📚 This is a list of the books that have made a dent on me, especially focused on non fiction. It represents the areas where I have an interest or a passion, either professionally, as a hobby, or intellectually. I have always wanted to have a "Recommendation list", and it's one of the common questions when discussing a topic that I found myself attracted to - as I will name drop or quote the book.
I have included only books that I have read - so I can have a chat about them, and the "whistlist" at the bottom.
If you see any book that could fit in the list and is missing - let me know! I'm very open to suggestions 👂
🔗 Engineering Management
High Output Management
, by Andrew S. Grove
Insights for former Intel CEO, with observations on how to make an organization effective at scale. Great insights on the important of culture, leadership and decision-making, and how to manage people and teams to maximize productivity (for the overall organization).
Resilient Management
, by Lara Hogan
It has a very good toolset for first time EM’s, or for anyone that wants to review some proven ways of working. It is structured in 5 chapters (“Meet your team”, “Grow your teammates”, “Set clear expectations”, “Communicate Effectively” and “Build resiliency”), and it’s full of good tips, with a human-centric approach. Very useful for these turbulent times!
The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change
, by Camille Fournier
Camille’s path will be very helpful for many getting into the technical management track. She went from Tech Lead to CTO - and describes the challenges as she switched roles. It served me to realize that once you’re managing people - that has to be the main priority, and the IC track (ie: fixing problems, developing) comes to a second place, or you end being a very weak and non present manager. I also liked that she covers multiple company sizes and stages, so it’s a quite representative journey.
🔗 Organization design
Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations
, by Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble and Gene Kim
The book draws data from the largest study of high-performing software organizations to identify key practices that contribute to software delivery performance. Its aim is to help organizations improve the speed and quality of their software development. The practices recommended include investing in infrastructure and automation, empowering teams, and using data to drive decisions. The book provides practical guidance on how organizations can adopt these practices in order to accelerate their software development and delivery.
Brave New Work
, by Aaron Dignan
An exploration of alternative ways of organizing companies - focusing on how to create more adaptive and human organizations in the face of complexity and uncertainty. Dignan argues that the traditional way of working based on hierarchy, bureaucracy and control is outdated and ineffective. Instead, it proposes a new operating system (OS) for work that is based on principles such as autonomy, experimentation, transparency and purpose. It has good practical tools and examples to help with transformation - and specific industry examples (like Gore)
Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building
, by Claire Hughes Johnson
Claire was a leader in early stages of Google, and now is the COO at Stripe, since quite early also. It is a fantastic guide, very practical and full of detailed examples on how to build a massive impact company - and how to scale it. It takes a lot of attention to the people management side and covers a wide variety of topics, from crafting foundational documents to strategic and financial planning, hiring and team development, feedback and performance mechanisms. The book includes dozens of pages of worksheets, templates, exercises, and example documents to help founders, leaders, and company builders create scalable operating systems and lightweight processes that really work.
Team Topologies: Organizing business and technology teams for fast flow
, by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais
The book is fantastic at exploring various organizational structures that can be used to build and lead effective software teams. The authors identify four main team topologies – hub-and-spoke, matrix, marketplace, and federated – and provide guidance on how to choose the right one for a given context. They also discuss the challenges and benefits of each topology and provide practical strategies for implementing and managing them. The book is aimed at software development managers and leaders looking to build and lead high-performing teams; and has very useful diagrams to map your team topologies. I like it because it gives very useful vocabulary and visualization to how to setup a company organization - so it facilitates the dialog with other groups.
🔗 Software engineering and development
Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship
, by Robert C. Martin
Classic on software development - it changed the way I understood code, and convinced me to always aim for readability and human-optimized code. Its focus on readability and naming really influenced my view on software, and helped me understand better testing.
Thinking in Systems: A Primer
, by Donella Meadows
Very good introduction to systems thinking, which is a way of understanding how the interconnected parts of a system function together. It covers topics such as feedback loops, stocks and flows, and system dynamics, and provides practical examples of how systems thinking can be applied to complex problems in various fields.
🔗 Technical interview preparation
Cracking the Coding Interview
, by Gayle Laakman McDowell
Really good guide to prepare for and succeed in technical interviews. It is really useful to gain confidence on technical interviews. The book includes a collection of practice problems and solutions, and is based on McDowell’s experience as a hiring manager and technical interviewer.
