteen Management Principles from the World’s
Greatest Manufacturer by Jeffrey K. Liker. – Darren Lunn, Barclays
The Toyota Way Fieldbook: A Practical Guide for Implementing Toyota’s
4Ps by Jeffrey K. Liker and David Meier. – Darren Lunn, Barclays
The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership: Achieving and Sustaining
Excellence Through Leadership Development by Jeffrey K. Liker and Gary
L. Convis. – Darren Lunn, Barclays
The Transformational CIO: Leadership and Innovation Strategies for
IT Executives in a Rapidly Changing World by Hunter Muller. The book
is good for both CIOs and other executives who want to work with IT to
create better business results. It has lots of interviews with CIOs at top
organizations on what works and overcoming issues. I particularly liked the
story of a new CIO who wrote his first 30-60-90-day plan during interviews
before he got the job. He really hit the ground running! – Michael Smith,
TeraTech

29
Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving
Organization by Dave Logan, John King, and Hallee Fischer-Wright. – Gary
Vant, public safety professional
Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin. – Joan Holman, Joan Holman
Productions
Trump: The Art of the Deal by Donald J. Trump. Tips for becoming a
successful businessman or businesswoman. – David Neal, independent
consultant
Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation,
and Earn Trust by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. The book is fascinating.
– Ross McMinn, Workspace 1
The Trusted Advisor by David Maister, Charles H. Green, and Robert M.
Galford. – Malcolm Ting, iClinic
Tuesday Morning Coaching: Eight Simple Truths to Boost Your Career
and Your Life by David Cottrell. Very upbeat, insightful, and positive book.
– Cyndee Morton, Safety National
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will
Follow You by John C. Maxwell. – Mark Jensen, Lampo Group
– U –
The Ultimate Guide to Business Process Management: Everything You
Need to Know and How to Apply It to Your Organization by Theodore
Panagacos. – Clinton Thomson, ANZ
Unfair Advantage: The Power of Financial Education by Robert Kiyosaki.
– Dorothy Manning, Ageless
UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging. by Scott Stratten. – Tom
Borgman, Yes Nonsense|Video-for-Social Media
Up the Organization: How to Stop the Corporation from Stifling People
and Strangling Profits by Robert C. Townsend. The worrying thing is that
it first appeared in 1970 and it’s still very relevant – possibly even more
relevant. But it’s essential reading. Tom Peters says: “Townsend shouldn’t
just be read, he should be memorized.” – Stuart Constable, The Marketing
Practice
Some books are to be
tasted, others to be
swallowed, and some
few to be chewed and
digested.
– Francis Bacon

30
– V –
Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies by
McKinsey & Company, Tim Koller, Marc Goedhart, and David Wessels. Tools
for measuring value and stories to see it applied practically – helps readers
understand the concept of value. – Malcolm McKinnon, McKinnons
Visionary Leadership Skills: Creating a World to Which People Want to
Belong by Robert B. Dilts. – Sharon Walsh, Innovation Bound
– W –
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative
Battles by Steven Pressfield. Don’t ever think that business is just business.
Make your work your art. Attack the canvas. – Stephen Johnston, The Co-
operators
Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives by Dan Millman.
Speaks towards individuality, drive, innovation, persistence, and other
qualities of successful humans and businesses. – Anwar Timol, Optimum
Lightpath
Weird Ideas That Work: How to Build a Creative Company by Robert I.
Sutton. A great book on driving change and innovation and why ideas that
may initially be seen as counter intuitive are really actually rather sensible.
– Gary Burke, consultant
What Management Is: How It Works and Why It’s Everyone’s Business
by Joan Magretta. It helps us as managers to get back to the roots of the
business. – Vishwanath Baba, Canadian Journal of Adminstrative Science
What Matters Now: How to Win in a World of Relentless Change,
Ferocious Competition, and Unstoppable Innovation by Gary Hamel.
Businesses large and small are all facing radical digital transformation. What
Matters Now is different from industry speed in the last century, whether
you’re crafting a business strategy or a talent strategy, the book could be a
good guideline. – Pearl Zhu, Brobay Corporation
What Poetry Brings to Business by Clare Morgan. This general book was
quite thought provoking. First half especially; more of a generalist book than
function specific. – Mark Nilski, Lenovo
What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School: Notes from
a Street-Smart Executive by Mark H. McCormack. Great book about
connecting with people and creating a network with a positive emotional
link towards you. – Charles Petit-Debut, HC&L Solutions

