1. The New Wealth of Nations – John Raven - Bloomfield Books
The book explores where we are now and what will be required to develop a learning society. It acknowledges that we live in a "managed" society not one
managed by the multiple feedback loops of Adam Smith’s “marketplace.” The management of our society is in the hands of surprisingly few people. How do we make their decisions transparent? And how do we regain control of our society? The book has been written after extensive research addresses these issues and develops a vision for the future.
2. Competence in the Learning Society – Edited by John Raven & John Stephenson – Peter Lang Publishing.
The book shows that the development of a better framework for the thinking about the nature, development, release and assessment of competence is vital. It explores the kinds of competence that are needed if our society is to survive the impeding environmental and social collapse
3. Profit Beyond Measure – H T Johnson & A Broms - Nicholas Brealey
The authors have used the examples of Toyota and Scania(The Swedish truck makers) to challenge traditional accounting focuses – which evolved into “managing by results” – and the use of targets and budgets. They propose a new direction – “managing by means” which reflects living system attributes of self organisation, interdependence and diversity. An important book for all managers especially accountants.
4. Capitalism – as if the World Matters – Johnathon Porritt - Earthscan
Porritt argues that ‘capitalism’ can be retooled to deliver a sustainable future, in fact it must. He lays out a framework for a new sustainable capitalism that cuts across the political divides and offers a future of sustainable prosperity, equity and ecosystem integrity.
5. Beyond Budgeting - Jeremy Hope & Robin Fraser. Harvard Business School Press
It is no secret that annual budgeting processes are time consuming, add little value and prevent managers from responding quickly to changes in today’s business environment. The authors show how organisations can break free from the annual budgeting trap through a set of adaptive management processes and transferring decision making to the front line.
6. Thatcher and Sons - Simon Jenkins - Penguin Books
The book recounts how the centralist tendencies started by Margaret Thatcher has been continued with increasing zeal by John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. We now have a government fixated with control, awash with infantalising targets, drowning in bureaucracy and bombarded by spin. It is a withering indictment of the arrogance of high office.
7. Out of the Crisis - Edwards Deming - Cambridge University Press
This book provides a full account of Deming's thinking on the primacy of management's role in improving quality and productivity. He demonstrates what managers do wrong and how costs, dependability and quality must be improved. This is not just another manual of techniques; Deming provides a theory of management that gets to the roots of the problems of industrial competitiveness, which face management today.
8. The New Economics - Edwards Deming - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The aim of this book is to provide guidance for people in management to successfully respond to the myriad changes that shake the world. Transformation into a new style of management is required. The route to take is what Deming calls profound knowledge - knowledge for leadership of transformation. Transformation is not automatic. It must be learned; it must be led..
9. Juran on Planning for Quality - J M Juran - Free Press
Quality does not happen accidentally it must be planned" - Juan's definitive guide to a structured approach to company wide quality planning.
10. Juran on Leadership for Quality - J M Juran - Free Press
Juran clearly presents a step by step guide in how to apply the familiar business concepts of planning, control & improvement to quality leadership.
11. The Fifth Discipline - Peter Senge - Century Business
The most successful organisations of the future will be learning organisations. The organisations that excel will be those that discover how to tap into their people's commitment and capacity to learn at every level in the company.
12. The Fifth Discipline Field Book - Peter Senge & others - Currency Doubleday
An extension of the above book concentrating in how to make the above ideas work.
13. Presence – P Senge, C O Scharmer, J Jaworski, B S Flowers - SOL
A book on how to learn individually and collectively, deeply, and with a sense of the future. It gives the reader an intimate look at the development of a new theory about change and learning, Radical and hopeful, Presence, synthesizes leading edge thinking, first-hand knowledge, and ancient wisdom to explore the living fields that connect us to one another, to life more broadly, and, potentially, to what is seeking to emerge. Seven capacities underlie our ability to see, sense and realise new possibilities.
14. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey - Simon & Schuster
With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes Covey revels a step by step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, honesty and human dignity - principles that give us security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.
15. Principal Centered Leadership - Stephen Covey - Simon & Schuster
How can we have - team spirit - creativity - comfort with change - alignment of staff with organisational goals? - The questions lucidly addressed.
16. Understanding Variation - Donald Wheeler - SPC Press
A straight forward guide to understanding data especially in the context of variation. Statistics made easy.