🔗 Product, strategy and business
BE 2.0 (Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0): Turning Your Business Into an Enduring Great Company
, by Jim Collins and Bill Lazier
A really good guide on how to create a company to perdure. The book covers a wide range of topics, including how to set the right goals, how to assemble and lead a strong team, and how to make strategic decisions that will drive growth and success. They speak out of their extensive experience as entrepreneurs and business leaders to provide practical guidance and strategies for building a successful, long-term business.
Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant
, by W. Chan Kim
A guide on how to create new markets, and compete in new areas without competition; instead of fighting for market share growth in crowded markets. I liked how it could result counter-intuitive, but sometimes it’s best to avoid competition at all, and find a market that is underserved (blue ocean), instead of starting a fight in a proven, competed one (red ocean).
Continuous Discovery Habits: Discover Products that Create Customer Value and Business Value
, by Teresa Torres
I saw a presentation by Teresa Torres defending the product discovery, and introducing the concept of the “product trio” (tech + product + design), and got the book right away. It is a practical guide for product teams on how to build a culture of continuous discovery and use data to drive decision-making.
Crossing the Chasm
, by Geoffrey A. Moore
The book focuses on how to navigate the “chasm” between early adopters and mainstream customers and achieve mass market success; and how it’s key to succeed after a promising beginning with the most passionate (and forgiving) piece of the market.
EMPOWERED: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products
, by Marty Cagan
A really good guide for product teams on how to build effective, empowered teams that can drive innovation and deliver great products. It touches how to build a strong product culture, how to foster collaboration and communication within a team, and how to set clear goals and priorities. It provides practical strategies and insights for building and leading successful product teams.
Escaping the Build Trap: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products
, by Melissa Perri
A guide for organizations on how to avoid the “build trap” of constantly adding more features to their products and focus on delivering value to customers. It includes how to prioritize and validate product ideas, how to build and measure product outcomes, and how to create an organizational culture that is focused on delivering value to customers. It has quite some practical tips.
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
, by Jim Collins
Guide for businesses on how to become great by focusing on the right goals, assembling the right team, and making the right decisions. The book presents the results of a research study that identified a set of companies that made the transition from good to great and identifies the key factors that contributed to their success. Collins provides practical guidance and strategies for businesses looking to make the transition from good to great, including how to set the right goals, how to assemble the right team, and how to make the right decisions.
INSPIRED: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love
, by Marty Cagan
It focuses in agile development and lean startup concepts. It gives very good insights on how to define a product vision, how to validate product ideas through customer research and testing, and how to measure and optimize product performance. It has a very practical look - and together with Empowered serves as a really good field guide on how to setup product teams for success.
Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries
, by Safi Bahcall
Its main topic is innovation, covering related topics including how to encourage risk-taking and creativity, how to identify and support promising ideas, and how to create an organizational culture that is conducive to innovation. Bahcall uses examples from a variety of fields, including science, technology, and business, to demonstrate how organizations can foster and support innovation at different stages of development. The book offers practical strategies and insights for organizations looking to foster a culture of innovation and turn promising ideas into successful ventures.
Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs
, by John Doerr
I started using OKR’s because they were in place - as many of us. Reading the book from John Doerr, it’s creator - helped me get a more clear background on the intention of the framework, and how good and bad OKR’s look like. It has some quite useful and relatable examples, and while thee framework itself is not a silver bullet, there are many good parts that can be taken - especially as a tool to reflect on big goals that will push you forward, and how to “divide and conquer” a large objective.
No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention
, by Reed Hasting
Based on Netflix’s story - the book gets deeper into the culture of the company, focusing on the freedom and responsibility, with the gains on high performance, innovation and growth. For that, it explains how to set clear expectations and hold people accountable, and how to foster a sense of purpose and meaning in work. It gives very useful context on some concepts that have been popularized by Netlix, such as talent density, the keeper test, or their approach for paying “top of the market”. Very well told - and while you can’t just copy-paste a company culture, it serves a lot to see the reflection that lead to it.
Principles: Life and Work
, by Ray Dalio
Guide for individuals and organizations on how to achieve success by following a set of principles and practices that Dalio has developed over his career. The book covers a wide range of topics, including how to set and achieve goals, how to make better decisions, and how to build and lead effective teams. Dalio provides practical guidance and strategies for individuals and organizations looking to achieve success by following a set of guiding principles
Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building
, by Claire Hughes Johnson
Claire was a leader in early stages of Google, and now is the COO at Stripe, since quite early also. It is a fantastic guide, very practical and full of detailed examples on how to build a massive impact company - and how to scale it. It takes a lot of attention to the people management side and covers a wide variety of topics, from crafting foundational documents to strategic and financial planning, hiring and team development, feedback and performance mechanisms. The book includes dozens of pages of worksheets, templates, exercises, and example documents to help founders, leaders, and company builders create scalable operating systems and lightweight processes that really work.