31
What Would Google Do? Reverse-Engineering the Fastest Growing
Company in the History of the World by Jeff Jarvis. From left field,
especially for those involved in social enterprises, to shift your head space.
– Doug Jacquier, consultant
What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption by Rachel
Botsman and Roo Rogers. From left field, especially for those involved in
social enterprises, to shift your head space. – Doug Jacquier, consultant
Who Moved My Cheese: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your
Work and in Your Life by Spencer Johnson. We never see change in IT, do
we? – Larry Salomon, CA Technologies
Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance: Leading a Great Enterprise Through
Dramatic Change by Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. – Vivek Tuljapurkar, consultant
Who Stole My Cheese? by Ilene Hochberg. – Thomas Cooper, Global Wealth
Consultants
A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel
H. Pink. – Kenny Madden, Spiceworks
Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?: What It Takes to Be an Authentic
Leader by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones. – Ross Kingsland, Inception Business
Services
Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Don
Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams. – Pearl Zhu, Brobay Corporation
Winning by Jack Welch. Some bits may seem dated and you may not always
agree with his approach, but seeing “how Jack did it” is a real insight into
the mind of a significant business leader. – Rob Hall, Chemring Group; also
recommended by Clinton Thomson, ANZ
Work Happy: What Great Bosses Know by Jill Geisler. This book takes
management skills to the next level. – Deb Taylor, Senior Community Services
Work Quake by Paul Glover. Reminder of the little operational things that
make the business successful. Reminder of the little people things that make
your business grow. – Steve Giese, small business consultant
– Y –
You Can’t Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar: The Sandler Sales
Institute’s 7-Step System for Successful Selling by David H. Sandler. – Ross
Kingsland, Inception Business Services
To read a book for the
first time is to make an
acquaintance with a
new friend; to read it
for a second time is to
meet an old one.
– Chinese saying

32
– CHANGE MANAGEMENT –
Building the Bridge As You Walk On It: A Guide for Leading Change by Robert E.
Quinn.
Change and Conflict Management by B. Hiriyappa.
The Change Handbook: The Definitive Resource on Today’s Best Methods for
Engaging Whole Systems by Peggy Holman, Tom Devane, and Steven Cady.
The Change Leader’s Roadmap: How to Navigate Your Organization’s
Transformation by Linda Ackerman Anderson and Dean Anderson.
The Change Monster: The Human Forces That Fuel or Foil Corporate
Transformation and Change by Jeanie Daniel Duck.
Changing Conversations in Organizations: A Complexity Approach to Change by
Patricia Shaw.
Creating Contagious Commitment: Applying the Tipping Point to
Organizational Change by Andrea Shapiro.
The Dance of Change: The Challenges to Sustaining Momentum in a Learning
Organization by Peter Senge, Art Kleiner, Charlotte Roberts, Richard Ross, George
Roth, and Bryan Smith.
The Gold Mine: A Novel of Lean Turnaround by Freddy Ballë and Michael Ballë.
Inside Change: Transforming Your Organization with Emotional Intelligence by
Joshua Freedman and Massimiliano Ghini.
It Starts with One: Changing Individuals Changes Organizations by J. Stewart
Black and Hal B. Gregersen.
Leading Change by John P. Kotter.
Managing at the Speed of Change: How Resilient Managers Succeed and
Prosper Where Others Fail by Daryl R. Conner.
Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change by William Bridges.
Organization Change: Theory and Practice by W. Warner Burke.
Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit by Tupper F. Cawsey, Gene
Deszca, and Cynthia Ingols.
Practically Radical: Not So Crazy Ways to Transform Your Company, Shake Up
Your Industry, and Challenge Yourself by William Taylor.
Rapid Transformation: A 90-Day Plan for Fast and Effective Change by Behnam
N. Tabrizi.
BOOKLIST BY SUBJECT
Subjects
Change Management
Decision-Making, Problem-
Solving & Analytics
Economics & Finance
Entrepreneurship & Careers
General Business &
Management
Human Resource
Management & Teams
Innovation, Creativity &
Thinking
IT Management
Leadership
Management Skills &
Personal Development
Marketing & Sales
Nonprofit Management
Process, Product & Project
Management
Organization Design,
Development & Culture
Strategy & Planning

