Book cover of Up the Organization: How to Stop the Corporation from Stifling People and Strangling Profits

Book description

Although it was first published more than thirty-five years ago, Up the Organization continues to top the lists of best business books by groups as diverse as the American Management Association, Strategy + Business (Booz Allen Hamilton), and The Wharton Center for Leadership and Change Management. 1-800-CEO-READ ranks Townsend's bestseller…

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 Up the Organization as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

He was the CEO who famously coined the slogan “We Try Harder” in the ‘60s, signaling Avis's transition from obscurity to Hertz’s top rental car competitor.

The book is irreverent, witty, wise, and brutally honest about the perils of executive egotism and corporate board indolence. Published in the late ‘60s, the book has withstood the test of time.

I was working as a consultant for McKinsey and Company when I read it. What I learned was that we were giving our business clients all the wrong advice. I submitted my resignation and changed careers.

From James' list on no BS leadership.

This is the most impertinent yet constructive book on leadership I’ve ever read (and I've read many with one of these qualities, but none with both).

It’s written by the former CEO of AVIS, who led a radical transformation of its organizational culture, resulting in unmatched performance. First published in 1970, it quickly became the NY Times N°1 bestseller. Its commemorative 2007 edition is adorned with even more gems, including a nine-page segment that earns you a PhD in Leadership.

It starts with, “To hell with centralized strategic planning. If you don’t have a good leader, it’s all nothing; just…

If you love Up the Organization...

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 Up the Organization?

Our community of 13,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Up the Organization.

Browse books like Up the Organization

Book cover of The Prince
Book cover of Leadership Is an Art
Book cover of Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World's Most Unusual Workplace

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 Up the Organization, 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!