17. Kaizen - The Key to Japan's Competitive Success - Masaaki Imai - Random House
Kaizen means gradual unending improvement, which is the simple basis behind the Japanese manufacturing miracle. A lucid description of Kiazen in action.
18. The Human Side of Enterprise - Douglas McGregor - Penguin Books
The landmark book that encapsulated the X & Y theory concepts of management. He asks all those interested in empowering and motivating the workforce to examine their theoretical assumptions about the most effective way to manage people.
19. The Art of Japanese Management - R T Pascale & A Athos - Sidwick & Jackson
The book compares the more inclusive management style of successful Japanese companies with the dictatorial style of successful American companies.
20. Lateral Thinking for Management - Edward de Bono - Penguin Books
We are restricted by the way we think, our mindsets, our paradigms. De Bono helps us recognise this impediment to future change and gives us tools to overcome it.
21. The Six Thinking Hats - Edward de Bono - Penguin Books
A practical method to tackle any problem - it guides us though the emotion, logic and creativity that needs to be brought into play when addressing complex problems.
22. The Leadership Handbook - Peter Scholtes - McGraw Hill
Peter Scholtes shows how bad systems, not bad workers cause the vast majority of management problems. He takes controversial stands against performance appraisals and incentive compensation. And he takes you from theory to practice with a wide variety of state of the art activities and exercises to help you immediately begin implementing breakthrough improvements in all work processes.
23. The Team Handbook - Peter Scholtes - Joiner
The basic handbook for Quality Improvement teams
24. The Goal - Eleyahu Goldratt & Jeff Cox - Gower
Written as a fast paced thriller this is an easy to read book, which introduces the concept of processes or systems
25. Beyond Negotiation - John Carlisle & Robert Parker - John Wiley & Sons
We all work in a system - the supplier, the organisation and the customer - our future lies in maximising the system for everybody's benefit. If we compete within that system all we are doing is creating the opportunity for waste and conflict.
26. Punished by Rewards - Alfie Khon - Houghton Miffin & Co
Our present day culture wishes to control our staff and our children through rewards and punishment - unfortunately this has a detrimental effect on the motivation of our people.
27. No Contest - The Case Against Competition - Alfie Khon - Houghton Miffen & Co
Drawing from hundreds of studies Alfie Khon argues that our struggle to defeat each other - at work, at play and at home - turns us all into losers. Competition contrary to the myths with which we have been raised does not motivate us to do our best, rather it sabotages self-esteem and ruins relationships.
28. The Mind Map Book - Tony & Barry Buzan - BBC Books
Explains the fundamental operation of the human brain in terms of it's thinking process and explains how to unleash and harness its potential.
29. Maverick - Ricardo Semler - Arrow
This is the inspiring story of a young man who took over his father's ailing company based on hierarchical thinking and transformed it into a company based on trust. A company where true democracy is approached.
30. The Deming Dimension - Henry Neave - SPC Press
A very readable exposition of the Deming Philosophy.
31. Team Roles at Work - Meridth Belbin - Butterworth Heinemann
Identifies natural team roles and how as individuals we respond in team situations. The implication of which is that, with thought, we can assemble teams that are likely to be successful.
32. Deming's Profound Changes - Kenneth Delavigne & Daniel Robertson - PTR Prentice Hall
This book helps us appreciate the origins of our management thinking which is still very much based on the teachings of Fredrick Taylor (1900s) - or worse still the corruption of Taylor's concepts. It expands on the transformation of our thinking that we should address if we are to compete in the modern world.
33. The Trust Factor - John Whitney - McCraw Hill
The book explores how and why corporate mistrust evolves, its inordinate cost, and how it can be eliminated.
34. Future Edge - Joel Baker - William Morrow
In order to solve major problems facing us today, it will be necessary to break out of our existing paradigms or mindsets. This book aids that process.
35. Opportunities - Edward de Bono - Penguin
An opportunity is as real an ingredient in business as raw material, labour or finance - but for the opportunity to bear fruit it has to be defined, evaluated and implemented. This handbook, from the instigator of 'Lateral Thinking' provides a systematic approach to opportunity seeking.
36. Fourth Generation Management - Brian Joiner - McGraw- Hill
The first generation of management is simply doing it oneself. The second is instructing in detail others to do the work. The third is setting targets and allowing the employees to develop their own methods - it seeks to make employees accountable , this method is susceptible to distortion of the figures. The fourth generation of management is based on leadership understanding, through quality as defined by the customer, scientific method that includes the analysis of variation and team spirit both within and beyond organisations.
