Learning: Adult Learning | Childhood Education | Cognitive Sciences & Brain-based Learning | Experiential Learning | General Education | eLearning, Online Learning | Learning Culture | Learning Disabilities | Learning Styles | Motivation | Pace, Time, and Learning Environment | Teaching & Home-schooling | Training Business | Whole-body Learning

Organizational Practices: Leadership & Management | People-focused Organizations | Planning & Strategy | Productivity & Human Performance Improvement

Design & Communication: Graphic Design | User Experience, UI, Web Design, Human Factors & Usability | Visual Learning | Writing, Reading, Speaking

Some of Our Favorite Books

Some of these are new, some old, all excellent!

Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All in Your Head. Carla Hannaford  (Great Ocean Publishing, 1995). This compelling heartfelt book explains how mental processes are accessed through physical movements and can be significantly improved with little or no difficulty. It offers both the science and the exercise to help become more aware of how movement enhances learning and your capacity to learn. See more on whole-body learning.

Serious Play: How the World's Best Companies Simulate to Innovate. Michael Schrage (Cambridge, Harvard Business School Press: 1999). A compelling examination of how companies develop prototypes to create better products. See more on Planning & Strategy.

A Mind at a Time. Mel Levine M.D. (Simon & Schuster, hb March 2002, pb January 2003). Levine’s book addresses the individualized learning and social needs of children. He writes in the style of a comforting medical doctor dispensing sage advice. I spent some time with Dr. Levine several years ago and I was very impressed with his ability to turn complex scientific research into practical suggestions that help children succeed. See more on childhood education.

The Power of Mindful Learning. Ellen J. Langer (Persius, 1998). This book explains that real learning takes place in a mindful environment, one that provides a context for the subject you’re studying and allows you bring something of yourself into the process. Full of terrific examples and suggestions, this is a book I return to, mindfully, all of the time. See more on Adult Learning.

Simplify Your Life: 100 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Things That Really Matter. Elaine St. James (Hyperion, 1994). This is the single most influential book in my life. Quick to read, long to influent. Thank you, Elaine! Also, Inner Simplicity: 100 Ways to Regain Peace and Nourish Your Soul. Elaine St. James. (Hyperion, 1995)

Spiritual Serendipity: Cultivating and Celebrating the Art of the Unexpected. Richard M. Eyre (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997). How to approach life with a sense of wonder, light-heartedness, and faith. Also, Lifebalance: Balancing Work With Family and Personal Needs, Balancing Structure With Spontaneity, Balancing Achievements with Relationships. Linda Eyre, Richard Eyre (Fireside, 1997). See more on Balancing Life.

A User’s Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain. John J. Ratey, M.D. Vintage Books, 2002. From one of my favorite medical writers, this book offers tidbits from neuroscience research and plain common sense to suggest how the brain develops and manifests personality and behavior. See more on cognitive sciences & brain-based learning.

Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine. Donald A. Norman (1993). Also, The Design of Everyday Things Donald A. Norman (Currency Doubleday, 1990 reissue). See more on User Experience, UI, Web Design, Human Factors & Usability

The Monster Under the Bed: How Business is Mastering the Opportunity of Knowledge for Profit. Stan Davis, Jim Botkin. (1994). See more on productivity & human performance books

Adult Learning

The Adult Learner: The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development (5th edition). Malcolm S. Knowles (Houston, Texas: Gulf Publishing, 1998). This book takes you through all of the major educational theories in a clear and no-nonsense style. This book is by no means easy-reading but very thorough and a terrific primer for anyone interested in learning more about adult and traditional education. Also see The Modern Practice of Adult Education: From Pedagogy to Andragogy. Malcolm S. Knowles (1980).

The Book of Learning and Forgetting. Frank Smith (Teachers College Press, 1998). This book explains the mistake teachers make by using rote learning instead of helping make learning  enjoyable and remembered for a lifetime.

The Emergence of Learning Societies: Who Participates in Adult Learning?

Helping Adults Learn. Alan B. Knox, 1986.

How Adults Learn. J.R. Kidd. 1978.

How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition. John D. Bransford, M. Suzanne Donovan, and James W. Pellegrino, editors. (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 2000) This heavy book bridges the research and practice on how children and adults learn and includes information on the role that technology can play in helping people learn.

