Think Like a Freak
By Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
The authors take us inside their thought processes and teach us all to think a bit more productively, more creatively, and more rationally.
Originals
By Adam Grant
In Originals, Adam Grant addresses the challenge of improving the world, but from the perspective of becoming original: choosing to champion novel ideas and values that go against the grain, battle conformity, and buck outdated traditions.
Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing our Digital Future
By Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson
The authors outline the opportunities and challenges inherent in the science fiction technologies that have come to life in recent years, such as self-driving cars, 3D printers and more.
The Truth About Transformation
By Deborah Patton and Kevin Novak
The authors offer guidance for leaders to understand the myriad forces impacting efforts directed at transformation within organizations and a set of guidelines and tools to make such efforts more successful.
Balanced Accountability
By Hernani Alves
The author provides a roadmap and framework for high-performing organizations.
Theory of Constraints
By Eliyahu Goldratt
Theory of Constraints walks you through the crucial stages of a continuous program: focusing; the process of change; effect-cause-effect; and how to invent simple solutions to complex problems.
Goldratt's Rules of Flow
By Efrat Goldratt-Ashlag
Rules of Flow simplifies how projects should be tracked and greatly improves predictability and delivery of products.
The Goal
By Eliyahu Goldratt and Jeff Cox
With help from a mysterious mentor, Rogo discovers a revolutionary new way to do business-a way for people in any field of endeavor to increase productivity, profitability, and personal fulfillment. The story of Alex's fight to save his plant contains a serious message for all managers in industry and explains the ideas which underline the Theory of Constraints developed by Dr. Goldratt.
The Logic of Failure
By Dietrich Dorner
The author identifies what he calls the "logic of failure" -- certain tendencies in our patterns of thought that, while appropriate to an older, simpler world, prove disastrous for the complex world we live in now.
Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and Off the Court
By John Wooden
Coach Wooden shares his personal philosophy on family, achievement, success, and excellence.
Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal
By Stuart Lake
The biography of Wyatt Earp, legend of the Old West.
Getting Defense Acquisition Right
By Hon. Frank Kendall
In "Getting Defense Acquisition Right," Kendall shares a selection of his articles, statements, and correspondence in a logical progression that provides insight into where Defense acquisition has been and a greater understanding of the complex system in place today.
The Fifth Discipline
By Peter M. Senge
Senge describes how companies can rid themselves of the learning blocks that threaten their productivity and success by adopting the strategies of learning organizations, in which new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, collective aspiration is set free, and people are continually learning how to create the results they truly desire.
Polarity Management
By Barry Johnson
Some complex problems simply do not have solutions. The key to being an effective leader is being able to recognize and manage such problems. Polarity Management presents a unique model and set of principles that will challenge you to look at situations in new ways.
Ghost Fleet
By P.W. Singer and August Cole
A story of a novel war set in a not-to-distant future.
Burn-In
By P.W. Singer and August Cole
A novel of the real robotic revolution: An FBI agent hunts a new kind of terrorist through a Washington D.C. of the future.
Dare to Lead
By Brene Brown
Brown explores the concept of daring leadership in a culture defined by scarcity, fear, and uncertainty, which requires skill-building around traits that are deeply and uniquely human.
The Mentor Leader
By Tony Dungy
Football player and coach Tony Dungy shares the principles of mentor leadership that have helped him to lead many to success on and off the field.
Leading from Anywhere
By David Burkus
A guide to successfully leading remote teams from onboarding and acculturation to beyond.
To Boldly Go: Leadership, Strategy, and Conflict in the 21st Century and Beyond New!
By Jonathan Klug, Steven Leonard, and Maj. Gen. Mick Ryan (Foreword)
A multi-author exploration of leadership and strategy through the lens of classic science fiction.
The Hero Code
By Admiral William H. McRaven
The Hero Code is not a cypher, a puzzle, or a secret message. It is a code of conduct, lessons in virtues that can become the foundations of our character as we build a life worthy of honor and respect.
