100 Books Like Inclusify

Range resonated deeply with me because it celebrates the power of diverse experiences—something I’ve always valued in my own life and work.

Epstein’s argument that generalists thrive in complex, unpredictable environments felt like a validation of my own neurodiverse strengths. I loved how he used real-world examples to show that breadth often beats depth when solving problems or innovating. This book encouraged me to lean into my varied interests instead of feeling pressured to specialize narrowly.

Marcus is a world-renowned chef and I have the pleasure of working with him at The Medici Group. This is an incredibly honest take of his life and how he got here. He shares his story of what it means to be a Black chef in a non-black chef world. After finding a lack of acceptance in Europe’s kitchens he made his way to New York. There, he built the restaurant and team that reflected his dream of a diverse and multi-ethnic dining room. This is a "boots on the ground" story of the diverse world we live in and the power of embracing that. I also found his thoughts on what it means to be F.O.D. to be powerful (First Only Different).

Amy coined the term psychological safety, and in this book, she tells you how to create that environment in order to build high-performance teams. This book walks you through every step needed and how to respond to the most common speed bumps when building an inclusive culture. She connects a diversity of every dimension to the process, and her work is a must-read.

How well do we know someone? Malcom Gladwell asks readers to explore biases in a way that begins to question the personal interactions we have each day. Using examples based on prejudice, assumption, fear, false trust, and preconceived notion, the book exposes the nature of human connection and an internal battle we face when interacting with or judging others. Our unconscious actions are built from survival instinct and previous experiences that become exposed when we meet someone new or cannot reconcile someone’s actions with whom we thought they were. This inability to understand others impacts how we navigate our lives and decern perceived threats that often result in wrong actions being taken. This book begs us to look deeper into the assumptions we carry within ourselves when Talking to Strangers.

I loved this book because it’s so practical and grounded in reality–so many project management books tell you how to work in an ideal world, but the real world is messy. When people get involved in processes and decision-making, suddenly the textbook formulae for how to get work done no longer apply. 

I liked Brett’s writing style and found the book very relatable. Plus, it’s full-color and really nicely put together–and I love a book that is beautiful to read and pragmatic in its advice!

I loved this book because it was one of the most exciting things I’ve read in the project management space for some time. It’s not enough for me to complete a task or project–it has to be fit for purpose and completed in the right way, with the right input from others. And how to actually do that is what I learned from this book. 

It’s a method for making sure what my team creates during a project is actually used and is useful, which means I can show the value we add and how we are making a difference through projects. I thought the practical exercises and tools were fantastic, and the author leaves nothing unexplained–it’s such a thorough guide to managing change adoption. 

Suzanne and James Robertson have been writing insightful books on software requirements for many years. This book covers all the important topics, including understanding the real problem, different techniques for exploring solutions, and numerous ways to communicate requirements effectively. I especially like their treatment of quality attribute requirements and defining “fit criteria” to judge whether a solution adequately addresses them.

The book includes a comprehensive requirements specification template to guide writing a rigorous and complete specification on projects for which that is valuable. I also appreciate their use of visual models both to communicate with the reader and to guide the reader in communicating requirements to project stakeholders. I do prefer my book Software Requirements, but this is an excellent choice as well by two authorities in the field.

This is the oldest book on my list and is the most underrated. It describes, with serious rigour and detail, how to run more effective software projects and teams.

Most of this advice has been ignored by most of the industry for most of the time but it’s a big part of the reason I’ve worked from home for 14 years and am as productive as I am today.

In my consulting gigs, I come across plenty of clueless remarks. Here's a classic one: “We're falling behind schedule, so let's hire more coders.” Or a more recent gem: “We'll be ten times more productive if we generate code with AI.”

When I encounter such nonsense, I don't facepalm or cringe. Instead, I put on my poker face and drop a quote from The Mythical Man-Month.

In an industry where last year’s book is already outdated, Fred Brooks' collection of essays has been a guiding light for nearly half a century. His aphorisms have become legendary. “The bearing of a child takes nine months, no matter how many women are assigned.” “Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.” “There is no silver bullet.” The list goes on and on.

John Carmack, one of the greatest programmers of our times, used to revisit this book every year or… show more.

Another book that predates GitHub but provides a lot of actionable advice today that’s been mostly ignored across much of our industry.

Hard problems like “why isn’t my software project reliable?” are tackled head-on and addressed here. It was an early nudge for me to automate as much as possible in software projects and not ignore difficult problems with project organisation in favour of “fun” technical tasks.