Here are 100 books that Creative Confidence fans have personally recommended if you like
Creative Confidence.
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Iāve spent a lot of my career teaching people to navigate the complex, often messy intersection of ethics, communication, and human behavior. As a behavior analyst, teacher, supervisor, and coauthor of Daily Ethics: Creating Intentional Practice for Behavior Analysts, Iāve seen firsthand how the ability to have honest, compassionate, and courageous conversations can make or break relationships, teams, and outcomes. I chose these five books because theyāve shaped how I show up in my work and lifeāand because I have seen their contents help others become more intentional, committed, and successful communicators.
I recommend this book because it taught me that every hard conversation has three layers: what happened, whatās felt, and what that means to each person.
Before reading it, I often got stuck on the āfactsā 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 whatās beneath the words. It has saved me from countless misunderstandings and made me a much better listener and collaborator.
The 10th-anniversary edition of the New York Times business bestseller-now updated with "Answers to Ten Questions People Ask"
We attempt or avoid difficult conversations every day-whether dealing with an underperforming employee, disagreeing with a spouse, or negotiating with a client. From the Harvard Negotiation Project, the organization that brought you Getting to Yes, Difficult Conversations provides a step-by-step approach to having those tough conversations with less stress and more success. you'll learn how to:
Ā· Decipher the underlying structure of every difficult conversationĀ Ā· Start a conversation without defensivenessĀ Ā· Listen for the meaning of what is not saidĀ Ā·ā¦
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa storiesāall reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argueā¦
I am the founder and principal of Work & Think, LLC., and help clients make complex decisions that include a realistic understanding of uncertainty. My Spangler Ethical Reasoning AssessmentĀ® (SERAĀ®) is used across industries and around the world, enabling individuals to combine critical thinking and values to make complex decisions. I am a frequent keynote speaker, a corporate consultant, a researcher, and an author. My new book is Reasoning for Business. Learn more at my website.
I find this book answers questions many people ask: Why arenāt we always logical? What gets in the way of our making effective decisions?
I first read this book when I started my consulting practice and realized I needed to combine psychology with philosophy in teaching critical thinking in professional settings. People want to understand why we can be unreasonable in the first place.Ā Kahnemanās book helped me improve my own thinking, making me aware of the ways my previous experiences quickly provide interpretations of new experiences.
I find the ability to āhit the pause buttonā regarding my response to a specific situation and to ask myself, āIs my immediate, intuitive response useful or misleading me?ā is one of my most important insights from this book.
The phenomenal international bestseller - 2 million copies sold - that will change the way you make decisions
'A lifetime's worth of wisdom' Steven D. Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics 'There have been many good books on human rationality and irrationality, but only one masterpiece. That masterpiece is Thinking, Fast and Slow' Financial Times
Why is there more chance we'll believe something if it's in a bold type face? Why are judges more likely to deny parole before lunch? Why do we assume a good-looking person will be more competent? The answer lies in the two ways we make choices: fast,ā¦
I am, first and foremost, someone who cares deeply about the world, people, and learning. I have been passionate about ideas, curiosity, and innovation since I was a child and since starting our company and writing four books, have had the privilege of helping over 400 organizations and 700,000 people to unlock their genius by not being experts but by being curious about the world around them and other people. I am also a teacher, speaker, and community volunteer who is keen to help people find their own unique brilliance.
I love this book because it is all about how we show up each day and how we engage the world.
I am particularly keen on the idea that we can choose to be open to learning new things, meeting new people, and making a differenceā¦in other words, we can choose to āgrowā ā¦or we can choose to stand still.
And I hope that I will never stop wanting to know more, read more, learn, and try to make a difference.
From the renowned psychologist who introduced the world to āgrowth mindsetā comes this updated edition of the million-copy bestsellerāfeaturing transformative insights into redefining success, building lifelong resilience, and supercharging self-improvement.
āThrough clever research studies and engaging writing, Dweck illuminates how our beliefs about our capabilities exert tremendous influence on how we learn and which paths we take in life.āāBill Gates, GatesNotes
āItās not always the people who start out the smartest who end up the smartest.ā
After decades of research, world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., discovered a simple but groundbreaking idea: the power of mindset. In thisā¦
Katie's Gamble is an unexpected, unique story about a young woman who's trying to support her younger siblings by keeping her family's confectionery shop open.
In order to do that, she has to take on her older brother, who's a notorious gambler in Louisiana. Additionally, she has to outsmart Rowdyā¦
I love humans. My clients and colleagues tell me that my profound love for humans is my superpowerāthat I make people feel safe and seen. I also understand that loving humans isnāt effortless. I wasnāt always in the loving-humans camp. While I was doing a doctorate at Harvard, I studied with the marvelous Robert Kegan, whose theory and methodology helped me see the fullness of the diverse people I got to interview. Ever since, I have been totally enthralled by what makes us uniqueāand also connected. If you are a human or have to deal with humans, your life will be much improved if you love them more!
This is the most informative look at behavioral economics that also made me laugh out loudāoften embarrassing myself on airplanes because I was reading a non-fiction book that made me actually snort with laughter.
