Recommended by Knowledge Ecology Fair crew

We've compiled a list of books that we think you'll find useful. For your reading enjoyment we selected the very best books in this category.

The Age of Participation : New Governance for the Workplace and the World, by Patricia McLagan, Christo Nel Written for managers, consultants, and labor union leaders, this book defines the new "participative" organization and explains why this type of structuring is necessary in the modern world. It offers a look at industry models and suggests ways to deflate the misconceptions that can sabotage organizational change. 10 charts. Featuring an opportunity for readers to participate by progressively completing an organization assessment, this book is a practical, experience-based handbook for instituting, sustaining and nurturing the changes necessary today. Amazon.com's price: $19.57

On Becoming a Leader, by Warren Bennis The classic leadership guide--recommended by Vice President Al Gore to all his advisers--is now available with a new introduction by the author. "Bennis identifies the key ingredients of leadership success and offers a game plan for cultivating those qualities." Amazon.com's price: $12.00

Distance to the Green: A Caddys Lessons in Life Business & Golf, by Gary Abram, Bob O'Byrne Hardcover (July1997) Plan II Publications Limited; Dimensions (in inches): 0.41 x 8.50 x 5.51 Amazon.com's price: $9.06

On Becoming a Servant-Leader, byRobert K. Greenleaf When he retired in 1964, Greenleaf was director of management research at AT & T, where he spent most of his career working in organizational research and development and in management education. He felt that the role of the organizational leader was fulfilled by serving employees, customers, and community. Similar ideas are popularly expressed today by writers who continue to credit Greenleaf, such as Peter Block, author of Stewardship (1993). After he retired, Greenleaf established the Center for Applied Ethics to promote his philosophy. Now called the Robert K. Greenleaf Center, it is headed by Larry Spears, who last year edited Reflections on Leadership, an homage to Greenleaf consisting of essays by such notables as M. Scott Peck and Peter Senge, and who has also edited the work reviewed below. Spears and Don Frick, an archivist for the center, have pulled together this collection of Greenleaf's writing, which features his seminal "Ethic of Strength." Also included are a number of essays, a series of lectures delivered at Dartmouth, and excerpts from a series of conversations Greenleaf had in 1986 with colleague Dr. Joseph DiStefano. Amazon.com's price: $20.97

The Death of Competition : Leadership and Strategy in the Age of Business Ecosystems, by James F. Moore Total system leadership, according to business strategy consultant James F. Moore, has replaced mere product superiority and even complete industry dominance as today's corporate brass ring. In The Death of Competition: Leadership & Strategy In the Age of Business Ecosystems, he uses "biological ecology" as a metaphor for the new type of cooperative/competitive relationships that he believes lead to that brass ring -- while guiding readers toward the unique interlocking networks that he says are necessary to attain it. Amazon.com's price: $11.20

Driving Fear Out of the Workplace : How to Overcome the Invisible Barriers to Quality, Productivity, and Innovation, by Kathleen D. Ryan, Daniel K. Oestreich Quality is impossible when people are afraid to tell the truth. Fear of losing credibility or a promotion, getting fired, or hurting a relationship all limit and corrupt employee performance. Based on interviews with more than 250 people from 22 companies, the authors show managers and executives how to eliminate fear, encourage quality employee performance, and increase corporate competitiveness. Amazon.com's price: $32.45

The Empowered Manager : Positive Political Skills at Work, by Peter Block Block introduces the path to empowerment and shows managers the inherent pressures that discourage initiative, dull creativity, and dissuade risk taking. Readers learn how to create a strong vision of the future--one that encourages the best in themselves and in those around them. A management must-read Peter Block restores meaning to the overexposedword, "empowered." His book is insightful andinspiring; it will change the way you thinkabout yourself, your co-workers, and your work.Well-written, engaging, highly readable and highly recommended. Amazon.com's price: $16.00

The End of Bureaucracy & the Rise of the Intelligent Organization , by Gifford Pinchot, Elizabeth Pinchot This book shows how to replace bureaucracy with more humane and effective systems for organizing and coordinating work. Gifford and Elizabeth Pinchot show how, by developing and engaging the intelligence, business judgment, and wide-system responsibility of all its members, an organization can respond more effectively to customers, partners, and competitors. They support the sweeping changes they propose with numerous examples of how these changes are already being implemented in such diverse organizations as AT&T, the Canadian National Railroad, DuPont, Russian entrepreneurial firms, Hewlett-Packard, and the U.S. Forest Service. Amazon.com's price: $17.47

