37 Books Like Teeming

Meadows, a pioneer in this arena, had an extraordinary gift for making complex systems thinking accessible without dumbing it down.

She left us all too soon. I do return to this book, especially her concept of "leverage points": places within systems where small shifts create disproportionate change. Her insight that changing paradigms proves more powerful than adjusting surface parameters directly informed my research on organizational edges.

What I treasure most is how she wrote with both rigour and humility. She acknowledged that systems are messy, that we can't predict everything, that unintended consequences are inevitable; yet she shows us how to work with complexity rather than against it.

When I'm helping organizations navigate transformation, her frameworks help me identify where to intervene for maximum impact. The chapter on system traps and opportunities has probably saved me from dozens of well-intentioned but ultimately counterproductive interventions.

This is the book I gift… show more.

Raworth articulates something I'd felt but couldn't express: that our current economic models are fundamentally flawed, simultaneously transgressing planetary boundaries whilst leaving billions below social foundations.

Her doughnut framework—depicting the safe and just space between social foundations and ecological ceilings—clarifies the "why of work.”

I love how she challenges conventional economic thinking with such clarity and wit. When she explains why GDP growth can't be our goal, or why economies are embedded within society and nature (not the other way around), it feels both radical and obvious.

As a member organization of the Doughnut Economics Action Lab, I've seen how this framework helps businesses understand their purpose beyond profit.

This book provides the destination; my work explores the organizational navigation, the concrete patterns and structures that enable businesses to actually operate in that safe and just space.

As a circular economy professional from Cambridge university, I pursue to cross that bridge between life sciences and organizational theory.

Capra and Luisi provide exactly that. Their synthesis of systems thinking, complexity theory, and living systems research gives us the conceptual foundation for understanding why organizations function best when mimicking natural characteristics.

I was especially moved by their argument that the mechanistic worldview dominating business for centuries is not just outdated but actively harmful. They show how living systems operate through networks of relationships rather than hierarchies, through emergence rather than control, through continuous adaptation rather than static structures.

Every time I work with an organization struggling with rigid hierarchies or siloed thinking, I draw on frameworks from this book. Their chapter on cognition and consciousness in living systems shifted how I think about organizational learning.

This is dense material, but they write with such clarity that complex concepts become… show more.

I discovered this book at a moment when I was questioning whether traditional business frameworks could truly address the recurring challenges we face. Benyus completely shifted many perspectives: instead of asking "what can we extract from nature?" she tells us to ask "what can we learn from how nature solves problems?"

What struck me most was her insight that nature has been conducting research and development for 3.8 billion years, testing strategies across countless contexts. I found myself constantly pausing to marvel at examples like prairie grasses that build soil whilst thriving, or ecosystems that generate zero waste.

This book became the foundation for my own research into organizational design, showing me that nature isn't just a source of technological inspiration but a masterclass in how to organize, collaborate, and create regenerative systems.

It fundamentally changed how I approach my work with businesses attempting circular economy transformation.

Featuring ten inventions inspired by nature, this book explores how scientists, architects, and engineers can find innovative solutions right there, in the world around them. For example, the shape of the kingfisher’s beak helped to design a quieter, speed-busting Japanese train, and the tiny Namibian beetle, a way to collect drinking water in the desert. At a time when people are increasingly disconnected from nature and our planet is endangered, these true stories are a fantastic and humbling reminder of how clever nature really is and what we can gain if we stop to look, listen and innovate. 

We, who live in one clearly delineated body, think we know what an organism is. Social insects challenge this, making us wonder whether the organism is the ant or the anthill. This book, about how individuals add together to make a new being at a larger scale, is fascinating for biology but also nudges us, as readers, to ask questions about what lives are being led within us, by all the cells that make us, and also whether we are ourselves part of a being so much larger than ourselves we cannot see it for what it is any more than one ant can see the colony for what it is. Reading this made me much more open to the idea of multiple, nested levels of being.

Hey, this book isn’t about ants! And what are those insect-looking objects on the cover?

Yes, this book isn’t about ants. We're Not from Here is a middle-grade book about a planet of aliens, the Zhuris, that look like giant mosquitos. After Earth is destroyed, the Zhuris are not sure if they want to let a group of humans join them on their planet. 

What I learned from my own firsthand ant research is that ants work together for the good of the colony. This book will have you thinking about how humans work together, and if they do as good a job of it as ants and Zhuris!!

Just like ants, books come in all sizes! I recommend this slim 32-page book if you want some fun facts and great close-up photos of ants. When writing my own book, I used this book as a resource and for inspiration. There’s even a very interesting section about ant queens and their eggs!!

Remember when I said ant books come in all sizes? Well, The Ants is a big book, as in large and heavy. It’s also a definitive text that won the Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction in 1991. I used it for research for my book and it was also the inspiration for the ant book that Harvard and Nevaeh use to study ants in my novel. Edward Wilson was an American biologist, and his specialty was the study of ants. He was nicknamed the “ant man”.

I do NOT want to be a bug in this world, but I’m glad cartoon ant Rubi is here to walk us through it. The author is a real-life biologist, and it shows—this comic takes readers through the realistic world of ants, the things that ants eat, and the creatures that eat ants. There’s poop, bug dismemberment, and an unsettling amount of talk about parasites—but it’s all conveyed through the charming antics of a cute little cartoon storyteller.

This book gives me strong Calvin and Hobbes vibes, and I don’t make that comparison lightly. The humor and heart of the storytelling, paired with scientific detail, make it a rare find. Despite the slightly grotesque content, the playful tone and cartoonish style keep it light and engaging.

I think this book could turn even the most bug-averse kid into an entomologist-in-training! Early readers might need some assistance to get through it,… show more.