The Hard Thing about Hard Things
, by Ben Horowitz
Guide for leaders on how to navigate and overcome challenges in business. The book covers a wide range of topics related to leadership and management, including how to make difficult decisions, how to hire and develop great teams, and how to build and scale a successful company. It’s quite straightforward, and written in a direct and easy going way.
The Lean Product Playbook
, by Dan Olsen
Guide for product teams on how to build and launch successful products using the principles of lean startup. The book covers a range of topics related to product development and management, including how to validate product ideas, how to build and measure product outcomes, and how to optimize product performance. Olsen provides practical strategies and tools for product teams looking to apply the lean startup framework to their work, and offers a step-by-step guide for building and launching successful products
Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell
, by Eric Schmidt lan Eagle Jonathan Rosenberg
It tells the career and management philosophy of Bill Campbell, a well-respected coach and advisor to many of Silicon Valley’s most successful tech companies. He worked and deeply influenced companies like Apple, Google, and Amazon, helping achieve significant growth and success. The book is based on interviews with Campbell and with the many executives and entrepreneurs who worked with him, and offers insights into how his coaching and mentorship helped shape the culture and strategies of some of the most successful tech companies in the world.
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
, by Peter Thiel
A guide for entrepreneurs on how to create and grow successful startups. It’s mainly related with entrepreneurship, including how to identify and pursue unique business opportunities, how to build and scale a successful company, and how to overcome common challenges faced by startups. It’s based on the notes from a class that Thiel gave - so it’s very practical and to the point.
🔗 Leadership
Clarity First: How Smart Leaders and Organizations Achieve Outstanding Performance
, by Karen Martin
A guide for leaders on how to achieve outstanding performance through clarity and focus.
Extreme Ownership
, by Jocko Willink
A leadership guide that teaches the importance of taking responsibility and accountability for everything that goes on in an organization.
Never split the difference
, by Chris Boss
A negotiation guide that teaches strategies for reaching mutually beneficial agreements.
Radical Candor: Kick ass at work without losing your humanity
, by Kim Scott
A leadership guide that teaches the importance of being candid and direct in order to foster strong relationships and drive results. Kim’s website has great resources on the topic too.
Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building
, by Claire Hughes Johnson
Claire was a leader in early stages of Google, and now is the COO at Stripe, since quite early also. It is a fantastic guide, very practical and full of detailed examples on how to build a massive impact company - and how to scale it. It takes a lot of attention to the people management side and covers a wide variety of topics, from crafting foundational documents to strategic and financial planning, hiring and team development, feedback and performance mechanisms. The book includes dozens of pages of worksheets, templates, exercises, and example documents to help founders, leaders, and company builders create scalable operating systems and lightweight processes that really work.
Spark: How to Lead Yourself and Others to Greater Success
, by Angie Morgan
A guide for leaders on how to motivate and inspire themselves and others to achieve success.
The Art of Leadership: Small Things, Done Well
, by Michael Lopp
A leadership guide that teaches the importance of focusing on small things done well in order to drive results.
The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever
, by Michael Bungay Stanier
A guide for leaders on how to coach their team members effectively by asking more questions and giving less advice.
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
, by Patrick Lencioni
A classic on management teams - it’s a guide for leaders on how to overcome common challenges that can hinder team performance. The book identifies five dysfunctions that can undermine a team’s effectiveness: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results. Lencioni provides practical strategies for addressing these dysfunctions and building a high-performing team - all in the form of a light-reading story.
Turn the Ship Around
, by L. David Marquet
A leadership guide that teaches the importance of empowering team members and fostering a culture of accountability, told from the real story of a navy officer that gets the responsibility of a dysfunctional submarine. It introduced me to the concept of leader-leader, and how empowerment can be used as a force for transformation and collective ownership and accountability.
🔗 Workplace and culture
Flex: Reinventing work for a smarter, happier life
, by Annie Auerbach
A guide for individuals and organizations on how to create a smarter, happier work life through flexibility and work-life balance.