37. The Power of Learning - Klas Mellander - American Society for Learning
A book on how we learn. It has major implications, therefore, on how we teach.
38. Use Your Memory - Tony Buzan - BBC Books
There is a direct link between mental powers and your ability to recall from your memory all the information that is stored in the subconscious brain. Consideration how we develop our ability to recall from our subconscious.
39. Driving Fear out of the Work Place - Kathleen Ryan & Daniel Oestrich - Jossey-Bass
Quality and initiative is impossible when people are afraid to tell the truth. Fear is debilitating, it will have your staff working on only two of their four cylinders
40. Sophie's World - Jostein Gaarder - Phoenix House
A history of philosophy written as if it is a novel. A very readable account of the development of our thinking from the time of Socrates right through to modern times
41. The Evolution of Management Thought - Daniel A Wren - John Willey & Sons
We can learn from the past. The objective of this book is to appreciate the development of management thinking in the context of the prevailing cultural environment. And from this perspective appreciate today's thinking and be able to predict trends into the future.
42. The Tao of Physics -Fritjof Capra - Flamingo
Capra takes us from particle physics into the world of eastern mysticism and into life itself. That our world is alive, a developing entity.
43. The Turning Point - Fritjof Capra - Flamingo
Capra acknowledges the progress made by Descartes and Newton in breaking down complex problems into their parts (Reductionism). But we now need to move on, our training has blinded us from seeing the whole. The harmonious interrelatedness of everything in nature and in life. The need now to think holistically.
44. Leadership and the New Sciences - Margaret Whitely - Beret-Koehler
The book explores how new discoveries in quantum physics, chaos theory and biology contribute to our thinking of how we organise work, people and life.
45. A Simpler Way - Margaret Wheatley - Berrett-Koehler
The recognition that as humans we have the ability to self organise. We therefore need far less supervision and direction than is commonly assumed. It is a book full of hope.
46. Rewiring the Corporate Brain - Danah Zohar - Beret-Koehler
The book relates quantum and chaos thinking directly to organisational problems and the challenges facing corporate leaders. Drawing on the science of the human brain, with its three different kinds of neural structures - mental, emotional and spiritual - Zohar illustrates how we can exercise the full creative capacities of the corporate brain.
47. I'm OK - Your OK - Thomas Harris - Arrow Books
Thomas Harris recognises that we retain a subconscious memory of all our experiences and their associated emotions, and that these memories do have a profound effect on our relationships. He explains how we can understand and control these influences. It is a practical guide to transactional analysis.
48. Why Did I Do That - George New & David Cormack - Hodder & Soughton
Presents in a practical and non-technical language the research into motivation, building on many sources but in particular the work of David McClelland and John Atkinson.
49. Human Motivation - Yoshio Kondo - 3A Corporation - Japan
The summarised results of many years of research by the motivation research group in Japan. It concludes that the type of management that is able to motivate employees transcends national boundaries and is the same the world over.
50. Parallel Thinking - Edward de Bono - Penguin
Questions the sufficiency of the analysis, judgement and argument type of thinking that we have inherited from the Greek gang of three Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Considers our thinking should be structures to design solutions - one of which allows all possibilities and delays judgement until the final design phase.
51. A Terrible Beauty - Peter Watson -Weidenfeld and Nicolson
The book presents a unique narrative on the ideas that made the twentieth century so rich rewarding and provocative. On the one hand it represents the steady progress in our thinking, while on the other hand it conveys how slowly this progress is achieved.
52. How the Mind Works - Steven Pinker - The Penguin Press
The book explains what the mind is, how it evolved and how it allows us to see, think and feel, and pursue callings in the arts, religion and philosophy. The book is based on two powerful ideas: that mental activity is a form of computation, and that the neural computer that gives rise to our human nature was shaped by natural selection.
53. Mindstore - Jack Black - Thorsons
The greatest gift in life is the ability to think great thoughts and have the strength to take action. Jack Black is Scotland's own 'Positive Thinking' guru.
