Book cover of Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader's Guide to the Real World

Book description

Forget what you know about the world of work

You crave feedback. Your organization's culture is the key to its success. Strategic planning is essential. Your competencies should be measured and your weaknesses shored up. Leadership is a thing.

These may sound like basic truths of our work lives today.…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

2 authors picked Nine Lies About Work as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Sometimes your boss gets it right, and sometimes they don’t! The “lies,” or misconceptions, are what we’re told, and this book does an outstanding job deconstructing those lies.

I loved the authors’ ability to illustrate how monolithic organizations keep us stagnant and how critical it is for us to lean into our own strengths, not the company’s culture or values. The perfect book to read during performance review season! 

This book is an entertaining read, but it is also to the point and spot on. It debunks nine so-called ‘truths’ about work, management, and organizations that are well-established practices and ways of thinking in the organizational sphere.

According to the authors these ‘lies’ are root causes of much of the dysfunction and frustration in organizations today (which I have seen a lot of in my work and research) and they suggest how we should think about these things instead in order for our organizations – and the people in them – to thrive.

From Ingrid's list on to change working life as we know it.

If you love Nine Lies About Work...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Want books like Nine Lies About Work?

Our community of 13,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Nine Lies About Work.

Browse books like Nine Lies About Work

Book cover of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
Book cover of Regenerative Leadership: The DNA of life-affirming 21st century organizations
Book cover of Awakening Compassion at Work: The Quiet Power that Elevates People and Organizations

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,395

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Nine Lies About Work, you might also like...

Book cover of Need to Know: World War II and the Rise of American Intelligence

Need to Know by Nicholas Reynolds,

The authoritative but accessible history of the birth of modern American intelligence in World War II that treats not just one but all of the various disciplines: spies, codebreakers, saboteurs.

Told in a relatable style that focuses on actual people, it was a New Yorker "Best of 2022" selection and…

Book cover of Tsunami

Tsunami by LeeAnn Pickrell,

On the morning of December 26, 2004, an undersea earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. The resulting tsunami killed an estimated 230,000 people across fourteen countries, from Indonesia to Sri Lanka to Thailand to the Maldives to India and all the way to East Africa.…

5 book lists we think you will like!