100 Books Like An Intellectual History of Psychology

Deming showed me how to think about organizational performance improvement. I was moving from a clinical psychologist in private practice to an organizational psychologist helping companies develop change strategies. I had studied and loved statistical variation in the context of scientific research, but not in the context of addressing real-world challenges. 

But Deming does something very surprising. He starts by understanding variation and then moves on to understanding organizational culture. Not the theoretical frameworks we all know, but the work world from the view of the front-line employee. Deming’s insight is that the central challenge of culture change is understanding the view of people closest to the work, the ones who perform operations.

They are not motivated by slogans and lofty ideas but by producing great products and services. Taking pride in the work they are doing is central to performance; lost by management fads and enhanced by doing it… show more.

I love the development of knowledge, especially practical knowledge that can be applied directly to real-world challenges. It's rare in a lifetime to see something new and valuable, in familiar territory, but providing novel insights that apply directly to known challenges. Kahneman started a cognitive revolution with this book. 

He showed that estimation of probabilities are most often for most people; irrational. This flies in the face of previous economic theory, which holds that the economic actor behaves rationally. In actuality, the human mind does a poor job of estimating probabilities, and this is not limited to uneducated or low-functioning humans; it applies to scientists, professionals, and engineers. The particular ways this shows up are in the day-to-day decisions we all make, and our biases distort accurate estimation of probable outcomes. 

Thanks to Kahneman, the heuristics (cognitive shortcuts humans are likely to take) are in the day-to-day language of organizational… show more.

How do you know if a medication is effective, or if a training method does what you want it to do, or if a change in the employee selection process results in improving the hit rate? This amounts to understanding the relationship between variables. This is the domain of experimental methods, an area that experimental psychology excels in. 

I read this book as an undergraduate. It made me love the precision, the elegance, and the utility of the experimental method. Oh, if the journalists who write about polls, likely outcomes from legislation, public health problems, oh, if they had just read this book! The amount of confusion and misinformation still flying around about COVID, the effect of policy changes on economic variables, the increases or decreases in crime, suicide, and homicide rates, none of this can be understood properly without knowledge of experimental methods. 

And this is a book written… show more.

Humor is often overlooked in organizational life, but it shouldn’t be, especially when the leader can laugh at themselves. Often, a genuine insight is facilitated by the realization of a failing or missed opportunity that is actually funny, if you can see it from the right perspective. It might be ‘OMG I just did it again’, or ‘did I really say that’, or ‘I didn’t see the funny part until later’. 

This little book is a classic in philosophy. It gives deep psychological insight into the nature of humor, what it is, and what purpose it serves. I love it for several reasons: it sheds light on a part of the human experience that is crucially important, but most often overlooked; it offers a different way of looking at leadership shortcomings, and it gives insight that applies to organizational life as well as human relationships in general. 

Appropriate humor in… show more.

I found Young’s book to be tremendously helpful as I searched for films to use in my abnormal psychology courses. There are numerous recommendations for psychologically relevant films that my students found fascinating.

The book is relatively short, but it is scholarly and a quick read. Young is a clinical psychologist, and he draws on his professional background in recommending relevant films. I came away from this book with dozens of new ideas for films to use in the classroom.

I read this in the early days following Sarah’s medical diagnosis when she was one year old. It felt like finding water in a desert. It was the first time I came across any acknowledgment that parents of kids with special needs go through the grieving process.

I liked the explanation of why I was probably having a hard time: not only was I grieving, but I was, of course, also still navigating how to care for my child, who needed even more care than the typical child. Suddenly, I didn’t feel like a terrible person for having the feelings I was having.

When I let myself grieve without judgment, then, I moved through those difficult feelings more easily and could find some breathing room, which helped me be more available to take care of my daughter.

Dr. Henry Cloud, a clinical psychologist and Christian, has identified 4 areas of our lives that can really stunt us emotionally if they are out of balance. These 4 areas are bonding; boundaries; perception of good and bad; and emotional maturity. The book brings insight into these areas, which in turn brings healing. I’ve read this book twice about a decade apart, and both times, it changed my life massively for the better.

I loved this book. It was a thought-provoking guide to navigating life's challenges and complexities. I especially loved the way Jordan Peterson drew on psychology, philosophy, and personal anecdotes to impart practical principles for finding meaning and purpose.

Each rule serves as a roadmap for self-improvement, urging you to confront challenges, take responsibility, and strive for a meaningful existence. Jordan Peterson's insights are both profound and accessible, providing me with a framework for personal growth in a world often marked by chaos.

Whether exploring the nature of truth or the importance of standing tall, this book is a compelling and enriching read.

I read this book while I was writing my book.

Unlike Jennifer, I’m not a psychologist. I draw from my own dating experiences and use that as data, but Jennifer uses real clinical research and science, which I loved.

There are so many dating how-to books, but this one is different because the author teaches singles how to be single.

As a dating coach, I was inspired by her philosophy and views on singlehood. I practice them with my clients, and I used them as a central theme in my book: The happier you are being single, the sooner you won’t be single.

I recommend this book because it taught me that every hard conversation has three layers: what happened, what’s felt, and what that means to each person.

Before reading it, I often got stuck on the “facts” and missed the emotional undercurrent, especially for my communication partner.

Now, I approach challenging discussions with a mental checklist from Difficult Conversations that helps me listen for what’s beneath the words. It has saved me from countless misunderstandings and made me a much better listener and collaborator.