Books that changed my worldview

From time immemorial, books have been able to change the way we see our world and each of us probably treasures certain volumes that define our thinking.

From the hundreds of books lining the shelves of my study, I have picked a handful of titles that are especially important to me. My choices were not easy and I’ll share with you the reasons that guided my selection.

I will list my five books in the chronological order in which they came into my life. Your mileage may vary when it comes to these, or other books, but please remember that this piece is about the books that have changed my worldview.

Up the Organization: How to Stop the Corporation from Stifling People and Strangling Profits
by Robert Townsend

The cover of this classic poses the question: “If you’re not in business for fun or profit, what the hell are you doing here?” A great provocation that has stayed with me for thirty years. Townsend’s down-to-earth remedies for personal and organisational conduct are still a refreshing insight into how the world of work could be better. A coffee-time dip into this book always perks me up whenever I feel like I’m just hitting my head against the impenetratable walls of incompetence.

Unlock Your Mind: Practical Guide to Deliberate and Systematic Innovation
by Dennis Sherwood

My first encounter with Dennis Sherwood was unforgettable. The sight of Dennis, presenting at a ship-board conference in 1999, wearing a four-foot long lightning bolt on his head, while rapping about innovation, blew me away. His kind gift to me of his book the following week altered my professional outlook irrevocably. Unlock your mind brought Systems Thinking into my vocabulary and moved me forward from my binary, analytical worldview; towards an incredibly richer outlook. I have read many books since this but none that has had quite the same effect. 

Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership
by Joseph Jaworski

My path to Synchronicity was through Dennis Sherwood’s writing. I recently re-read this book after an interval of a few years and it reminded me that I once considered it the best book I had ever read about Leadership. I later found an even better book (see below) but that discovery only came through my re-reading of Synchronicity. The  book  describes Jaworski’s journey from the groundbreaking incubator of Shell’s Scenario Planning Team to the founding of the American Leadership Forum. This is far more than a business biography, it is a deep insight into the fulfilment available to those with the courage to follow their passion and instinct, without the safety-net of knowing where your journey will end. It made me realise that I could also strike out on a different path. So I did.

Lila: An Inquiry into Morals
by Robert M. Pirsig

One of the most useful books I have ever read. Lila is the lesser-known sequel to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (which only narrowly missed the cut for this list) and, in my opinion, is best read only after reading ZAMM, to get the full value of the profound insights revealed in Lila. As a “novel” this book is unlikely ever to receive the academic acclaim that I believe the author deserves (and would have doubtless received if Pirsig had set forth his ideas in a traditionally “academic” manner). Pirsig’s concept of Dynamic Quality so neatly complements (and shapes) my own worldview of the dynamic tension between the AS-IS and TO-BE states, as well as the “edge of chaos” principle that describes the many tensions in organisational decision-making. Like its predecessor (ZAMM), Lila weaves a narrative around the philosophy – the tale of a boat journey undertaken by the semi-autobiographical protagonist and a female companion.

Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness
by Robert Greenleaf

Joe Jaworski’s Synchronicity (qv) led me to Robert Greenleaf’s masterpiece. This has become my favourite book on Leadership because it is the antithesis of the popular “cult of Leadership” books, which generally lack the profundity of Greanleaf’s insight into human behaviour and the genuinely substantive need for service. I believe that most Leadership books mislead hopeful readers, by laying the false hope of attaining position through personal behaviour, without any regard to the prevailing context and circumstances of others. The concept of Servant Leadership takes a properly holistic view and addresses the fundamental needs for appropriate checks and balances. If I was running an MBA programme, this would be required reading from the outset.

Well that’s my list of significant books, what does your list look like?