Books like Culture Fix — picked by fans

This book took me by surprise; it is an eye-opening epic read highlighting the importance of energy, not just time, as an area that is most important to focus on and master.

As a previous sufferer of burnout, it taught me that, unlike time, energy is finite and pivotal for peak performance. This book took me on a journey and framework where I could practically think about my life in terms of energy (rather than just time) and maximise this in the areas of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health; just superb.

I also loved the concept, which we are never taught, that recovery is just as important as performance and to think more like an athlete in my everyday life. Energy is everything to me, so I found this book truly transformative!

The rule I actually applied was the one about competing with who you were rather than the people around you.

I had been watching colleagues as comparison rather than research, and it dragged me down without helping any of the businesses. Reading it felt like having a teacher in semi-real time: each rule mapped onto something I was dealing with that week. 

It falls apart in small edge cases, and people love to use edge cases to dismiss a whole book. The one I disagree with most is finding and living your personal truth, because those truths shift as your life does. I doubt there is a single one you hold forever.

I loved this book for many reasons. First, like the plot of a work of fiction, it follows the trail of a successful entrepreneur and a successful artist as they fall in love. I have read an extensive number of self-help books in my day, and this one was by far one of the most enjoyable, easy, and fun to read. It also addresses some of the common pitfalls folks fall into when trying to practice self-help.

Although I only did the actual 5am protocol for a year myself, it changed how I viewed my day, my mental resources, and how I was investing (or wasting) those same resources. I loved this book because even though I don’t practice the 5am protocol anymore, the year I did changed my life forever.

This book helped me understand the deep connection between our past experiences and our present behavior. I love how Dr. Nicole LePera emphasizes the importance of regulating the nervous system so we can respond in accordance with our best selves rather than react in accordance with our inner child.

I enjoyed learning how our childhood experiences shape what we're drawn to unless we actively interrupt these patterns. The tools she provides for breaking free from these ingrained behaviors gave me the clarity and empowerment to heal in ways I hadn't considered before. I can honestly say the way I experience life now is much more grounded. 

Sara Ahmed publicly resigned from her professorship at Goldsmiths in 2016 as a direct protest against the institution's failure to address sexual harassment.

This book was an outgrowth of all the letters she received from other victims, sharing how their universities also failed them during their complaints. Ahmed exposes the commonalities among the letters, unveiling how universities weaponize "shadow policies" to bury complaints and complainants' careers.

This book became my bible when I filed my first formal complaint and began experiencing the same systemic cover-up and retaliation she documents. Seeing every university trick in her book play out in real time in my case, at the very least, empowered me with a sense of solidarity.

I was drawn to this book because it strips away many of the rituals leaders mistake for rigor.

As I read it, I kept thinking about how often organizations slow themselves down by overvaluing certainty, seniority, or process when what they actually need is better learning. This book stayed with me because it shows that leadership today is less about directing people and more about shaping how teams think, experiment, and collaborate.

I often revisit it when leaders want to move faster without sacrificing quality, because it makes clear that the real constraint is rarely technology; it’s how decisions are made.

Everyone loves Netflix. But I love their story more. If the conditions are right, your business could look very different. The Netflix way showed me the importance of the statement ‘hire good people and get out of their way'. Whilst that comment is simple, building a company that allows that is more complicated.

This book challenged the way I viewed organizational structure and innate bureaucracies. Reed describes some simple philosophies that provide a contrast to the status quo. I love the challenge of this book to traditional success.

I hope to gain one or two new ideas from a book in my industry—but throughout Everyone Wants to Work Here, I kept thinking, "This is the book I wish I had written!" 

Maura Thomas captures leadership challenges in the post-pandemic era of hybrid and remote work with such accuracy that it both affirmed and validated the strategies I train my clients on. 

I don’t often read many others in my space to avoid unintentionally copying them, but this book mirrored so many of my own philosophies and analogies that I laughed out loud at the similarities.

It’s an easy, insightful read for any manager, leader, or team. It’s a masterclass in building teams where focus, trust, and well-being thrive—exactly what modern workplaces need.

This is the book that changed my world. I’d never felt like I really fit in at work or, frankly, in many of the communities that I lived in. As much as I contorted myself or took people’s feedback, something always felt off. I worked hard. I learned to talk like the successful leaders around me. I played by the rules. But I was still always second string. I thought I was the problem.

From the first time I came across this title to reading it through with tears in my eyes—it finally clicked. All along, it wasn’t because I wasn’t smart, kind, hard-working, thoughtful, or likable enough. It was that the workplaces I was in all centered on Whiteness, to the detriment of everyone who wasn’t White. 

This book is fascinating because it shows how underlying informal political structures remained the same even after empires and political regimes collapsed.

Ledeneva explores the nature of the informal patronal networks connecting Russian elites and how that explains the persistent non-democratic dynamic over time and under various contexts. This book sheds light on the informal nature of Russian politics.