33
The Resiliency Advantage: Master Change, Thrive Under Pressure, and Bounce
Back from Setbacks by Al Siebert.
A Sense of Urgency by John P. Kotter.
Strategic Organizational Change: A Practitioner’s Guide for Managers and
Consultants by Michael A. Beitler.
Switch: How to Change When Change is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath.
Who Moved My Cheese: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work
and in Your Life by Spencer Johnson.
Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance: Leading a Great Enterprise Through
Dramatic Change by Louis V. Gerstner, Jr.
Who Stole My Cheese? by Ilene Hochberg.
– DECISION-MAKING, PROBLEM-SOLVING & ANALYTICS –
Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results by Thomas H. Davenport,
Jeanne G. Harris, and Robert Morison.
Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning by Thomas H. Davenport
and Jeanne G. Harris.
Decide and Deliver: Five Steps to Breakthrough Performance in Your
Organization by Marcia W. Blenko, Michael C. Mankins, and Paul Rogers.
The Decision Book: 50 Models for Strategic Thinking by Mikael Krogerus and
Roman Tschäppeler.
The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control
Markets, Wage Wars, and Save Our Lives by Shankar Vedantam.
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan
Ariely.
– ECONOMICS & FINANCE –
Confusion of Confusions: An Adaptation of the Classic Masterpiece by Josseph
de la Vega on the 17th Century Amsterdam Stock Exchange.
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.
Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy by Karl Shapiro
and Hal R. Varian.
CHANGE MANAGEMENT CONTINUED
Subjects
Change Management
Solving & Analytics
Economics & Finance
General Business &
Management
Human Resource
Management & Teams
Thinking
IT Management
Leadership
Management Skills &
Marketing & Sales
Management
Strategy & Planning

34
Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest In, That the Poor and
Middle-Class Do Not by Robert T. Kiyosaki.
Unfair Advantage: The Power of Financial Education by Robert Kiyosaki.
Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies by McKinsey &
Company, Tim Koller, Marc Goedhart, and David Wessels.
– ENTREPRENEURSHIP & CAREERS –
The E Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do
About It by Michael Gerber.
Entrepreneur Journeys – Bootstrapping: Weapon Of Mass Reconstruction by
Sramana Mitra.
The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All
Levels by Michael Watkins.
Growing Pains: Transitioning from an Entrepreneurship to a Professionally
Managed Firm by Eric G. Flamholtz and Yvonne Randle.
Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier.
Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie.
The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform
Your Career by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha.
– GENERAL BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT –
Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by James C. Collins and
Jerry I. Porras.
The Choice by Eliyahu M. Goldratt.
Classic Drucker: From the Pages of Harvard Business Review by Peter F. Drucker.
The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual by Rick Levine,
Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger.
Corporate Lifecycles: How and Why Corporations Grow and Die and What to
Do About It by Ichak Adizes.
The Daily Drucker: 366 Days of Insight and Motivation for Getting the Right
Things Done by Peter F. Drucker.
The End of Business as Usual: Rewire the Way You Work to Succeed in the
Consumer Revolution by Brian Solis.
ECONOMICS & FINANCE CONTINUED
Subjects
Change Management
Solving & Analytics
Economics & Finance
General Business &
Management
Human Resource
Management & Teams
Thinking
IT Management
Leadership
Management Skills &
Marketing & Sales
Management
Strategy & Planning

35
Exploration in Management by Wilfred Brown [free download available].
The Future of Management by Gary Hamel.
The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea by Bob Burg and
John David Mann.
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don’t by Jim
Collins.
Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck – Why Some Thrive Despite
Them All by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen.
Guts: 8 Laws of Business from One of the Most Innovative Business Leaders of
Our Time by Robert A. Lutz.
How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In by Jim Collins.
Isn’t It Obvious by Eliyahu M. Goldratt.
It’s Not Luck by Eliyahu M. Goldratt.
Management in 10 Words: Practical Advice from the Man Who Created One of
the World’s Largest Retailers by Terry Leahy.
Managing by Henry Mintzberg.
The Mormon Way of Doing Business: How Nine Western Boys Reached the Top
of Corporate America by Jeff Benedict.
My Years with General Motors by Alfred P. Sloan, Jr.
The New Normal: Explore the Limits of the Digital World by Peter Hinssen.
Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points that Challenge
Every Company by Andrew S. Grove.
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell.
The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in
Motion by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown and Lang Davison.
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.
The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk.
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm
Gladwell.
The Tom Peters Seminar: Crazy Times Call for Crazy Organizations by Tom
Peters.
GENERAL BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT CONTINUED
Subjects
Change Management
Solving & Analytics
Economics & Finance
General Business &
Management
Human Resource
Management & Teams
Thinking
IT Management
Leadership
Management Skills &
Marketing & Sales
Management
Strategy & Planning