Human Learning, 4th ed. Jeanne Ellis Ormond. (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 2006) This textbook offers a deep, thorough, and contemporary study of all aspects of adult education—written especially for people interested in how to apply theories and principles to educational practices.

Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide (2nd edition). Sharan B. Merriam, Rosemary S. Caffarella (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998) An excellent textbook that combines the most important contributions to adult learning in the last decade. The text examines the context of adult learning, the nature of adult learners, aspects of the learning process, and theory in adult education.   Also see The New Update on Adult Learning Theory: New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education #89. Sharan B. Merriam. The Profession and Practice of Adult Education: An Introduction. Sharan B. Merriam (Jossey-Bass, 1996) and Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education. Sharan B. Merriam and Phyllis M. Cunningham, editors (1989)

Learning How to Learn: Applied Theory for Adults. Robert M. Smith (1982). This book is out of print but you can sometimes find copies through Amazon.com's used-book listings. You might want to check out Smith's other book, Helping Adults Learn How to Learn. Robert M. Smith (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1983)  

Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way. Idries Shah (Penguin, reprint 1996). Using the Sufi tradition, this book demonstrates how your basic assumptions and conditioned thinking prevent you from learning and how changes can help you remain attentive and receptive to learning new things.

Learning To Learn. Gloria Frender (Incentive, 1990)

Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach: The Power of Dialogue in Educating Adults. Jane K. Vella (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997)

Learning Together and Alone: Cooperative, Competitive, and Individualistic Learning

The Making of Mind. A.R. Luria

Master it Faster. Colin Rose.

The Mind Map Book: How to Use Radiant Thinking to Maximize Your Brain's Untapped Potential. Tony Buzan. Plume, reprint 1996. This is the classic text on how to create mind maps that can help you organize your thoughts in order to learn and create in new and powerful ways. See more on innovation & creativity and visual learning.

The Mind of a Mnemonist. This is the book that inspired Oliver Sacks' writing.

Peak Learning: How To Create Your Own Lifelong Education Program For Personal Enlightenment And Professional Success by Ronald Gross. (J. P. Tarcher, reprint 1999). This book offers readers chapters of tips on how to be more creative and productive, written primarily for business people and the efficiency-minded. The author has a reputation as a stellar educator, the book is frequently cited as great book for adults to learn about learning, and covers a broad range of work-related topics.

Self-Directed Learning: A Practical Guide to Design, Development, and Implementation. George M. Piskurich. Jossey Bass, 1993.

Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning. Jack Mezirow. Jossey-Bass, 1991. This book offers an in-depth analysis insight of how your perceptions are transformed by learning.

Understanding and Facilitating Adult Learning: A Comprehensive Analysis of Principles and Effective Practices. Stephen D. Brookfield. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, reprint 1991) This classic covers adult motives and learning processes, self-directedness, andragogy, the facilitator's role, learning in informal settings, learning in formal settings, program development, and evaluation.

Ageless Issues

Age Power: How the 21st Century Will Be Ruled by the New Old. Ken Dychtwald. J. P. Tarcher, 1999. This book reminds us that in the 20th century, the number of Americans ages 65 and older increased from 3 million to 33 million and that this number is likely to double by 2035. The author also cautions that we are woefully unprepared and offers a wakeup call on how to prepare ourselves and our society for the change this shift will bring.

Age Wave: How the Most Important Trend of Our Time Will Change Our Future by Ken Dychtwald (Bantam, reissue 1990). Based on 15 years of research by a world-renowned expert on aging, this the book explores the profound effects our aging population, and the changing demographics that go with it, will have on every aspect of society, and on our personal plans and dreams for the future — with a section on how we will need to rethink the cycles of schooling and work. You can also visit the accompanying website.

Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old. Deepak Chopra, M.D. Three Rivers Press, reissue 1998. This book offers exercises and an Eastern philosophical approach to the issues of aging that are insightful and worth working through.

Cycles: How We Will Live, Work, and Buy by Maddy Dychtwald. The Free Press, 2003. This book explains in easy-to-understand terms the pivotal aspects of the lifecycle revolution and their impact on you, on society, and on business-at-large. An entire chapter is dedicated to the new need for lifelong learning.

Geeks and Geezers. Warren G. Bennis, Robert J. Thomas. Harvard Business School Press, 2002. This book tells the tales of 40 successful leaders, young (aged 21-34) and old (aged 21-34), to evaluate the effect of era on values and success. The two groups vary in terms of their ambitions, heroes and family lives, but members of both sets share one common experience: all have undergone at least one intense, transformational experience, that they have learned from and that influences their work each day. A terrific read!