It doesn't have to be crazy at work
, by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson
A guide for organizations on how to create a healthy and productive work culture. It rejects the “Silicon Valley” status quo and default ways of doing things, advocating for a more sane and people-centric approach.
Rework
, by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson
A guide for entrepreneurs and small businesses on how to be more productive and efficient.
Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building
, by Claire Hughes Johnson
Claire was a leader in early stages of Google, and now is the COO at Stripe, since quite early also. It is a fantastic guide, very practical and full of detailed examples on how to build a massive impact company - and how to scale it. It takes a lot of attention to the people management side and covers a wide variety of topics, from crafting foundational documents to strategic and financial planning, hiring and team development, feedback and performance mechanisms. The book includes dozens of pages of worksheets, templates, exercises, and example documents to help founders, leaders, and company builders create scalable operating systems and lightweight processes that really work.
The Best Place to Work: The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace
, by Ron Friedman
Guide for leaders on how to create a positive and productive workplace culture. The book covers a wide range of topics, including how to foster collaboration, how to create a positive work environment, how to motivate and retain top talent, and how to encourage innovation and creativity. Friedman draws on research from the fields of psychology, sociology, and neuroscience to provide practical strategies for creating a workplace that is engaging, rewarding, and fulfilling for employees.
The Culture Map
, by Erin Meyer
A guide for leaders on how to navigate and manage cultural differences in the global business world. IT identifies eight scales on which cultures differ – communication, evaluation, trust, leadership, decision-making, communication style, time, and relationship-building – and provides practical strategies for navigating these differences in order to build strong, effective relationships with people from different cultural backgrounds. The book is based on the idea that cultural differences can be a source of strength and creativity, but they must be understood and managed effectively in order to unlock their full potential.
🔗 Biographies/company stories
Build
, by Tom Fadell
The story of Tom Fadell, the inventor of the iPod and the Nest thermostat, and his journey as an entrepreneur and leader. It’s very interesting to see how the drive of Fadell was challenged by corporate situations, and how the drive to innovate and create products was stronger than the slowing down forces.
Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft's Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone
, by Satya Nadella
Satya Nadella’s story is refreshing. This autobiography tell the story of how he got to the CEO position, with the setbacks on the path, how he convinced the ranks until getting to the CEO position, and his vision for the future of technology and the role it can play in improving people’s lives.
Shoe Dog
, by Phil Knight
The story of Nike’s founder and his journey building the company from a small start-up to a global brand. It’s written with a focus on storytelling, making it very easy to read, and enjoying the ups and downs - especially in the beginning as the company was really small and had to default to creativity to make things happen.
🔗 Psychology (cognitive, evolutionary, phylosophy...)
Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions
, by Brian Christian
It explores the ways in which computer science concepts can be applied to everyday life to help us make better decisions. The book covers a range of topics, including how to optimize for efficiency and effectiveness, how to balance exploration and exploitation, and how to make decisions under uncertainty. The authors draw on a variety of examples from computer science, psychology, and economics to illustrate how these concepts can be applied to real-world situations. The book offers practical insights and strategies for anyone looking to improve their decision-making skills.
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
, by Cal Newport
The book dives into the importance of focus and concentration in today’s fast-paced, always-connected world. The book argues that the ability to do deep work – defined as the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task – is becoming increasingly rare and valuable in today’s economy. The book offers practical strategies and tips for cultivating the ability to do deep work, including how to establish clear goals and priorities, how to eliminate distractions, and how to build habits that support deep work. The book is aimed at anyone looking to improve their productivity and achieve success in a world that is constantly vying for their attention.
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
, by Greg McKeown
The book focuses in the idea of living a more focused, intentional life by eliminating unnecessary distractions and commitments. It argues that we often spread ourselves too thin and waste time and energy on things that are not essential to our goals and values. The book offers practical strategies for practicing essentialism, including how to identify and prioritize your most important goals, how to eliminate distractions and unnecessary commitments, and how to stay true to your values and priorities. The book is aimed at anyone looking to simplify their life and focus on what is truly important to them.
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
, by Angela Duckworth
Grit is defined as the ability to persevere in the face of challenges and setbacks. The book centers on it, and its role in personal success. The book argues that grit is a more important predictor of success than talent or intelligence, and offers practical strategies for cultivating grit in oneself and in others. It offers insights into how grit can be developed and sustained over time.
