Business books can be interesting

Many of the books that have sold well in the business environment were not necessarily written with that audience in mind (‘Emotional Intelligence’ is a good example). With that in mind I list the ten books I always go to if I want to stimulate my thinking around work and human behaviour. I only half apologise for including one of my own…


Hare Brain Tortoise Mind – Guy Claxton

Very often we think best when we are not consciously thinking about a specific thing. This book helps us to understand why that may be the case and why slowing down can help us generate great ideas and make better decisions.


Dinosaur Strain – Mark Brown

A personal friend so I am biased but if I ever want an interesting ‘take’ on work related subjects or a deeper ‘know yourself’ exercise that goes beyond pop psychology territory then I always go to this book. I particularly like the way that Mark subtly removes his work from faddish thinking while always offering a stimulating alternative view.


It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be – Paul Arden

As it says on the cover ‘The world’s best selling book by Paul Arden’. I fell for it… But this is just a very interesting look at a much-abused subject. Did you know that Victoria Beckham always wanted to be more famous than Persil Automatic? Did she succeed?


Understanding Organisations – Charles Handy

Everything you want to know about how organisations work. Particularly useful if you want a central reference point for all the seminal workplace research work that has been done in the last fifty years.


The New Leaders – Daniel Goleman

Uses his work on Emotional Intelligence to show how we can learn to be leaders. The best book on leadership I have read (I admit that there are few good ones – and particularly strong on leadership styles and adapting your style to the person and the situation you are in.


A Whack on the Side of the Head – Roger Von Oech

This is just a great book – an innovative way of showing us how to be more creative and innovative. Full of contradictions as all good books should be.


The Doctor and The Soul – Viktor Frankl

Everyone cites his book ‘Man’s Search For Meaning’ but this for me cuts very deeply into my own soul and raises so many ‘ah-ha’ moments that I almost feel it was written for me.


Learned Optimism – Martin Seligman

Does exactly what it says. Balanced too because he shows how pessimism can be a very healthy emotion if it propels you into positive action.


Riding the Waves of Culture – Trompenaars, Hampden-Turner

Far more than a book that tells us why people from other cultures behave in the way they do. In fact the authors say directly, and I endorse this, that the book is really about how individuals see the world in the way that they do and how we can adapt our behaviour according to their world-view.


Mind Your Own Good Fortune: How to Seize Life’s Opportunities – Douglas Miller

Sorry…