Generations at Work: Managing the Clash of Veterans, Boomers, Xers, and Nexters in Your Workplace. Ron Zemke, Claire Raines, Bob Filipczak (AMACOM, 2000)

Harold and the Purple Crayon. Crockett Johnson. (Harper, Reissue 1981) A classic for all ages!

Learn to Remember. Dominic O'Brien. Chronicle Books, 2000. In this beautifully illustrated and clearly written book, you will learn many learning strategies to improve your memory no matter your age.

Never Too Late: My Musical Life Story. John Holt. Perseus, reprint 1991. This book offers a glimpse into how the educator and educational reformer, John Holt, continued to learn throughout his own life with truly inspirational stories and heart-felt challenges.

Balancing Life

Anatomy of Spirit. Carolyn Myss.

Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity. David Whyte.

Inner Simplicity: 100 Ways to Regain Peace and Nourish Your Soul. Elaine St. James (Hyperion 1995). This book offers a path to the simpler life through meditation, solitude, making spirituality a regular part of the day, and getting in touch with your creativity. I carry this book on every trip I take because the beautiful style and message in this little book always reminds me what’s most important in life and how to de-clutter what’s around me and inside me.

Leadership and the New Science: Learning About Organization from an Orderly Universe Margaret J. Wheatley, 1999. This beautifully written has been a favorite of mine for years. Completely revised you'll thoroughly enjoy this book if you missed it the first time around. If you read it in 1994, you might want to look again!

Living the Simple Life: A Guide to Scaling Down and Enjoying More Elaine St. James. Hyperion, 1998.

Living Your Best Life: Discover Your Life's Blueprint For Success. Laura Berman Fortgang (J. P. Tarcher, 2002)

Peripheral Visions: Learning Along the Way by Mary Catherine Bateson. Perennial, reissue 1995. This first-person narrative offers the authors journey to find her own path, learning as she went. A beautifully written book that offered as much detail as it offered insight.

Self-Help Stuff That Works. Adam Khan. A no-nonsense collection of principles that cross many themes.

A Simpler Way Margaret J. Wheatley, Myron Kellner-Rogers. 1996. Outstanding!

Simplify Your Life: 100 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Things That Really Matter. Elaine St. James. Hyperion, 1994. This is the single most influential book in my life. Quick to read, long to influent. Thank you, Elaine!

Slowing Down to the Speed of Life: How to Create a More Peaceful, Simpler Life from the Inside Out.

Spiritual Serendipity: Cultivating and Celebrating the Art of the Unexpected by Richard M. Eyre (Simon & Schuster, 1997) This book is about life, thought, feelings, intuition and faith without ever being sermon-like or preachy. In this book, the author convinces you that serendipity is a way of life and an attitude that can help you bring together happy accidents with a sense of understanding for what should be. This book describes and helps you create a life filled with the creativity, fun, happiness, joy, and productivity so many of us miss. This book provides a way to feel connected in a world with far too many steps and not enough direction.

Start Where You Are by Pema Chodron

Take Time for Your Life: A Personal Coach's Seven-Step Program for Creating the Life You Want. Cheryl Richardson. Broadway Books, reprint 1999. This books teaches you how to become your own life coach, showing you how to switch from being stressed, unfulfilled, and overworked, to living a life you love. See more books on coaching.

Taking Charge of Your Fertility. Toni Weschler. Should be required reading for all women

Aveda Rituals: A Daily Guide to Natural Health and Beauty. Horst Rechelbacher Owl Books, 1999.

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom. Don Miguel Ruiz. This simple books point out that the key to changing your life is making 4 agreements with yourself. This easy read can give you a whole new, very liberating, perspective.

The Invitation Oriah Mountain Dreamer. Harper, 1999.

Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui. Karen Kingston.

Turn It Off! How to unplug from the anytime, anywhere office without disconnecting your career. Gil E. Gordon. Three Rivers Press. 2001. This book offers a framework that anyone can use to divide the week’s 168 total hours into three zones determined by how much we're willing to be “on duty” at any given time so you can attend most to what matters most to you. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your job creeping into your personal life, this book is for you.

Intuitive Healer. Marcia Emery.