Ariely is a profoundly accomplished researcher himself, and heās interested in all the quirks of humanityānot to explain them away or make us look more rational than we areābut to really expose us to ourselves. I saw myself more clearly and also with more compassion by the time I finished this book and I loved my fellow humans more.
Why do smart people make irrational decisions every day? The answers will surprise you. Predictably Irrational is an intriguing, witty and utterly original look at why we all make illogical decisions.
Why can a 50p aspirin do what a 5p aspirin can't? If an item is "free" it must be a bargain, right? Why is everything relative, even when it shouldn't be? How do our expectations influence our actual opinions and decisions?
In this astounding book, behavioural economist Dan Ariely cuts to the heart of our strange behaviour, demonstrating how irrationality often supplants rational thought and that theā¦
Iāve spent my career building products, scaling companies, and leading teams through the highs and lows of entrepreneurship. I know firsthand how challenging it is to take an idea and turn it into something realāwhether thatās a product, a company, or a movement. The books on this list have shaped my approach to leadership, innovation, and resilience. Theyāve helped me navigate tough decisions, build stronger teams, and think bigger. Iām passionate about sharing these insights because I believe great builders arenāt just bornātheyāre made. If youāre looking to create something meaningful, these books will push you, challenge you, and inspire you to build something great.
This book shifted my mindset completely. Before this book, I thought building products meant months of planning and getting everything perfect before launch. Eric Ries shattered that beliefāhe made me realize learning fast is more important than being perfect. The MVP approach changed how I launch products and businesses. Iāve seen companies burn millions trying to perfect something before launch, only to realize customers donāt want it.
This book is the antidote to that mistake. I still revisit it when I need a reminder that speed and learning always beat perfection.
'The Lean Startup changes everything.' - Harvard Business Review
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Most new businesses fail. But most of those failures are preventable.
The Lean Startup is a new approach to business that's being adopted around the world. It is changing the way companies are built and new products are launched.
Essential reading for any ambitious entrepreneur, The Lean Startup will teach you to identify what your customers really want. You'll learn how to test your vision continuously, adapting and adjusting before it's too late.
With over a million copies sold across the globe, now is your timeā¦
I am a writer, teacher, and partner at IDEO, the global design and innovation firm. Before IDEO, I spent more than a decade teaching university undergrads and MBAs to create better choices, in their work and their lives. Now, I work with business leaders to help them do the same thing, at the intersection of design and strategy. I believe that one key to getting to those better choices is the ability to understand, reflect on and, yes, even improve our own way of thinking and engaging with the world. The books on this list have shifted my own understanding of the world and how I think. I hope they inspire and challenge you as well.Ā
My own early experiences with strategy were pretty uninspiring ā slow, incremental, and almost entirely analytical. But the framework that Roger and AG lay out in Playing to Win changed it all for me. Itās practical. Itās understandable. And it is aimed at not just understanding the world as it is, but at imaging a world that might be differentā¦ and forging a real strategy to bring that new world to life. The book is based on the approach to strategy Roger honed in his career as a management disclosure and that AG practiced as CEO at Procter & Gamble. Full disclosure, I helped them as they were writing the book ā and honestly think it is the best book on strategy of the past 30 years.
Are you just playing--or playing to win? Strategy is not complex. But it is hard. It's hard because it forces people and organizations to make specific choices about their future--something that doesn't happen in most companies. Now two of today's best-known business thinkers get to the heart of strategy--explaining what it's for, how to think about it, why you need it, and how to get it done. And they use one of the most successful corporate turnarounds of the past century, which they achieved together, to prove their point. A.G. Lafley, former CEO of Procter & Gamble, in close partnershipā¦
I've been driving innovation in various capacities with worldās leading companies and start-ups for the last 23 years in Silicon Valley. I've been granted six US patents, won two prestigious design awards including the Red Dot award, and published a book on transforming an idea into a business using Design Thinking. What I've learnt is that at the core of any successful business lies the value to the end user who uses the solutions. As I got exposed to Design Thinking earlier on in my career, I realized its immense power in delivering human-centered innovations. I regularly speak at several industry & entrepreneurial events and various business schools around the world.
This is a book that describes why design thinking can be a powerful tool for innovation and problem-solving.
Brown argues that traditional approaches to problem-solving often rely on linear and analytical thinking, which can be limiting when it comes to addressing complex and multifaceted challenges.
Brown presents a framework for design thinking that emphasizes empathy, experimentation, and collaboration.
I found numerous examples of individuals and organizations in the book that have successfully used design thinking to create innovative solutions to a wide range of problems, from improving healthcare to redesigning public spaces.
I found practical strategies of applying design thinking in life and work.
The subject of "design thinking" is the rage at business schools, throughout corporations, and increasingly in the popular press-due in large part to the work of IDEO, a leading design firm, and its celebrated CEO, Tim Brown, who uses this book to show how the techniques and strategies of design belong at every level of business.
