20 Business and Leadership Books Recommended by Adam Grant
This list includes Upstream: The Quest to Stop Problems Before They Happen, Think Like a Rocket Scientist: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life, What’s Your Problem?: To Solve Your Toughest Problems, Change the Problems You Solve, Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World, All You Have to Do Is Ask: How to Master the Most Important Skill for Success, Powershift: Transform Any Situation, Close Any Deal, and Achieve Any Outcome, Clearer, Closer, Better: How Successful People See the World.
The 4 Day Week: How the flexible work revolution can increase productivity, profitability and wellbeing, and help create a sustainable future, Friendship: The Evolution, Biology, and Extraordinary Power of Life’s Fundamental Bond, Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope, Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider World, Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life, More Myself: A Journey, Perfectly Confident: How to Calibrate Your Decisions Wisely, You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why It Matters, Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving, Life Is in the Transitions: Mastering Change at Any Age and Social Chemistry: Decoding the Patterns of Human Connection.
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New York Times bestselling author Dan Heath examines how to prevent problems before they happen, drawing on insights from his innovative behavior research, as well as hundreds of new interviews with unconventional problem solvers.
Most of us spend our days handling a deluge of pressing issues. We’re so accustomed to managing emergencies as they strike that we often don’t stop to think about how we could prevent crises before they happen.
Upstream explains how to target the source of the problem rather than just reacting to it as it happens and introduces you to the thinkers who are chipping away at everyday frustrations and deep-rooted issues.
Drawing on hundreds of interviews, as well as his own innovative behavior research, New York Times bestselling author Dan Heath delivers practical solutions for preventing problems rather than simply reacting to them—revolutionizing how we approach professional and personal goals in our daily lives.
A former rocket scientist reveals the habits, ideas, and strategies that will empower you to turn the seemingly impossible into the possible.
Rocket science is the apex of a certain thought process – a way to imagine the unimaginable and solve the unsolvable. It’s the same thought process that enabled Neil Armstrong to take his giant leap for mankind, that allows spacecraft to travel millions of miles through outer space and land on a precise spot, and that brings us closer to colonizing other planets.
In this book, Ozan Varol reveals nine simple strategies from rocket science that you can use to make your own giant leaps in work and life — whether it’s landing your dream job, accelerating your business, learning a new skill, or creating the next breakthrough product.
“The author makes a compelling case that we often start solving a problem before thinking deeply about whether we are solving the right problem. If you want the superpower of solving better problems, read this book.” – Eric Schmidt, former CEO, Google
Are you solving the right problems? Have you or your colleagues ever worked hard on something, only to find out you were focusing on the wrong problem entirely? Most people have.
There is a way to do better. The key is reframing, a crucial, underutilized skill that you can master with the help of this book. Using real-world stories and unforgettable examples like “the slow elevator problem,” author Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg offers a simple, three-step method – Frame, Reframe, Move Forward – that anyone can use to start solving the right problems.
Humans are social creatures: in this simple and obvious fact lies both the problem and the solution to the current crisis of loneliness. In his groundbreaking book, Dr. Vivek Murthy makes a case for loneliness as a public health concern: a root cause and contributor to many of the epidemics sweeping the world today from alcohol and drug addiction to violence to depression and anxiety.
But, at the center of our loneliness is our innate desire to connect. We have evolved to participate in community, to forge lasting bonds with others, to help one another, and to share life experiences. We are, simply, better together.
Together offers inspiring and encouraging stories of individuals and communities who are making great strides in helping us to understand that we are not alone. Told with great compassion and hope, Dr. Murthy makes a powerful and convincing argument for why we can and must build a more connected world.
Studies show that asking for help makes us better and less frustrated at our jobs. It helps us find new opportunities and new talent. It unlocks new ideas and solutions, and enhances team performance. And it helps us get the things we need outside the workplace as well. And yet, we rarely give ourselves permission to ask. Luckily, the research shows that asking—and getting—what we need is much easier than we tend to think.
A set of tools for mastering the one skill standing between us and success: the ability to ask for the things we need to succeed. Wayne Baker shares a set of strategies—used at companies like Google, GM, and IDEO—that individuals, teams, and leaders can use to make asking for help a personal and organizational habit.
“Asking for help and support has been a key to my success. Wayne Baker expertly shares how everyone can do it.”—Shellye Archambeau, former CEO, MetricStream, and board director, Verizon and Nordstrom
To take control of your destiny and drive the change you want to see, you need to lay the groundwork so you’re prepared to seize every opportunity that comes your way. The bestselling author and star of ABC’s Shark Tank reveals how to master the three prongs of influence: reputation, negotiation, and relationships.
* Influence—make an impression: Develop a reputation that highlights what you stand for.
* Negotiation—make a deal: Hone a win-win negotiating style.
* Relationships—make a connection last: Nurture those connections you make along the way.