The Fifth Discipline : The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, by Peter M. Senge Finally in paperback, Senge's national bestseller The Fifth Discipline, which has turned the principles of the learning organization into a movement of snowballing size and strength. The ability to respond to change is the crucial issue of the '90s, but management tools such as "reengineering" and "total quality" simply treat the symptoms. Adopted by Ford, AT&T, and others, here is a cure for the disease Senge calls "learning disabilities.". Senge's pathbreaking book draws on science, spiritual wisdom, psychology, and the cutting edge of management thought to show how businesses can overcome their "learning disabilites" and beat the odds of failure. The book provides a searching personal experience and a dramatic professional shift of mind. Amazon.com's price: $22.75

Fifth Generation Management : Co-Creating Through Virtual Enterprising, Dynamic Teaming, and Knowledge Networking, by Charles M. Savage Order form Savage assists corporations in "unlocking the future" using dynamic teaching, virtual enterprising and knowledge era/knowledge worker information. In this revised edition, the author covers lessons learned over the past five years since 5th Generation Management was first published, emphasizes dynamic teaching of core capabilities, and much more. Amazon.com's price: $17.95

Going Virtual : Moving Your Organization into the 21st Century, by Raymond Grenier, George Metes Helps managers understand the true implications of "the virtual organization," and how to implement it. This is the first book to extend the definition of "virtual" beyond the basics, describing exactly how virtual teams work together using networked, electronic information and communications systems. Covers the electronic operations, cultural implications and technologies of virtual operations, including strategies for training and technology investment. This book helps organizations re- engineer while moving at full speed. Amazon.com's price: $20.27

The Great Game of Business, by Jack Stack, Bo Burlingham In the early 1980s, Springfield Remanufacturing Corporation (SRC) in Springfield, Missouri, was a near bankrupt division of International Harvester. That's when a green young manager, Jack Stack, took over and turned it around. He didn't know how to "manage" a company, but he did know about the principal, of athletic competition and democracy: keeping score, having fun, playing fair, providing choice, and having a voice. With these principals he created his own style of management -- open-book management. The key is to let everyone in on financial decisions. At SRC, everyone learns how to read a P&L -- even those without a high school education know how much the toilet paper they use cuts into profits. SRC people have a piece of the action and a vote in company matters. Imagine having a vote on your bonus and on what businesses the company should be in. SRC restored the dignity of economic freedom to its people. Stack's "open-book management" is the key -- a system which, as he describes it here, is literally a game, and one so simple anyone can use it. As part of the Currency paperback line, the book includes a "User's Guide" -- an introduction and discussion guide created for the paperback by the author -- to help readers make practical use of the book's ideas. Jack Stack is the president and CEO of the Springfield Remanufacturing Corporation, in Springfield, Missouri. The recipient of the 1993 Business Enterprise Trust Award, Jack speaks throughout the country on The Great Game Of Business and Open Book Management. Amazon.com's price: $12.76

The Insight Edge, by Ervin Laszlo, Christopher Laszlo Meeting the challenge that confronts today's managers calls for a fresh knowledge base, one that includes, in addition to the necessary technical knowledge handed down in management schools and seminars, familiarity with the dynamics that generate the seemingly unpredictable - but by no means casual and unforseeable - patterns of change in the contemporary business environment. This book offers such a knowledge base. It brings to leading managers, and to everyone concerned with the effective and responsible management of business companies, the essential minimum of up-to-date scientific knowledge: the readily acquired foundations of "evolutionary literacy." Amazon.com's price: $49.95

The Knowledge-Creating Company : How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation, by Ikujiro Nonaka, Hirotaka Takeuchi The authors contend that Japanese firms are successful because they are innovative--and not merely masters of imitation as some think--and because they create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. Amazon.com's price: $19.25

The Leader of the Future : New Visions, Strategies, and Practices for the Next Era by Frances Hesselbein (Editor), Marshall Goldsmith (Editor), Richard Beckhard, Richard Beckhard (Editor) Thirty-seven notables, such as Peter Senge, Charles Handy, Rosabeth Kanter, and Stephen Covey, offer their views on leadership, examining what the organization of the future will be like and how leaders might be developed. Though they target present and potential leaders of so-called third-sector organizations, these 31 previously unpublished essays will be of definite interest to those in government and the corporate world as well. Amazon.com's price: $17.50