Why We Sleep
By Matthew Walker, PhD
Sleep expert Matthew Walker provides a revolutionary exploration of sleep, examining how it affects every aspect of our physical and mental well-being.
Leaders Eat Last
By Simon Sinek
Today, in many successful organizations, great leaders create environments in which people naturally work together to do remarkable things.
Beyond the Little Blue Book: Making Our Core Values Our Corps Values!
By Bob Vasquez
Retired Chief Master Sgt. Bob Vásquez helps to unpack the importance of the U.S Air Force Core Values and reminds readers why the commitment is worth the sacrifice.
Ego is the Enemy
By Ryan Holiday
The author educates readers on ways to be humble in aspirations, gracious in triumph, and resilient through failures. Insights are drawn from the ancient classical thinkers and Stoic philosophers, weaving in narratives of current politicians and business leaders.
Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun
By Wess Roberts
The author explains how the legendary military commander's principles of leadership can be applied to contemporary business situations.
XLR8
By John P. Kotter
The author provides a powerful new framework for competing and winning in a world of constant turbulence and disruption.
Insight
By Tasha Eurich
The author offers techniques and strategies to help readers be more self-aware and ways they can use this insight to be more fulfilled, confident, and successful in life and in work.
Creativity, Inc.
By Ed Catmull
A co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios offers an incisive book about creativity in business and leadership.
The Kill Chain
By Christian Brose
The future will be defined by artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and other emerging technologies that are revolutionizing global industries and are now poised to overturn the model of American defense. This book confronts the existential risks on the horizon, charting a way for America's military to adapt and succeed with new thinking as well as new technology.
Measure What Matters
By John Doerr
Venture capitalist John Doerr reveals how the goal-setting system of Objectives and Key Results has helped tech giants from Intel to Google achieve explosive growth—and how it can help any organization thrive.
Talking to Strangers
By Malcolm Gladwell
Gladwell offers more thoughtful ways of behaving among strangers and advocates for people to embrace trust, rather than defaulting to distrust.
I’m Still Here
By Austin Channing Brown
From a leading voice on racial justice, an eye-opening account of growing up Black, Christian, and female that explores how white America’s efforts towards diversity often falls short of its ideals.
The Go-Giver
By Bob Burg
The author explores how changing focus from getting to giving, putting others' interests first and continually adding value to their lives, ultimately leads to unexpected returns.
Super Better
By Jane McGonigal
An innovative guide to living more 'gamefully' and becoming more resilient.
Give and Take
By Adam Grant
A look at why our interactions with others hold the key to success.
The Bomber Mafia
By Malcolm Gladwell
The author explores how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war.
Operation Mincemeat
By Ben Macintyre
How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory
Articles:
Leadership Articles
Harvard Business Review
Macgregor.
By Arthur Elliott Carlisle, in Organizational Dynamics
This story of an oil refinery manager and his unique management style was first published in Organizational Dynamics in 1976. The author describes how MacGregor developed a managerial system that required the self-development of his employees. He was able to motivate and satisfy his subordinates by pushing decision-making down the organizational level and putting them in learning situations.
Podcasts
WorkLife with Adam Grant – Adam Grant and guests help us to re-think and improve our experiences at work… where we spend 25% of our life!
War on the Rocks – Good defense and foreign policy discussions with subject matter experts. Don't miss the Feb. 1 episode with Maj. Gen. Tullos!
Revisionist History with Malcom Gladwell – Interesting perspectives on significant world events of the past.
Freakonomics – Stephen Dubner brings in world-renowned experts and weaves economics into today’s technology.
TED Radio Hour – Big thinkers and doers present talks on world events.
This American Life – Ira Glass (first podcast I ever listened to) cleverly weaves human interest events into must-listen and informative stories.
Hidden Brain with Shankar Vendantam – Using Science and and good storytelling, Shankar helps us understand human behavior and motives.
On China
By Henry Kissinger
On China illuminates the inner workings of Chinese diplomacy during such pivotal events as the initial encounters between China and tight line modern European powers, the formation and breakdown of the Sino-Soviet alliance, the Korean War, and Richard Nixon’s historic trip to Beijing.