Whether you’re an innovator working to turn your big idea into a reality, a professional looking to land a major promotion, or a busy parent trying to find more time to focus on what’s really important to you, Daymond shows you how to shift your power and energy towards positive change.
Successful people literally see the world differently. Now an award-winning scientist explains how anyone can leverage this “perception gap” to their advantage. Drawing on her own rigorous research and cutting-edge discoveries in vision science, cognitive research, and motivational psychology, Balcetis offers unique accounts of the perceptual habits, routines, and practices that successful people use to set and meet their ambitions.
A mind-blowing and original tour of perception, Clearer, Closer, Better will help you see the possibilities in what you can’t see now. Inspiring, motivating, and always entertaining, it demonstrates that if we take advantage of our visual experiences, they can lead us to live happier, healthier, and more productive lives every day.
In The 4 Day Week, entrepreneur and business innovator Andrew Barnes makes the case for the four-day week as the answer to many of the ills of the 21st-century global economy.
Barnes conducted an experiment in his own business and asked his staff to design a four-day week that would permit them to meet their existing productivity requirements on the same salary but with a 20% cut in work hours. The outcomes of this trial, which no business leader had previously attempted on these terms, were stunning. People were happier and healthier, more engaged in their personal lives, and more focused and productive in the office.
The 4 Day Week is a practical, how-to guide for business leaders and employees alike that is applicable to nearly every industry. Using qualitative and quantitative data from research gathered through trial and other sources, the book presents a step-by-step approach to preparing businesses for productivity-focused flexibility, from the necessary cultural conditions to the often complex legislative considerations.
The phenomenon of friendship is universal and elemental. Friends, after all, are the family we choose. But what makes these bonds not just pleasant but essential, and how do they affect our bodies and our minds?
In Friendship, science journalist Lydia Denworth takes us in search of friendship’s biological, psychological, and evolutionary foundations. With insight and warmth, Denworth weaves past and present, field biology and neuroscience, to show how our bodies and minds are designed for friendship across life stages, the processes by which healthy social bonds are developed and maintained, and how friendship is changing in the age of social media. Blending compelling science, storytelling, and a grand evolutionary perspective, Denworth delineates the essential role that cooperation and companionship play in creating human (and nonhuman) societies.
Friendship illuminates the vital aspects of friendship, both visible and invisible, and offers a refreshingly optimistic vision of human nature. It is a clarion call for putting positive relationships at the center of our lives.
New York Times Best Seller
With stark poignancy and political dispassion, Tightrope draws us deep into an “other America.” The authors tell this story, in part, through the lives of some of the children with whom Kristof grew up, in rural Yamhill, Oregon, an area that prospered for much of the twentieth century but has been devastated in the last few decades as blue-collar jobs disappeared.
“A deft and uniquely credible exploration of rural America, and of other left-behind pockets of our country. One of the most important books I’ve read on the state of our disunion.”—Tara Westover, author of Educated
In the tradition of Susan Cain’s Quiet and Scott Stossel’s My Age of Anxiety, Atlantic staff writer Olga Khazan reclaims the concept of “weird” and turns it into a badge of honor rather than a slur, showing how being different — culturally, socially, physically, or mentally — can actually be a person’s greatest strength.
Weird explores why it is that we crave conformity, how that affects people who are different, and what they can do about it. First, the book dives into the history of social norms and why some people hew to them more strictly than others. Next, Khazan explores the causes behind-and the consequences of-social rejection. She then reveals the hidden upsides to being “weird,” as well as the strategies that people who are different might use in order to achieve success in a society that values normalcy. Finally, the book follows the trajectories of unique individuals who either decided to be among others just like them; to stay weird; or to dwell somewhere in between. Weird reveals how successful individuals learned to embrace their weirdness, using it to their advantage.
The workplace is a magnet for clutter and mess. Who hasn’t felt drained by wasteful meetings, disorganized papers, endless emails, and unnecessary tasks? These are the modern-day hazards of working, and they can slowly drain the joy from work, limit our chances of career progress, and undermine our well-being.
There is another way. In Joy at Work, bestselling author and Netflix star Marie Kondo and Rice University business professor Scott Sonenshein offer stories, studies, and strategies to help you eliminate clutter and make space for work that really matters.
Using the world-renowned KonMari Method and cutting-edge research, Joy at Work will help you overcome the challenges of workplace mess and enjoy the productivity, success, and happiness that come with a tidy desk and mind.
More Myself is part autobiography, part narrative documentary. Alicia’s journey is revealed not only through her own candid recounting, but also through vivid recollections from those who have walked alongside her. The result is a 360-degree perspective on Alicia’s path, from her girlhood in Hell’s Kitchen and Harlem to the process of growth and self-discovery that we all must navigate.
In More Myself, Alicia shares her quest for truth―about herself, her past, and her shift from sacrificing her spirit to celebrating her worth. With the raw honesty that epitomizes Alicia’s artistry, More Myself is at once a riveting account and a clarion call to readers: to define themselves in a world that rarely encourages a true and unique identity.
