Automattic

Library

There are many books that have been hugely influential in building and evolving Automattic, and we want to share them here.

We surveyed our leads on the top books they recommend, here’s the ranking by number of votes:

1. The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker
2. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
3. Drive by Daniel Pink
4. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
5. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, and Ron McMillan
6. Deep Work by Cal Newport
7. Radical Candor by Kim Scott
8. Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace by Gordon MacKenzie
9. Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
10. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
11. Leadership & Self-Deception: Getting out of the box by Arbinger Institute
12. The Elements of Style by Strunk & White
13. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
14. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
15. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
16. The Manager’s Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change by Camille Fournier
17. Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well by Douglas Stone and Shelia Heen
18. The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier
19. Words that Work by Frank Luntz
20. Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux
21. Start with Why by Simon Sinek
22. High Output Management by Andrew Grove
23. The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh
24. Turn the Ship Around! by David Marquet
25. When Teams Work Best by Frank LaFasto and Carl Larson
26. Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers by Gray, Dave, Brown, Sunni, and James Macanufo
27. Little Red Book of Selling by Jeffrey Gitomer
28. What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter
29. Lincoln on Leadership by Donald Phillips
30. Spark : How to Lead Yourself and Others to Greater Success by Angie Morgan, Courtney Lynch, and Sean Lynch
31. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
32. All the HBR 10 Must Reads by
33. Leadership: Theory and Practice by Peter Northouse
34. Redesigning Leadership by John Maeda and Rebecca Bermont
35. A Curious Mind , The Secret to a Bigger Life by Brian Grazer
36. Product Leadership by Richard Banfield, Nate Walkingshaw, and Martin Erikkson
37. The Progress Principle by Teresa Amabile, and Steven Kramer
38. The Rhythm of Life by Matthew Kelly
39. Management 3.0 by Jurgen Appelo
40. Design for Real Life by Sara Wachter-Boettcher and Eric Meyer
41. Getting Things Done by David Allen
42. The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins
43. Making Space: How the Brain knows where things are by Jennifer M. Groh
44. Read This Before our Next Meeting by Al Pittampalli
45. Projects Without Boundaries by Martinelli, Russ et al
46. Managing Humans by Michael Lopp
47. Leading Change by John P. Kotter

Recommendations from Automattic’s bespoke Reboot leadership training:

• The Fifth Discipline by Peter M. Senge
• Time to Think by Nancy Kline
• The Fearless Organization by Amy C. Edmondson
• Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up by Jerry Colonna
• Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton and Sheila Heen
• Your Brain at Work by David Rock
• Dialogue: The Art Of Thinking Together by William Isaacs
• The First Minute by Chris Fenning
• Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg Mckeown
• Conscious Business by Fred Kofman
• Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes by William Bridges

Further reading:

• John Maeda’s book list (former Design Lead at Automattic)
• Excerpts from The Prophet
• Excerpts from The Four Agreements

If you’re an Automattician, we are happy to promote your professional development by paying for any book that promotes continuous learning.

Interested? Come work with us!