The myth of innovation is that brilliant ideas leap fully formed from the minds of geniuses. The reality is that most innovations come from a process of rigorous examination through which great ideas are identified and developed before being realized as new offerings andā¦
I have told stories since the age of five when I shared one about my different colored eyes. Tired of being pointed at and ridiculed for the thing I loved most about myself, I learned that stories can shift energy and create connection, even in the most artificial of settings. Iāve spent my career working in and with the Fortune 500 building leaders, teams, and culture, one story at a time. Iāve used storytelling to persuade people when one had the authority to say yes but 99 others could say no. Stories not only slowed their āNo,ā but they also helped me recruit them to persuade the decision makers.
Brian Grazer is the silent figure behind so many popular, award-winning movies. Heās worked on films like Splash, A Beautiful Mind, and Apollo 13 and his films have been nominated for more than 47 Academy Awards.
In this book, he lets you peek behind the curtain at his creative process. Which is essentially that he embraces curiosity in all aspects of his life. When someone intrigues him, he spends time asking them questions to learn more. While the book is focused on his approach, itās easy to take inspiration from his mindset and seek your own curiosity daily.Ā
For decades, film and TV producer Brian Grazer has scheduled a weekly "curiosity conversation" with an accomplished stranger. From scientists to spies, and adventurers to business leaders, Grazer has met with anyonewilling to answer his questions for a few hours. These informal discussions sparked the creative inspiration behind many of Grazer's movies and TV shows, including Splash, 24, A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, Arrested Development, 8 Mile, J. Edgar, and many others.
A Curious Mindis a brilliantly entertaining, fascinating, and inspiring homage to the power of inquisitiveness and the ways in which it deepens and improves us. Whether you're lookingā¦
My own rise through the workplace didnāt come without roadblocks. I was a divorced single mom with 3 children and no education. Yet I found myself taking a career journey where I made a lot of the same mistakes so many individuals make. I realized after about 20 years leading human resources for fast-growth companies, that I had a unique view to help others shortcut their own mistakes. I finally left my corporate desk to work the other side of the deskāhelping the individual. The Job Doctor was born in late 2020, and one million followers later, I feel like Iāve found my own career calling in helping individuals navigate their own career journeys.Ā
I love this book because not only does it give great advice, but it shares numerous practical tools and reframes on how to build a work life that is meaningful and joyful for you!
In addition, the book has stayed very currentāincludes how to handle life disruptions (such as the pandemic) and how to thrive despite the circumstances. As a career navigation coach myself, Iāve recommended this book hundreds of times to my clients.
Itās practical. Itās easy to read. And I find the exercises extraordinarily useful in setting boundaries at work that help one thrive.
From the authors of the #1 New York Times bestseller Designing Your Life comes a revised, fully up-to-date edition of Designing Your New Work Life,a timely, urgently needed book that shows us how to transform our new uncharted work life into a meaningful dream job or company. With practical, useful tools, tips, and design ideas that show us how to navigate disruption (global, regional, or personal) and create new possibilities for our post-COVID work world and beyond.
Bill Burnett and Dave Evans successfully taught graduate and undergraduate students at Stanford University and readers of their best-selling book, Designing Your Lifeā¦
A poisonous maiden, a Daoist sex cult, and a violent insurgency.
The polyandrous Yan family in China's rural Shaanxi Province takes in two carpenter brothers. When one brother is convicted of murder after killing their neighbor in a dispute, a constable threatens to expose the family's rumored polyandry and extortsā¦
Currently a Professor of Leadership and Strategy at Hult, Iāve been on the faculties of other top business schools, and an executive officer of a NASDAQ company. Iāve led ānew to the worldā technology projects and advised CXOs of global companies. These experiences convinced me that poor leadership is the biggest reason organizational initiatives fail. Two decades ago, I switched from being a technology scholar; I began researching leadership and writing for practitioners, not academics. My first book was on a 2009 ābest business booksā list. This one is in Sloan Management Reviewās Management on the Cutting Edge seriesābooks that its editors believe will influence executive behavior.
I often pose a simple thought experiment: āHow many renowned 20th century CEOs created something new to the world? Now, how may renowned 21st century CEOs havenāt done so?ā
The answer, in both cases, is near zero. Our organizations are moving from being productivity-focused (doing more with less) to creativity-focused (giving form to something that doesnāt exist). Most managers and aspiring leaders are clueless about this profound change even though they will probably fail if they donāt make this shift.
Roberto argues that six flawed beliefsāsuch as in benchmarking and in focused executionāpreclude creativity and provides tools to help reinvent moribund organizations.
Tear down the obstacles to creative innovation in your organization
Unlocking Creativity is an exploration of the creative process and how organizations can clear the way for innovation. In many organizations, creative individuals face stubborn resistance to new ideas. Managers and executives oftentimes reject innovation and unconventional approaches due to misplaced allegiance to the status quo. Questioning established practices or challenging prevailing sentiments is frequently met with stiff resistance. In this climate of stifled creativity and inflexible adherence to conventional wisdom, potentially game-changing ideas are dismissed outright. Senior leaders claim to value creativity, yet often lack the knowledge toā¦