Leadership and the New Science : Learning About Organization from an Orderly Universe, by Margaret J. Wheatley Margaret Wheatley shows how the "New Science"-the revolutionary discoveries in quantum physics, chaos theory, and biology that are overturning centuries-old models of science-provides powerful insights for transforming how we design, lead, and manage organizations. Our understanding of the universe is being radically altered by the "New Science"-the revolutionary discoveries in quantum physics, chaos theory, and evolutionary biology that are overturning the models of science that have dominated for centuries. Now, in this pioneering book, Margaret Wheatley shows how the new science provides equally powerful insights for changing the ways we design, lead, manage, and view organizations. In a warm, inviting style, Margaret Wheatley takes readers on a mind-opening journey into the new science, and applies these concepts to shed new light on the fundamental issues of organizing work, people, and life. --This text refers to the hardcover edition of this title. Amazon.com's price: $12.76

The Leadership Challenge : How to Keep Getting Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations (The Jossey-Bass Management Series), by James M. Kouzes, Barry Z. Posner After the stunning success of the first edition of The Leadership Challenge (500,000 copies in print, translations into eight languages), Kouzes and Posner have completely revised and updated this essential tool for leaders in business, government, education, communities, and all across society as they prepare themselves for the demands of 21st century leadership. --This text refers to the hardcover edition of this title. Based on the popular training program offered by The Tom Peters Group, this completely revised and updated edition of The Leadership Challenge captures the continuing interest in leadership as a critical aspect of human organizations. "A mini-bible for executives and apprentices alike."--Patricia Holt, San Francisco Chronicle. Amazon.com's price: $16.00

Leadership Is, by Harrison Owen Amazon.com's price: $20.00

Leadership Jazz, by Max De Pree From the author of the runaway bestseller Leadership Is an Art comes a new, revolutionary management book that draws an analogy between leadership and jazz and shows how leaders can turn individuals' efforts into a chorus of power and creativity. Leadership in the workplace, says Max DePree, is like playing jazz; it's more an art than a science. Today's successful managers are attuned to the needs and ideas of their followers and even step aside at times to be followers themselves. As a result, they spark vitality and productivity from their work force. They culivate communication and spontaneity, diversity and creativity, and the unique potential of every person in the organization to contribute to the success of the team. Amazon.com's price: $10.36

Leadership Is an Art, by Max Depree This revolutionary and thoughtful book offers an innovative style of business leadership for the 1990s--a humanistic approach that is responsible for the remarkable success of some of America's most admired and best-managed companies. In what has become a bible for the business world, the successful CEO of Herman Miller, Inc., explores how executives and managers can learn the leadership skills that build a better, more profitable organization. Amazon.com's price: $10.36

Leading Change : The Argument for Values-Based Leadership, by James O'Toole True leaders lead by encouraging, not oppressing. And the finest leaders have always shared leadership with their followers. Rather than dictating, theur create organizations that welcome change and self-reevaluation, and they foster an atmosphere of open-mindedness and fresh thinking. This book proposes a bold new vision of leadership--one rooted in moral values and a consistent display of respect for all followers. Amazon.com's price: $10.00

The New Paradigm in Business : Emerging Strategies for Leadership and Organizational Change, by Michael L. Ray, Alan Rinzler From the Table of Contents Foreword: Sculpting a New Business Paradigm, By Rinaldo Brutoco Introduction: What Is the New Paradigm in Business?, By Michael Ray Pt. I. The Roots of Present Change Pt. II. The Beginning of New Leadership Pt. III. Organizational Transformation Pt. IV. Social and Environmental Responsibility Pt. V. Visions of the Future Epilogue: Rebuilding the Spaceship While It Is Still in Flight, By Michael Ray Permissions About the Editors The World Business Academy Amazon.com's price: $11.96

Organizational Culture and Leadership (Jossey-Bass Business & Management Series), by Edgar H. Schein Organizational development pioneer Edgar H. Schein first published the classic Organizational Culture and Leadership in 1985, transforming the abstract concept of culture into a tool that managers and students have continually used to better understand the dynamics of organizations and change. In this second edition, Schein presents critical new learnings and practices in the field including important additional work on subcultures. He updates his definition of culture - what it is, how it is created, how it evolves, and how it can be changed - and clearly demonstrates the crucial role leaders play in successfully applying the principles of culture to increase their organizations' effectiveness. He also shows how to identify, nurture, and shape the cultures of organizations - in any stage of development - to achieve their goals and fulfill their missions. Focusing on the complex business realities of the 1990s, this second edition offers a wealth of fresh research and new case examples, as well as seven completely new chapters. Amazon.com's price: $24.95