36
The Toyota Way: Fourteen Management Principles from the World’s Greatest
Manufacturer by Jeffrey K. Liker.
The Toyota Way Fieldbook: A Practical Guide for Implementing Toyota’s 4Ps by
Jeffrey K. Liker and David Meier.
Trump: The Art of the Deal by Donald J. Trump.
Up the Organization: How to Stop the Corporation from Stifling People and
Strangling Profits by Robert C. Townsend.
What Management Is: How It Works and Why It’s Everyone’s Business by Joan
Magretta.
What Matters Now: How to Win in a World of Relentless Change, Ferocious
Competition, and Unstoppable Innovation by Gary Hamel.
What Poetry Brings to Business by Clare Morgan.
What Would Google Do? Reverse-Engineering the Fastest Growing Company in
the History of the World by Jeff Jarvis.
What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption by Rachel
Botsman and Roo Rogers.
Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Don Tapscott and
Anthony D. Williams.
Winning by Jack Welch.
Work Quake by Paul Glover.
– HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT & TEAMS –
The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life by
Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander.
Beyond HR: The New Science of Human Capital by John W. Boudreau and Peter M.
Ramstad.
The Carrot Principle: How the Best Managers Use Recognition to Engage Their
People, Retain Talent, and Accelerate Performance by Adraian Gostick and
Chester Elton.
The Differentiated Workforce: Transforming Talent into Strategic Impact by
Brian E. Becker, Mark A. Huselid, and Richard W. Beatty.
Employees Not Doing What You Expect: Find Out Why, Fix It, Prevent It in the
Future, Turn Negative Situations Into Positive Relationships by Greg Schinkel
and Irwin Schinkel.
GENERAL BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT CONTINUED
Subjects
Change Management
Solving & Analytics
Economics & Finance
General Business &
Management
Human Resource
Management & Teams
Thinking
IT Management
Leadership
Management Skills &
Marketing & Sales
Management
Strategy & Planning

37
Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and
Transform Your Business by Josh Bernoff and Ted Schadler.
Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni.
More Lightning Less Thunder: How to Energize Innovation Teams by Bob Eckert
and Jonathan Vehar.
The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That
Isn’t by Robert I. Sutton.
Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Field Guide for Leaders,
Managers, and Facilitators by Patrick Lencioni.
The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and
Creativity at Work by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer.
The Social Organization: How to Use Social Media to Tap the Collective Genius
of Your Customers and Employees by Anthony J. Bradley and Mark P. McDonald.
Toyota Kata: Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness and Superior
Results by Mike Rother and John Shook.
– INNOVATION, CREATIVITY & THINKING –
The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice by Todd
Henry.
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell.
The Fall of the Human Intellect by A. Parthasarathy.
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
The Heretic’s Guide To Best Practices: The Reality of Managing Complex
Problems in Organisations by Paul Culmsee.
Hot Spots: Why Some Teams, Workplaces, and Organizations Buzz with Energy
and Innovation – and Others Don’t by Lynda Gratton.
Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer.
The Innovator’s Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way
You Do Business by Clayton M. Christensen.
Leading with Questions: How Leaders Find the Right Solutions by Knowing
What to Ask by Michael Marquardt.
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT & TEAMS CONTINUED
Subjects
Change Management
Solving & Analytics
Economics & Finance
General Business &
Management
Human Resource
Management & Teams
Thinking
IT Management
Leadership
Management Skills &
Marketing & Sales
Management
Strategy & Planning

