Love Simple Numbers 2.0 - Rules for Smart Scaling? Readers share 36 books like Simple Numbers 2.0 - Rules for Smart Scaling...

By Greg Crabtree,

Here are 36 books that Simple Numbers 2.0 - Rules for Smart Scaling fans have personally recommended if you like Simple Numbers 2.0 - Rules for Smart Scaling. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't

David Worrell Author Of The Entrepreneur's Guide to Financial Statements

From my list on building culture, teamwork, and leadership.

Why am I passionate about this?

Entrepreneurs have a tough lot in life. We dream of creating value for others, yet we are often cursed to pay a huge price in our own lives. My experience as an entrepreneur is no different – I struggled through three mediocre business startups, learning a little bit more with each one. Along the way, I have put my lessons learned into writing: textbooks, how-to guides and even cover stories for Entrepreneur magazine. Combining my own experience and the best advice from other entrepreneurs, I have systematically improved my current company… and have finally broken free of the curse! Now I love to share my experience with other business owners like you!

David's book list on building culture, teamwork, and leadership

David Worrell Why did David love this book?

Building a great company and a great team takes more than love and data. In Leaders Eat Last, I learned the science behind why we join teams, why we leave a team, and how to build a team where people want to stay.

It turns out that being a part of a team is in our DNA. Literally. We have survived as a species by working together, and our brains produce pleasure chemicals when we are standing shoulder to shoulder with a co-worker.

But that’s not what makes this book great. Simon Sinek references both large companies and the military to make his case. Among other thoughtful insights, Sinek argues that the dedication, drive, and sacrifice that make the Air Force such a formidable team can be similarly created within work teams and companies. 

This is a must-read if you want to really understand why and how we work together…

By Simon Sinek,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Leaders Eat Last as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Leadership is not a rank, it is a responsibility. Leadership is not about being in charge, it is about taking care of those in your charge.

When we take care of our people, our people will take care of us. They will help see that our cause becomes a reality.

In Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek, internationally bestselling author of Start With Why, investigates these great leaders from Marine Corps Officers, who don't just sacrifice their place at the table but often their own comfort and even their lives for those in their care, to the heads of big business…


Book cover of Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business

Scott Greenberg Author Of Stop the Shift Show: How to Turn Your Struggling Hourly Workers Into a Top-Performing Team

From my list on managing employees and building teams.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m fascinated with the relationship between personal growth and professional performance. Why is it in the same environment, doing the same work, some people can excel while others struggle? Most chalk it up to external circumstances that can’t be controlled. Others focus on tactics. But I’ve learned top-performers are masters at the human side of their work–the way they think, lead and serve–and that’s what gives them their edge. All of my work centers around infusing hard skills with improved soft skills, and getting better results in the process. That’s the stuff I find delicious, and it’s what I speak and write about.

Scott's book list on managing employees and building teams

Scott Greenberg Why did Scott love this book?

What I loved about this book was its very systemized approach to evaluating and improving an organization.

I’m interested in the human elements of business, and this book places great emphasis on aligning the right people with the right roles, totally gelling with my philosophy. It simplifies the process of strategic planning. EOS has become quite common in the business world, and this book spells out exactly how to move through it.

Really good stuff here. 

By Gino Wickman,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked Traction as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Do you have a grip on your business, or does your business have a grip on you? All entrepreneurs and business leaders face similar frustrations--personnel conflict, profit woes, and inadequate growth. Decisions never seem to get made, or, once made, fail to be properly implemented. But there is a solution. It's not complicated or theoretical.The Entrepreneurial Operating System(R) is a practical method for achieving the business success you have always envisioned. More than 2,000 companies have discovered what EOS can do. In Traction, you'll learn the secrets of strengthening the six key components of your business. You'll discover simple yet…


Book cover of Lead Your Tribe, Love Your Work: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Creating a Culture that Matters

David Worrell Author Of The Entrepreneur's Guide to Financial Statements

From my list on building culture, teamwork, and leadership.

Why am I passionate about this?

Entrepreneurs have a tough lot in life. We dream of creating value for others, yet we are often cursed to pay a huge price in our own lives. My experience as an entrepreneur is no different – I struggled through three mediocre business startups, learning a little bit more with each one. Along the way, I have put my lessons learned into writing: textbooks, how-to guides and even cover stories for Entrepreneur magazine. Combining my own experience and the best advice from other entrepreneurs, I have systematically improved my current company… and have finally broken free of the curse! Now I love to share my experience with other business owners like you!

David's book list on building culture, teamwork, and leadership

David Worrell Why did David love this book?