Principle-Centered Leadership, by Stephen R. Covey The author of the bestselling Seven Habits of Highly Effective People explains how people can achieve excellence in their managerial, organizational, and interpersonal lives through integrity-centered principles. This time Stephen Covey writes for the business community in a guidebook to personal fulfillment and professional success through "principle-centered leadership." Amazon.com's price: $11.20

Rosabeth Moss Kanter on the Frontiers of Management, by Rosabeth Moss Kanter Rosabeth Moss Kanter is at the forefront of management thinking and practice--a leading figure in the attack on organizational rigidities, boundaries, and top- down traditions whose ideas are spearheading a period of great discovery and change in the business world. Here, for the first time, is the essential Kanter: the cutting-edge ideas and wisdom of nearly two decades that are even more relevant today. With Rosabeth Moss Kanter on the Frontiers of Management, the renowned management guru presents a sweeping look back across a decade of change in business--what has worked well, what hasn't, and what businesses still need to learn--as well as a penetrating look forward at the hard work of leadership and innovation still to be done. These essays reinforce a single, timeless message: the importance of providing the tools and conditions that liberate people to use their brainpower to make a difference in a world of constant challenge and change. Amazon.com's price: $20.97

Servant Leadership : A Journey into the Nature of Legimate Power and Greatness, byRobert K. Greenleaf Amazon.com's price: $11.96

Synchronicity : The Inner Path of Leadership, by Joseph Jaworski, et al For everyone at any level of any organization--public or private, large or small--Synchronicity shows how to achieve maximum leadership potential through nothing less than a fundamental chang of mind and spirit. Joseph Jaworski shows how a real leader can set the stage on which "predictable miracles" take place within an organization. Dee W. Hock, Founder, President, and CEO Emeritus, Visa International : "Written from the heart as well as the head, Synchronicity is the story of one man's journey toward the place we all must go in the century ahead. Jaworski's life demonstrates that the immense cultural and institutional change, which a livable future demands, can begin anytime, anywhere, in anyone, even those who have benefited greatly from the old order of things." Amazon.com's price: $17.47

The Web of Inclusion : a new architecture for building great organizations, by Sally Helgesen The author of the groundbreaking The Female Advantage, a revolutionary approach to management for the post-industrial economy. In her highly acclaimed book The Female Advantage, Sally Helgesen showed how the innovative management strategies of women executives differed from and bettered traditional organizational models. The Web Of Inclusion represents a quantum leap forward. Here Helgesen presents a fully realized vision of the postindustrial organization: the web of inclusion. Most organizations are still structured on a nineteenth century model: rigid, hierarchical, forcing workers into cookie-cutter roles. But the twenty-first-century economy is fluid, technology-driven, based on creativity and relationships. For companies to thrive, they must build "organizations for everyone." Inclusive, flexible, interconnected, technology-enhanced, and human-centered, webs of inclusion perfectly mesh with the ever-changing demands of the information age. Helgesen lays out the theory behind her provocative vision of a new style of management, then profiles five organizations that have achieved extraordinary success by adopting webs of inclusion: Intel, the Miami Herald, the Anixter Corporation, Beth Israel Hospital, and Nickelodeon. Amazon.com's price: $17.47

Other titles

Agile Competitors and Virtual Organizations : Strategies for Enriching the Customer, by Steven L. Goldman, et al

The Art of War for Executives, by Donald G. Krause

Beyond Bureaucracy : Essays on the Development and Evolution of Human Organization, by Warren Bennis

Credibility : How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It (Jossey-Bass Management), by James S. Kouzes, et al

Cybercorp : The New Business Revolution, by James Martin

The Democratic Corporation : A Radical Prescription for Recreating Corporate America and Rediscovering Success, by Russell L. Ackoff

The Effective Executive, by Peter F. Drucker

Gods of Management : The Changing Work of Organizations, by Charles B. Handy

Improving Performance : How to Manage the White Space on the Organizational Chart (The Jossey-Bass Management Series), by Geary A. Rummler, Alan P. Brache

The Leadership Engine : How Winning Companies Build Leaders at Every Level , by Noel M. Tichy, Eli Cohen

Leading Without Power, : Finding Hope in Serving Community by Max De Pree

Make It So : Leadership Lessons from Star Trek : The Next Generation, by Wess Roberts, Bill Ross

Management of the Absurd : Paradoxes in Leadership, by Richard Farson

The New Management : Democracy and Enterprise Are Transforming Organizations, by William E. Halal

Stewardship : Choosing Service over Self-Interest, by Peter Block

Thriving on Chaos : Handbook for a Management Revolution, by Tom Peters

Virtual Leadership : Secrets from the Round Table for the Multi-Site Manager, by Jaclyn

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