The Avoidable War
By Kevin Rudd
The Avoidable War demystifies the actions of both the U.S. and China, explaining and translating them for the benefit of the other. Geopolitical disaster is still avoidable, but only if these two giants can find a way to coexist without betraying their core interests through what Rudd calls “managed strategic competition”.
Destined for War
By Graham Allison
The U.S. and China are heading towards a war that neither wants. Clashing powers have kept the peace in the past, and there are steps both countries must take to avoid disaster today.
The Long Game
By Rush Doshi
The author examines China's grand strategy to disrupt American order.
More:
Secretary of the Air Force China Reading List
Recoding America New!
By Jennifer Pahlka
Pahlka shows why we must stop trying to move the government we have today onto new technology and instead consider what it would mean to truly "recode" American government.
Freedom's Forge New!
By Arthur Herman
A look at how two businessmen turned the U.S. into a military powerhouse during World War II.
SysML Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Systems Modeling
By Lenny Delligatti
Delligatti illuminates SysML’s core components and provides practical advice to help you create good models and good designs.
The Success of Open Source
By Steven Weber
Open source's success in a highly competitive industry has subverted many assumptions about how businesses are run, and how intellectual products are created and protected..
Digital Transformation Is Not About Technology
By Behnam Tabrizi, Ed Lam, Kirk Girard, and Vernon Irvin, Harvard Business Review
The authors talk about the importance of including digital in the overall business strategy.
Digital Doesn’t Have to Be Disruptive
By Nathan Furr and Andrew Shipilov
The best results can come from adaptation rather than reinvention.
STUDY: Competing in Time
By William Greenwalt and Dan Patt, Hudson Institute
Study: The authors discuss the current budget planning process in the Department of Defense. Emerging technologies, especially information technologies, are central to future conflict and are largely commercial and globalized. The defense acquisition process and legacy defense industrial base approach struggle to accommodate timely adoption of these technologies, as evidenced by lengthy modern time cycles (more than ten years) for development and fielding of new-start weapon systems.
How to Be an Inclusive Leader: Your Role in Creating Cultures of Belonging Where Everyone Can Thrive*New!
By Jennifer Brown
The author provides a roadmap for leaders in how to create a culture that thrives.
The Culture Code *New!
By Daniel Coyle
Where does great culture come from? How do you build and sustain it in your group, or strengthen a culture that needs fixing?
The Inclusion Dividend *New!
By Mason Donovan and Mark Kaplan
Working effectively across differences such as gender, culture, generational, race, and sexual orientation not only leads to a more productive, innovative corporate culture, but also to a better engagement with customers and clients.
The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth
By Amy C. Edmondson
Practical guidance for teams and organizations who are serious about success in the modern economy.
Inclusion: Diversity, the New Workplace & the Will to Change
By Jennifer Brown
The author shares strategies to empower members of the entire organization to utilize all of their talents and potential to drive positive organizational change and the future of work.
Radical Candor
By Kim Scott
Radical Candor is about caring personally and challenging directly, about soliciting criticism to improve leadership and also providing guidance that helps others grow.
Inclusify: The Power of Uniqueness and Belonging to Build Innovative Teams
By Stefanie K. Johnson, Amanda Dolan, et al.
A management expert outlines the transformative leadership skill of tomorrow—one that can make it possible to build truly diverse and inclusive teams which value employees' need to belong while being themselves.
How to Be an Inclusive Leader: Creating Trust, Cooperation, and Community Across Differences
By Jennifer Brown
We know why diversity is important, but how do we drive real change at work? This is a step-by-step guide for the personal and emotional journey we must undertake to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive.
The Leader's Guide to Unconscious Bias: How to Reframe Bias, Cultivate Connection, and Create High-Performing Teams
By Pamela Fuller (Author, Narrator), Mark Murphy (Author, Narrator), Anne Chow (Author, Narrator)
A must-have guide to understanding and overcoming bias in the workplace.