Recommended Books
These are the books I most frequently recommend to my product & design leadership coaching clients. It's not meant to be the ultimate leadership library. It's just the books I've found particularly helpful with common leadership challenges.
Also, this is a living document that changes as I discover new gems and as my clients' needs shift.
When you need to navigate the AI revolution...
Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI
Ethan Mollick
The best primer on AI's real-world roles. Read it ASAP – it might be obsolete by next month.
Buy from Bookshop.orgWhen complexity overwhelms your organization...
Thinking in Systems
Donella Meadows
This book will rewire your brain to see systems everywhere.
Buy from Bookshop.orgWhen you're worried about missing the next market shift...
The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
Clayton M. Christensen
I think about this book more often than I should. It's a business-book earworm.
Buy from Bookshop.orgWhen important ideas fail to resonate...
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
Chip Heath & Dan Heath
Ideas often fail not because they're bad (sadly, a lot of bad ideas persist) but because they just don't survive the game of corporate telephone.
Buy from Bookshop.orgWhen you're overwhelmed by decision-making...
Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work
Chip Heath & Dan Heath
A toolbox of decision-making frameworks. For when coin-flipping just won't cut it anymore.
Buy from Bookshop.orgWhen preventable errors keep occurring...
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right
Atul Gawande
Checklists are the gifts that our rational selves give to our stressed selves.
Buy from Bookshop.orgWhen you're tired of blaming users for product failures...
The Design of Everyday Things
Don Norman
The design classic that never gets old. And yes, it's time to read it again.
Buy from Bookshop.orgWhen product decisions miss user needs...
Continuous Discovery Habits: Discover Products that Create Customer Value and Business Value
Teresa Torres
Demystifying the often misunderstood art of product discovery.
Buy from Bookshop.orgWhen your team is building products but not solving problems...
Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love
Marty Cagan
This is a classic. Read it for inspiration, not as a user guide.
Buy from Bookshop.orgWhen work lacks deeper purpose...
Man's Search for Meaning
Viktor E. Frankl
For those existential moments. It won't solve your crisis, but it'll help you embrace it.
Buy from Bookshop.orgWhen you're worried about pressure compromising ethics...
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
John Carreyrou
A case study in why 'fake it till you make it' is often a terrible idea.
Buy from Bookshop.org