38
Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire: A Roadmap to a Sustainable Culture of
Ingenuity and Purpose by Braden Kelly.
Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation by Robert Burgelman,
Clayton Christensen, and Steven Wheelwright.
Ten Faces of Innovation: Ideo’s Strategies for Beating the Devil’s Advocate &
Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization by Tom Kelley.
Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative Thinking Techniques by Michael Michalko.
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
by Steven Pressfield.
A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel H. Pink.
Weird Ideas That Work: How to Build a Creative Company by Robert I. Sutton.
– IT MANAGEMENT –
The Adventures of an IT Leader by Robert D. Austin, Richard L. Nolan, and
Shannon O’Donnell.
Business in the Cloud: What Every Business Needs to Know About Cloud
Computing by Michael H. Hugos and Derek Hulitzky.
Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug.
The Elements of Content Strategy by Erin Kissane.
The 11 Secrets of Highly Influential IT Leaders: The Critical Path to Accessing
and Succeeding in the Executive Suite by Marc J. Schiller.
IT Savvy: What Top Executives Must Know to Go From Pain to Gain by Peter
Weill and Jeanne W. Ross.
The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering by Frederick P.
Brooks, Jr.
The New CIO Leader: Setting the Agenda and Delivering Results by Marianne
Broadbent and Ellen Kitzis.
On Top of the Cloud: How CIOs Leverage New Technologies to Drive Change and
Build Value Across the Enterprise by Hunter Muller.
Secrets & Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World by Bruce Schneier.
The Transformational CIO: Leadership and Innovation Strategies for IT
Executives in a Rapidly Changing World by Hunter Muller.
INNOVATION, CREATIVITY & THINKING CONTINUED
Subjects
Change Management
Solving & Analytics
Economics & Finance
General Business &
Management
Human Resource
Management & Teams
Thinking
IT Management
Leadership
Management Skills &
Marketing & Sales
Management
Strategy & Planning

39
– LEADERSHIP –
Clear Leadership: Sustaining Real Collaboration and Partnership at Work by
Gervase R. Bushe.
Conscious Business: How to Build Value Through Values by Fred Kofman.
Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney
by Lee Cockerell.
Creative Leadership: Skills that Drive Change by Gerard J. Puccio, Mary C.
Murdock, and Marie Mance.
EntreLeadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches by
Dave Ramsey.
John P. Kotter on What Leaders Really Do by John P. Kotter.
Lead Your Boss: The Subtle Art of Managing Up by John Baldoni.
The Leader’s Guide to Radical Management: Reinventing the Workplace for the
21st Century by Stephen Denning.
Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box by The Arbinger Institute.
Leadership Brand: Developing Customer-Focused Leaders to Drive
Performance and Build Lasting Value by Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood.
The Leadership Machine: Architecture to Develop Leaders for Any Future by
Robert W. Eichinger and Michael M. Lombardo. – Robert Bateman, Strategic Talent
Solutions
Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive through the Dangers of Leading by Ronald
A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky.
Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun by Wess Roberts.
Leading with Questions: How Leaders Find the Right Solutions by Knowing
What to Ask by Michael Marquardt.
Management of the Absurd: Paradoxes in Leadership by Richard Farson.
Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead by
Charlene Li.
The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative
Thinking by Roger Martin.
Principle-Centered Leadership by Stephen R. Covey.
Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership by Joseph Jaworski.
Subjects
Change Management
Solving & Analytics
Economics & Finance
General Business &
Management
Human Resource
Management & Teams
Thinking
IT Management
Leadership
Management Skills &
Marketing & Sales
Management
Strategy & Planning

40
Theory U: Leading from the Future as It Emerges by C. Otto Scharmer.
The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership: Achieving and Sustaining Excellence
Through Leadership Development by Jeffrey K. Liker and Gary L. Convis.
Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization
by Dave Logan, John King and Hallee Fischer-Wright.
Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin.
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow
You by John C. Maxwell.
Visionary Leadership Skills: Creating a World to Which People Want to Belong
by Robert B. Dilts.
Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?: What It Takes to Be an Authentic Leader
by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones.
– MANAGEMENT SKILLS & PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT –
The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict by The Arbinger Institute.
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Speaks towards individuality, drive, innovation,
persistence and other qualities of successful humans and businesses.
Becoming a Person of Influence by John C. Maxwell and Jim Dornan.
Born to Win: Transactional Analysis with Gestalt Experiments by Muriel James
and Dorothy Jongeward.
Conquering An Enemy Called Average by John Mason.
Crucial Confrontations: Tools for Resolving Broken Promises, Violated
Expectations, and Bad Behavior by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan,
and Al Switzler.
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry
Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler
Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together: A Pioneering Approach to
Communication in Business and in Life by Bill Isaacs.
The Diamond Cutter: The Buddha on Managing Your Business and Your Life by
Geshe Michael Roach.
Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age by Maggie
Jackson.
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink.
LEADERSHIP CONTINUED
Subjects
Change Management
Solving & Analytics
Economics & Finance
General Business &
Management
Human Resource
Management & Teams
Thinking
IT Management
Leadership
Management Skills &
Marketing & Sales
Management
Strategy & Planning