54. In Pursuit of Quality - The Case Against ISO 9000 - John Seddon - Oak Tree Press
In this blistering attack on one of the sacred cows of business today, John Seddon shows how the ISO 9000 standards are not only failing to deliver the improved quality they promise, but in most cases are actually damaging the companies that have implemented them.
55. The Theory of Constraints - Eliyahu Goldratt - North River Press
The book is written in an attempt to deal with two major questions: what are the thinking processes that enable people to invent simple solutions to seemingly complicated situations? And the question of how to use the psychological aspects to assist rather than impair the implementation of those solutions in a mode of an ongoing process.
56. Seeing Systems - Barry Oshry - Berrett-Koehler
Oshray weaves a remarkable explanation for the subtle, and largely unseen, ways in which our structures influence our behaviour.
57. Built to Last - James Collins & Jerry Porras - Century
The authors have examined eighteen exceptional and long lasting companies and compared each with one of its closest but less successful competitors, in order to discover just what has given them the edge over its rivals.
58. The Knowledge Creating Company - Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi -Oxford University Press
The authors describe the process by which companies learn and create competitively valuable knowledge. What is refreshing about this book is that they go beyond the slogans that have characterised much of the previous work on this subject and delve into the specific structures and processes involved in organisational creativity and learning.
59.Personal Knowledge - Michael Polanyi - University of Chicago Press
This "Philosophy" book - written in 1958 - is a treatise on "Knowledge" itself. The author demonstrates that the scientist's personal participation in his knowledge, in both its discovery and its validation, is an indispensable part of the science itself.
60.Textbook of Wisdom - Edward de Bono - Penguin Books
It is wisdom that fills our minds with a range of possibilities. It is wisdom that gives us the ability to see alternatives - and hence have choice. And what we see is derived from our values. Different perceptions may arise from different values. From the range of possibilities and understanding varying values we can design solutions appropriate to the current need.
61.The Man Who Listens to Horses - Monty Roberts - Arrow
An inspiring book about how Monty Roberts rebelled against the tradition of "breaking" horses and found a way of communication with horse's in their own body language to the extent that he is able to persuade them to accept himself, and man, as leaders. He gets the horse to accept a saddle and rider after three hours. The traditional "breaking" method takes six weeks.
62. The Living Company - Arie de Geus - Nicholas Brealey
At the heart of this book is a simple question with sweeping implications: What if we thought about a company as a living being? From the basis of this question and his lifelong commitment to Shell, de Geus develops his theme of living companies.
63.Guns Germs and Steel - Jared Diamond - Vintage
The book is nothing less than an enquiry into the reasons why Europe and the Near East became the cradles of modern societies. Diamond shows definitively that the origins of this inequality in human fortunes cannot be laid at the door of race or inherent features of the people themselves. He argues that inequality stems instead from the differing natural resources available to the people of each continent.
64. Now Discover your Strengths - Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton - Simon and Schuster
The findings of the book are the outcomes of 25 year multi-pound effort to identify the most prevalent human strengths. Its theme is that you are much more likely to develop your strengths and it will make you even more effective. Addressing weaknesses is counterproductive. The book gives you access to Gallup's web site where you can identify your own strengths.
65. Who Moved my Cheese - Dr Spencer Johnston - Vermillion
A simple parable in the context of change - how open are we to change and progress - takes less than an hour to read. A metaphor that strikes home and remains in your consciousness.
66. A Way of Being - Carl Rogers - Houghton Miffin Co.
The author is passionate about liberating a student's curiosity and engendering a joy in learning. He had a fundamental belief in the human potential for growth. He calls for a person centred learning environment.
67. Simplicity - Edward de Bono - Penguin.
There are many of Edward de Bono's books in this list - but they are just such a pleasant read - though they are all round very similar themes. In this book he values simplicity and encourages us to actively seek the simpler way. But he also recognises that it is difficult to achieve and takes time and focus. He also recognises the need to fully understand the subject matter. "Simplicity before understanding is worthless. It is simplicity after understanding that has value.
68. Riding the Waves of Culture - Frons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner - Nicholas Brealey
The book is the outcome of extensive research into culture within the business environment throughout the world. They identify four basic types; the family (Japan, Spain, Belgium); the Eiffel Tower (large French and German companies); the guided missile (US, UK); and the incubator (start up companies in Silicon Glen)
69. Good to Great - Jim Collins - Random House
This is a pre-sequel of Collins and Porras's book "Built to Last." (see 52. above) After a five-year research project, Collins concludes that good to great can and does happen. In this book, he uncovers the underlying variables that enable any type of organisation to make the leap from good to great while other organisations remain only good. Rigorously supported by evidence, his findings are surprising - at times even shocking - to the modern mind.