What’s it like to be an employee at your company? Do people love to go to work for you? Imagine what you could accomplish if 100% of your people were dedicated, passionate, and focused on what was best for your company.

In this short book (just 186 fast-turning pages), a masterful entrepreneur explains not only why to build a great culture but also how. Page after compelling page, Patel tells you about his own failures and successes and how he changed his business (and his life!) by emphasizing the human side of work.

I personally applied Patel’s practices and was able to build a leadership team that I trust and respect – allowing me to step away from the day-to-day of the company altogether. I now travel (for fun!) and am planning to start another company.

By Piyush Patel,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Lead Your Tribe, Love Your Work as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Lead Your Tribe, Love Your Work , Piyush Patel offers an insider's perspective on how to unify your team around a common purpose by uncovering your core values and transforming your culture. With over 20 years of entrepreneurial experience, Piyush has discovered that-while leaders can provide opportunities-real culture comes from the heart. Using real-life examples and practical takeaways, Lead Your Tribe, Love Your Work is the ultimate guide to creating a tribe to lead and a workplace you love. Piyush challenges readers to rethink their current paths, unveiling: ; The business-owner wake-up call: How to tell when your company…


Book cover of Rhythm: How to Achieve Breakthrough Execution and Accelerate Growth

David Worrell Author Of The Entrepreneur's Guide to Financial Statements

From my list on building culture, teamwork, and leadership.

Why am I passionate about this?

Entrepreneurs have a tough lot in life. We dream of creating value for others, yet we are often cursed to pay a huge price in our own lives. My experience as an entrepreneur is no different – I struggled through three mediocre business startups, learning a little bit more with each one. Along the way, I have put my lessons learned into writing: textbooks, how-to guides and even cover stories for Entrepreneur magazine. Combining my own experience and the best advice from other entrepreneurs, I have systematically improved my current company… and have finally broken free of the curse! Now I love to share my experience with other business owners like you!

David's book list on building culture, teamwork, and leadership

David Worrell Why did David love this book?

If you really want to transform your business into a lean, mean profit machine, then Rhythm is the capstone to your journey. This is the book that pulls it all together and turns everything into a powerful growth system.

Rhythm is an easy read—full of colorful illustrations, short personal stories, and easy discussions of the impact that team building can have on the operations of a business—small or large.

I took it, hook line, and sinker, implementing the full range of metrics, reporting, planning, and goal setting. I also use the associated software. Rhythm and its ancillary tools help me to be comfortable and confident that my leadership team is hard at work, doing the right things at the right times.

As I step away from the day-to-day operations of my business, I rely on the structures taught by Rhythm (and the lessons from all the books above!).

By Patrick Thean,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Rhythm as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From USA Today & Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author!
Want to achieve breakthroughs and get exceptional results? Discover the system that successful growth companies have used to achieve their results.

All growing companies encounter ceilings of complexity, usually when they hit certain employee or revenue milestones. In order to burst through ceiling after ceiling and innovate with growth, a company must develop a reliable system that prompts leaders to be proactive and pivot when the need arises.

You also need to learn simple systems to empower everyone in your company to become and stay focused, aligned, and accountable.

In Rhythm,…


Book cover of Build, Excite, Equip.

Elizabeth Harrin Author Of Managing Multiple Projects

From my list on project management to help you get your work done.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been managing projects for over 20 years, and I’ve noticed that the pace of work is getting faster. I’ve certainly needed a helping hand to stay relevant and to keep up, and I’ve always been interested in how other people manage their working lives and To-do lists. I don’t always agree with the approaches in books or find that they work for me, but having a wide toolbox of strategies is great when I’m mentoring professionals. I can suggest things I’ve tried and also things that might work for them. I hope you get something out of my recommendations in the same way that I’ve grown from them! 

Elizabeth's book list on project management to help you get your work done

Elizabeth Harrin Why did Elizabeth love this book?

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. 

By Nicola Graham,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Build, Excite, Equip. as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Change management is expensive and often undervalued – but it is the vital element that delivers engagement and return on investment for major projects.

Based on many years of experience of change management and packed with proven techniques, Build, Excite, Equip is a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to managing complex change and ensuring your project stands out and delivers.

Its easy-to-follow methodology comes with supporting tools that enable project managers to become effective and successful change managers.