Meditations
, by Marcus Aurelius
It is a collection of personal writings by the Roman Emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius. The writings are in the form of short reflections and meditations on a wide range of topics, including ethics, philosophy, and Stoicism. The book served as a strong influence in my personal view of the world, and my personal philosophy on life.
Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgement
, by Daniel Kahneman [in progress]
Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know Hardcover
, by Adam Grant
The book explores the importance of intellectual curiosity and openness to new ideas in today’s fast-paced, constantly changing world. The book argues that we often fall into the trap of overconfidence and close-mindedness, and that cultivating a willingness to challenge our own beliefs and assumptions is essential for success. The book offers practical strategies for developing intellectual curiosity and staying open to new ideas, and is based on Grant’s research in psychology and management.
Thinking Fast and Slow
, by Daniel Kahneman
The book is dense - but mind-changing. It explores the two main systems of thinking that shape our thought processes – System 1, which is fast and intuitive, and System 2, which is slower and more deliberative. The book argues that our brains are constantly switching between these two systems of thinking, and that understanding how these systems work can help us make better decisions and avoid common cognitive biases. The book is based on Kahneman’s research in psychology and behavioral economics, and offers insights into how our minds work and how we can improve our decision-making skills.
Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment
, by Robert Wright
It explores the intersection of Buddhism and modern science, and argues that many of the insights of Buddhism are supported by scientific evidence. It covers topics like mindfulness, happiness, and the nature of the self, and offers practical strategies for incorporating Buddhist practices into one’s life.
🔗 Society, world and future
Everything is Fucked: A Book about hope
, by Mark Manson
The world is not as broken as it seems :-)
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
, by Yuval Noah Harari
A look at the future of humanity and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
Platform Revolution: Platform Revolution: How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy―and How to Make Them Work for You
, by Geoffrey G. Parker
A look at how networked markets are transforming the economy and how businesses can leverage them to their advantage.
Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: how Tight and Loose Cultures Wire Our World
, by Michele Gelfand
A look at how cultural differences shape behavior and how they can be understood and managed.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
, by Yuval Noah Harari
The book that convinced me to switch to eating vegetarian 🌱. The book is tells the story of humankind from the emergence of Homo sapiens in Africa to the present day. The book covers a wide range of topics, including human evolution, the rise of agriculture, the development of empires, the Scientific Revolution, and the impact of globalization. Harari presents a sweeping and thought-provoking history of humankind, exploring the ways in which our species has shaped the world and been shaped by it.
The Industries of the Future
, by Alec Ross
A look at the technological and economic trends that will shape the future and the opportunities they will create.
What We Owe the Future Hardcover
, by William MacAskill
It explores the ethical questions surrounding the future and our responsibility to shape it. It covers a wide range of topics, including global poverty, the environment, artificial intelligence, and existential risks. MacAskill presents an interesting examination of the moral challenges that we face as a society and the choices that we must make in order to create a better future. He argues that we have a moral obligation to consider the long-term consequences of our actions and to take steps to ensure that the future is as good as it can be.
🔗 Sport & performance
Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance
, by Alex Hutchinson
It explores the limits of human performance and the factors that influence it. The book covers a many topics, including exercise, nutrition, genetics, psychology, and neuroscience, and it examines the latest research on how the body and mind respond to physical and mental challenges. I like the exploration on ways in which body and mind can be pushed to extremes, and how to optimize human performance.
Pro Cycling on $10 a Day: From Fat Kid to Euro Pro
, by Phil Gaimon
Gaimon’s journey from being a “fat kid” to becoming a pro cyclist in Europe. He shares his struggles and triumphs as he navigates the cutthroat world of professional cycling, and offers insights into the hard work, determination, and sacrifice that it takes to succeed in this demanding sport It’s written in a very close and funny way - and gives insights on how doping affected to the clean professionals.
🔗 My reading list
An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management
, by Will Larson
Drive
, by Daniel H. Pink
Engineering Management for the Rest of Us
, by Sarah Drasner
Recommended by my colleague Bruno
Let My People Go Surfing - The Education of a Reluctant Businessman
, by Yvon Chouinard
Recommended by my colleague Anton - a biography of Patagonia’s founder.
Staff Engineer: Leadership Beyond the Management Track
, by Will Larson
The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels
, by Michael D. Watkins
The Infinite Game
, by Simon Sinek
Recommended by my colleague Tobi.
The Rational Optimist
, by Matt Ridley