41
Eat That Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in
Less Time by Brian Tracy.
The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things
Done by Peter F. Drucker.
11 Rules for Creating Value in the #SocialEra by Nilofer Merchant.
Emotional Equations: Simple Truths for Creating Happiness + Success by Chip
Conley.
Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman.
The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team With Positive
Energy by Jon Gordon.
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles
MacKay.
Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation by Sally Hogshead.
First Time Manager by Loren B. Belker, Jim McCormick, and Gary S. Topchik.
Fish! A Proven Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results by Stephen C. Lundin,
Harry Paul, and John Christensen.
Fixing the Problem: Making Changes in How You Deal With Challenges by G.L.
Reed.
Getting More: How to Negotiate to Achieve Your Goals in the Real World by
Stuart Diamond.
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen.
Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher,
William L. Ury and Bruce Patton.
Helping: How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help by Edgar H. Schein.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.
Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself
and Your Organization by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey.
Influence: Science and Practice by Robert B. Cialdini.
Influencer: The Power to Change Anything by Kerry Patterson, David Maxfield,
Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler.
It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy
by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff.
MANAGEMENT SKILLS & PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT CONTINUED
Subjects
Change Management
Solving & Analytics
Economics & Finance
General Business &
Management
Human Resource
Management & Teams
Thinking
IT Management
Leadership
Management Skills &
Marketing & Sales
Management
Strategy & Planning

42
Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin.
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan
Heath.
The Maxwell Daily Reader: 365 Days of Insight to Develop the Leader Within
You and Influence Those Around You by John C. Maxwell.
The One Minute Manager: The World’s Most Popular Management Method by
Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson.
The Path of Least Resistance: Learning to Become the Creative Force in Your
Own Life by Robert Fritz.
Power, Influence, and Persuasion: Sell Your Ideas and Make Things Happen by
Harvard Business School Press, editor.
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles
Duhigg.
Radical Collaboration: Five Essential Skills to Overcome Defensiveness and
Build Successful Relationships by James W. Tamm and Ronald J. Luyet.
Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences by Nancy Duarte.
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
by Stephen R. Covey.
The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything by Stephen M.R.
Covey.
The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence, and Persuasion Through the Art of
Storytelling by Annette Simmons.
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.
Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn
Trust by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith.
The Trusted Advisor by David Maister, Charles H. Green, and Robert M. Galford.
Tuesday Morning Coaching: Eight Simple Truths to Boost Your Career and Your
Life by David Cottrell.
Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives by Dan Millman.
What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School: Notes from a Street-
Smart Executive by Mark H. McCormack.
Work Happy: What Great Bosses Know by Jill Geisler.
MANAGEMENT SKILLS & PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT CONTINUED
Subjects
Change Management
Solving & Analytics
Economics & Finance
General Business &
Management
Human Resource
Management & Teams
Thinking
IT Management
Leadership
Management Skills &
Marketing & Sales
Management
Strategy & Planning

43
– MARKETING & SALES –
Beyond Traditional Marketing: Innovations in Marketing Practice by
Kamran Kashani, Jean-Pierre Jeannet, Jacques Horovitz, Sean Meehan, Adrian
Ryans, Dominique Turpin, and John Walsh
Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting
More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling by
Michael Port.
The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation by Matthew
Dixon and Brent Adamson.
Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream
Customers by Geoffrey A. Moore.
Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing
Guide by John Jantsch.
FREE: How Today’s Smartest Businesses Profit by Giving Something for
Nothing by Chris Anderson.
Getting Naked: A Business Fable about Shedding the Three Fears That
Sabotage Client Loyalty by Patrick Lencioni.
Handbook of Business-to-Business Marketing edited by Gary Lilien and Rajdeep
Grewal.
How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know by Byron Sharp.
The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge by Doc Searls.
Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play: The Demise of Dysfunctional Selling and the
Advent of Helping Clients Succeed by Mahan Khalsa.
Market Segmentation: How to Do It and How to Profit By It by Malcolm
McDonald and Ian Dunbar.
Marketing Strategy & Organization: Building Sustainable Business by Rudy
Moenaert, Henry Robben and Peter Gouw.
Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing Out of Sync? by Seth Godin.
Outside In: The Power of Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business by
Harley Manning and Kerry Bodine.
Poke the Box by Seth Godin.
Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin.
Subjects
Change Management
Solving & Analytics
Economics & Finance
General Business &
Management
Human Resource
Management & Teams
Thinking
IT Management
Leadership
Management Skills &
Marketing & Sales
Management
Strategy & Planning

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