An expert on the psychology of decision making at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business considers how to calibrate examines the importance of being confident, arguing that confidence is good, but overconfidence can hinder growth.
Decades of research demonstrates that we often have an over-inflated sense of self and are rarely as good as we believe. Perfectly Confident is the first book to bring together the best psychological and economic studies to explain exactly what confidence is, when it can be helpful, and when it can be destructive in our lives.
Moore reminds us that the key to success is to avoid being both over- and under-confident. In this essential guide, he shows how to become perfectly confident―how to strive for and maintain the well-calibrated, adaptive confidence that can elevate all areas of our lives.
The first ever memoir from the greatest female ski racer of all time, revealing never before told stories of her life in the fast lane – and the bold decisions that helped her break down barriers for athletes around the world.
On February 10, 2019, at the age of 34, world champion alpine skier and Olympic gold medallist Lindsey Vonn announced to the world that she would retire. Vonn, who became the first American woman to win a downhill race at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, has led an incredible career on the slopes earning 82 World Cup wins, 20 World Cup titles, 3 Olympic medals, and 7 World Championship medals.
In her new memoir, Vonn will share that her epic journey to success has been anything but downhill. Vonn has been an inspiration to fans and athletes—especially young women—everywhere since her Olympic debut. With her new inspiring book, readers will cheer for their favorite sports hero all over again as she recounts her triumphs, shares what her next chapter will entail, and reminds us to never give up on our dreams.
The chef behind Momofuku and star of Netflix’s Ugly Delicious gets uncomfortably real in his debut memoir.
In this memoir, Chang lays bare his self-doubt and ruminates on mental health. He explains the ideas that guide him and demonstrates how cuisine is a weapon against complacency and racism. Exhibiting the vulnerability of Andre Agassi’s Open and the vivid storytelling of Patti Smith’s Just Kids, this is a portrait of a modern America in which tenacity can overcome anything.
Despite living in a world where technology allows constant digital communication and opportunities to connect, it seems no one is really listening or even knows how. And it’s making us lonelier, more isolated, and less tolerant than ever before. A listener by trade, New York Times contributor Kate Murphy wanted to know how we got here.
Murphy explains why we’re not listening, what it’s doing to us, and how we can reverse the trend. She makes accessible the psychology, neuroscience, and sociology of listening while also introducing us to some of the best listeners out there. Equal parts cultural observation, scientific exploration, and rousing call to action that’s full of practical advice, You’re Not Listening is to listening what Susan Cain’s Quiet was to introversion. It’s time to stop talking and start listening.
“If you’re like most people, you don’t listen as often or as well as you’d like. There’s no one better qualified than a talented journalist to introduce you to the right mindset and skillset―and this book does it with science and humor.” – Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take.
Despite our constant search for new ways to optimize our bodies and minds for peak performance, human beings are working more instead of less, living harder not smarter, and becoming more lonely and anxious. We strive for the absolute best in every aspect of our lives, ignoring what we do well naturally and reaching for a bar that keeps rising higher and higher. Why do we measure our time in terms of efficiency instead of meaning? Why can’t we just take a break?
In Do Nothing, award-winning journalist Celeste Headlee illuminates a new path ahead, seeking to institute a global shift in our thinking so we can stop sabotaging our well-being, put work aside, and start living instead of doing. It’s time to reverse the trend that’s making us all sadder, sicker, and less productive, and return to a way of life that allows us to thrive.
“A clarion call to work smarter [and] accomplish more by doing less.” — Adam Grant
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Secrets of Happy Families and Council of Dads, a pioneering study of the disruptions upending contemporary life and a bold guide for how to navigate life’s growing number of transitions with more meaning, balance, and joy.
LIFE IS IN THE TRANSITIONS introduces the fresh, pressing vision of the nonlinear life, in which personal disruptions and lifequakes are becoming more plentiful, nontraditional life shapes are becoming the norm, and each of us has the opportunity to write our own story. Drawing on an extraordinary trove of insights, Feiler offers a powerful, new transition toolkit with original strategies for coping with the difficult, painful, or unsettling times of life.
From a master storyteller with a timely message, LIFE IS IN THE TRANSITIONS can move readers of any age to think deeply about times of change in their lives and how to transform them into periods of creativity and growth.
Social Chemistry will transform the way you think about “networking.” Understanding the contours of your social network can dramatically enhance personal relationships, work life, and even your global impact.
Yale professor Marissa King shows how anyone can build more meaningful and productive relationships based on insights from neuroscience, psychology, and network analytics. King explains that the quality and structure of our relationships has the greatest impact on our personal and professional lives.
A well-structured network is likely to boost the quality of your ideas, as well as your pay. Beyond the office, social connections are the lifeblood of our health and happiness. The compiled results from dozens of previous studies found that our social relationships have an effect on our likelihood of dying prematurely—equivalent to obesity or smoking
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