Build, Excite, Equip will help you to:

Engage and onboard people early so they are ready to use the change on go-live Reduce project…


Book cover of Energy and the Wealth of Nations: An Introduction to Biophysical Economics

Michael Muthukrishna Author Of A Theory of Everyone: The New Science of Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We're Going

From my list on changing how you see the world.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a professor of economic psychology at the London School of Economics with affiliations in developmental economics and data science. Before that, I was at Harvard in Human Evolutionary Biology. During my PhD, I took graduate courses in psychology, economics, evolutionary biology, and statistics. I have undergraduate degrees in engineering and in psychology and took courses in everything from economics and biology to philosophy and political science. As a child, I witnessed the civil war in Sri Lanka; a violent coup in Papua New Guinea; the end of apartheid in South Africa, living in neighboring Botswana; and London’s 7/7 bomb attacks. I’ve also lived in Australia, Canada, USA, and UK.

Michael's book list on changing how you see the world

Michael Muthukrishna Why did Michael love this book?

This book should have launched debates and discussions about how our economies are not closed-loop perpetual motion machines with no input other than ideas and technology, but instead machines ultimately powered by access to excess energy.

Charles Hall developed the concept of energy return on investment (EROI – how much energy it costs to get some amount of energy back. Alongside Valclav Smil’s many books, this is a must read.

By Charles A. S. Hall, Kent Klitgaard,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Energy and the Wealth of Nations as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this updated edition of a groundbreaking text, concepts such as energy return on investment (EROI) provide powerful insights into the real balance sheets that drive our "petroleum economy." Hall and Klitgaard explore the relation between energy and the wealth explosion of the 20th century, and the interaction of internal limits to growth found in the investment process and rising inequality with the biophysical limits posed by finite energy resources. The authors focus attention on the failure of markets to recognize or efficiently allocate diminishing resources, the economic consequences of peak oil, the high cost and relatively low EROI of…


Book cover of The Reckoning

Dag Detter Author Of The Public Wealth of Nations: How Management of Public Assets Can Boost or Bust Economic Growth

From my list on how we as societies can thrive in challenges ahead.

Why am I passionate about this?

I advise private and public sector clients on the unlocking of value from public assets. After a few years in investment banking in Asia and Europe, I was asked to lead the comprehensive restructuring of Sweden’s USD70bn national portfolio of commercial assets—the first attempt by a European government to systematically address the ownership and management of government enterprises and real estate. This experience has allowed me to work in over thirty countries and serve as a Non-Executive Director. Ultimately sharing the collective experience in two books written together with Stefan Fölster—The Public Wealth of Nations—which was awarded The Economist and Financial Time’s best book of the year, as well as The Public Wealth of Cities.

Dag's book list on how we as societies can thrive in challenges ahead

Dag Detter Why did Dag love this book?

Governments' Ridiculous Budget and Pension Accounting "Would make Enron blush" Bill Gates once said. Having worked with balance sheets in both the private and public sectors, I bear witness to the sad fact that governments all over the world are obsessed with a focus on cash. They do not even have the faintest interest in learning from what has created wealth in the private sector, adopting proper accounting in order to meet the multitude of challenges facing our society.

Jacob Soll presents a sweeping history of accounting, drawing on a wealth of examples from over a millennium of human history to reveal how accounting has shaped kingdoms, empires, and entire civilizations. Perhaps we can learn some rather old lessons from this surprisingly exciting history of accountancy. Or pay the price of our own ignorance.

By Jacob Soll,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Reckoning as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In The Reckoning, award-winning historian Jacob Soll shows how the use and misuse of financial bookkeeping has determined the fates of entire societies. Time and again, Soll reveals, good and honest accounting has been a tool to build successful companies, states and empires. Yet when it is neglected or falls into the wrong hands, accounting has contributed to cycles of destruction that continue to this day. Combining rigorous scholarship and fresh storytelling, The Reckoning traces the surprisingly powerful influence of accounting on financial and political stability, from the powerful Medici bank in the 14th century Italy to the 2008 financial…


Book cover of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable

Janet Polach Author Of The Seven Mistakes New Managers Make

From my list on books that prompt breakthrough thinking.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a global executive coach, speaker, and author with over 30 years of diverse experience. My career includes serving as a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps and two decades as a global leadership coach. I have collaborated with new, emerging, and executive leaders across various industries in the U.S., China, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Puerto Rico, Ireland, and the Netherlands. I believe that true leadership is built on a commitment to the mission, clear expectations, and the ability to improvise, adapt, and overcome any obstacle. I hold a Ph.D. in Organization and Leadership Development from the University of Minnesota.

Janet's book list on books that prompt breakthrough thinking

Janet Polach Why did Janet love this book?