70. Mastering Statistical Process Control – Tim Stapenhurst – Elsevier - Butterworth & Heinemann
This is a book for individuals who require to interpret data, which is surely the vast majority of managers. The author has kept the technical side of SPC to a minimum, choosing instead to give us an insight through many and varied case studies. The book allows us to test our skills at interpreting data before Tim gives his informed view. It also highlights how we can detect when data is being doctored. This is an excellent book for the practical manager.
71. Unleashing Intellectual Capital - Charles Ehin - Butterworth Heinemann
The organisation that has become a world leader in applying the type of thinking McGregor described as Y theory ( see above) is W L Gore. They are one of the most innovative companies in the world as well as regularly being recognised as one of the best companies to work for. Professor Charles Ehin was the Dean of the Gore School of Business at Westminster College. And in taking McGregror's thoughts further it reveals breakthrough principles for structuring Knowledge Age organisations. It offers a comprehensive framework to generate sustained levels of involvement and commitment.
72. Chaos - James Gleick - Vintage
A book on the science of chaos. We do not live in an ordered society where we can control the whole by looking after the parts. The parts interrelate in a fashion we cannot predict. On the other hand the parts interrelate to form obscure patterns beyond our present understanding. A readable exposition of the field of chaos.
73. Images of Organisation - Garteth Morgan - Sage Publications
Gareth Morgan uses a series of metaphors to open out our thinking and understanding of organisations. He uses the methaphors of a machine, a natural organism, the brain to explore self organising ability, a social reality, Self interest conflict and power, etc. The outcome is a recognition of the complexity of an organisation and the benefit of seeing the entity form a range of perspectives.
74. The Scottish Enlightenment - Arthur Herman - Fourth Estate
Herman, an American with no particular connection to Scotland explores the enlightenment years of eighteen century Scotland with such names as David Hume, Adam Smith and James Watt. He traces how we developed a love of learning, and how that learning combined a rigorous understanding of theory and the nuances of the application of that theory. From this foundation, and through the fact that we Scots have travelled the world, we have produced an idea of modernity that has shaped much of civilisation as we know it.
75. The Birth of the Chaordic Age – Dee Hock - Berrett- Koehler
Dee Hock was CEO of Visa and a key driver in its formation. It has 22, 000 member banks and 750 million customers. The book tells the story of how it came about and the radical different thinking that underpinned its creation. The book recognises that we now live in a chaotic uncontrollable environment, and challenges our fundamental beliefs about money, organisations, leadership, management, the human spirit and our relationships to the natural world.
76. The Art of Systems Thinking – J O’Connor & I McDermott – Thorsons
This book explains system thinking in a straightforward way with practical applications, exercises and examples.
77. The Toyota Way – J. Liker – McGraw-Hill
As the name implies the book looks at the guiding principles that define the “Toyota Way.” How they have radically speeded up processes, reduced waste, engaged the employee and improved quality.
73. Collapse – Jared Diamond – Penguin
The book looks at past societies that have collapsed, and infers the lessons we require to learn if our society is to avoid collapse. He vividly portrays how close to collapse is our own society – but ends in a hopeful vein in that we do have the ability to learn – but that learning does require to be in a global context.
74. Organisational Culture and Leadership – Edgar Schein – Jossey-Bass
Organisational pioneer Schein updates his influential understanding of culture – what it is, how it is created, how it evolves and how it can be changed. Schein is the founding editor of “Reflections, the journal of the Society for Organisational Learning (SOL)
75. How to reduce Workplace Conflict and Stress – Anna Maravelas – Career Press
The lessons in this book will remain with you for the rest of your life. It encourages us to blame the system not the individual. Plus the recognition that there is a reaction to our attitude. Their behaviour reflects our behaviour. The breaking of cycles of contempt and encouraging us into cycles of courage – moving us from hostility and high negativity to hearty appreciation and high positive energy.
76. Changing Minds – Howard Gardiner – Havard Business Shool
Gardiner, whose work over the past 30 years has revolutionised our thinking about intelligence shows we change our minds gradually, in identified ways that can be actively and powerfully influenced.