This simple yet compelling tale of an organization’s executive team has spoken to dozens of executives about how they can overcome resistance and get their team to pull in the same direction. The characters are well defined and the challenges they face are commonplace. And it can be read on a plane ride.  

By Patrick M. Lencioni,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked The Five Dysfunctions of a Team as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Patrick Lencioni once again offers a leadership fable that is as enthralling and instructive as his first two best-selling books, The Five Temptations of a CEO and The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive. This time, he turns his keen intellect and storytelling power to the fascinating, complex world of teams. Kathryn Petersen, Decision Tech's CEO, faces the ultimate leadership crisis: Uniting a team in such disarray that it threatens to bring down the entire company. Will she succeed? Will she be fired? Will the company fail? Lencioni's utterly gripping tale serves as…


Book cover of The 6 Types of Working Genius: A Better Way to Understand Your Gifts, Your Frustrations, and Your Team

Dan Purvis Author Of 28 Days to Save the World: Crafting Your Culture to Be Ready for Anything

From my list on new entrepreneurs and small business leaders.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I went back to school for my MBA, I was looking for a way to apply the passion I’d found for changing lives for a better world. Studying business started my journey toward founding Velentium, a medtech engineering firm, in 2012. The pandemic was a make-or-break season for every industry, medtech included. We were determined to do our part, but were faced with an unprecedented challenge: boost the world’s emergency ventilator production from hundreds per month to thousands per week—in just 28 days. We succeeded—and it was a spiritually moving experience. I wrote 28 Days to Save the World in hopes of inspiring other organizations to punch above their weight class like we did.

Dan's book list on new entrepreneurs and small business leaders

Dan Purvis Why did Dan love this book?

Lencioni’s latest work gave words to inner frustrations that I’ve felt my entire life. Six Types of Working Genius finally gave me permission to admit that I’m not tenacious! As a leader, I need to lean into the geniuses I have and build a leadership team that complements me and shores up my weaker areas. And, I need to do the same at every level of my organization.

This book will be key to leaders for years to come, giving them the tools they need to build and grow teams that will be more enthusiastic, more energetic, and more effective than ever before. 

By Patrick M. Lencioni,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The 6 Types of Working Genius as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

New York Times best-selling author Patrick Lencioni unveils a truly groundbreaking new model that will change the way we think about work and teams forever.

The 6 Types of Working Genius is the fastest way to help people identify the type of work that brings them joy and energy, and avoid work that leads to frustration and burnout.

Beyond the personal discovery and instant relief that Working Genius provides, the model also gives teams a remarkably simple and practical framework for tapping into one another’s natural gifts, which increases productivity and reduces unnecessary judgment.
 
In classic Lencioni fashion, Pat brings…


Book cover of Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World

Jeffrey Engle Author Of All the War They Want: Special Operations Techniques for Winning in Cyber Warfare, Business, and Life

From my list on introducing military tactics into your leadership.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a veteran of the United States Army Special Operations Command, my time in the army will always guide my actions. When I began my career in cybersecurity and later took on the role of President and Chair of Conquest Cyber, I looked to my military experience for guidance. The lessons I learned from leaders were much like those I’ve learned through these books, and they are lessons that will benefit any leader, business owner, or founder. 

Jeffrey's book list on introducing military tactics into your leadership

Jeffrey Engle Why did Jeffrey love this book?

I’m a proud fighter against the conventional. Bigger is not necessarily better; Compliance is not enough. General McChrystal spends much of his book sharing in this mindset. His experience leading the Joint Special Operation Task Force in their efforts to take down Al Qaeda is inspiring, but for those less military-minded leaders, he shares other examples of where small and agile teams have found success in a hospital ER to NASA. It’s bold, fun to read, and fast-paced. Team of Teams is worth the read for leaders at any stage of their career. 

By Tantum Collins, David Silverman, Stanley McChrystal

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Team of Teams as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

As commander of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), General Stanley McChrystal discarded a century of management wisdom and pivoted from a pursuit of mechanical efficiency to organic adaptability.

In this book, he shows how any organization can make the same transition to act like a team of teams - where small groups combine the freedom to experiment with a relentless drive to share their experience.

Drawing on a wealth of evidence from his military career and sources as diverse as hospital emergency rooms and NASA's space program, McChrystal frames the existential challenge facing today's organizations, and presents a compelling, effective…


Book cover of Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't
Book cover of Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
Book cover of Lead Your Tribe, Love Your Work: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Creating a Culture that Matters

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Interested in teamwork, leadership, and management?

Teamwork 16 books
Leadership 413 books
Management 153 books