Time and the Art of Living Robert Grudin

Lifebalance: How to Simplify and Bring Harmony to Everyday Life—Balancing Work with Family, Balancing Structure With Spontaneity, Balancing Achievements With Relationships. Linda Eyre and Richard Eyre (Fireside, 1997) In sharp contrast to the slew of books available that urges you to make the most of every moment of your day, this book espousing an approach to living that emphasizes balance between personal and professional demands. This is one of my very favorite books and one that does a terrific job of helping you create a schedule right for you.

First Things First: To Live, to Love, to Learn, to Leave a Legacy by A. Roger Merrill, Rebecca R. Merrill, and Stephen R. Covey (Fireside, reprint 1996). This was the first book I read on goal-setting, and even though I have read many since it’s the one I always come back to.

Balanced Life and Leadership Excellence Madan Birla. Balance Group, 1997. Birla tells how he has gained balance and taught leadership even while working at often stressful FedEx. He has a wonderful writing style and a terrific book.

Reclaiming Higher Ground: Creating Organizations That Inspire the Soul Lance H. K. Secretan, Hardcover 1997.

A Year to Live: How to Live This Year As If It Were Your Last by Stephen Levine (Bell Tower, 1977). This sobering but life-enhancing book helps you make choices that really matter by living this year as if it were your last.

The Working Mother’s Guide To Life: Strategies, Secrets, And Solutions. Linda Mason (Three Rivers, 2002)

How Much Joy Can You Stand: A Creative Guide to Facing Your Fears and Making Your Dreams Come True (Revised, updated, and with new chapters). Susanne Falter-Barns. Wellspring, 2000.

Call to Connection: Bringing sacred tribal values into modern life: by Carole Kammen and Jodi Gold (1998).

The Hungry Spirit Beyond Capitalism: A Quest for Purpose in the Modern World. Charles Handy. Broadway Books, Reprint edition 1999.

Simplicity: The New Competitive Advantage. Bill Jenson. Persius Books (pbk), 2000. Business information doubles about every three years. In other words, if your job is complex now, in three years you'll have twice as much noise to sift through just to get your work done. If you're looking for a new way, you'll enjoy this great contribution to the business literature. Read some Simpler Bites. Link updated 12/18/01

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey (Fireside, Reprint 1990, c1989)

The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism by Richard Sennett, Norton 1998. Business Week review.

Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership. Joseph Jaworski, 1996

The Five Tibetans: Five Dynamic Exercises for Health, Energy and Personal Power Christopher S. Kilham

The Herbfarm Cookbook: A Guide to the Vivid Flavors of Fresh Herbs by Jerry Traunfeld.

Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An inquiry into values Robert M. Pirsig, 1984 reissue. One of the most influential books I have ever read and one I revisited recently, finding more valuable than ever.

Also check out Amazon.com's Video Yoga Center.

How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life by Alan Lakein (NY: Dutton, 1974)

Power Sleep by James B. Maas (NY: Harper Collins, 1999)

The Time Trap by R. Alex MacKenzie (NY: AMACOM, 1997)

Unlimited Power by Anthony Robbins NY: Simon & Schuster, 1997)

Childhood Education

When I grow up I want to be me. Sandra Magsamen. Orchard Books, 2002. Written specifically for 4-8 year old girls, this beautifully illustrated, activity-packed book helps children reflect on who they are and what values they hold in a cheerful, positive, and encouraging way.

All That You Are. Woodleigh Marx Hubbard

Discover Your Child’s Learning Style: Children Learn in Unique Ways—Here’s the Key to Every Child’s Learning Success. Mariaemma Willis, Victoria Kindle-Hodson. Prima Publishing, 1999. This workbook helps parents take into account a child’s talents, interests, preferred learning environment, and disposition in an easy to understand and written in practical way. See more books on learning styles & personality types.

The Essential 55: An Award-Winning Educator’s Rules For Discovering The Successful Student In Every Child by Ron Clark (Hyperion Press, May 2003)

Baby Minds: Brain-Building Games Your Baby Will Love. Linda Acredolo, Susan Goodwyn. Bantam Doubleday, 2000. This book is a delightful guide for parents based on the most up-to-date research of how babies discover the world. It is a great source of useful ideas for constructive fun to have with baby from 0 to 3 years.

Rhythms of Learning : What Waldorf Education Offers Children, Parents & Teachers (Vista Series, V. 4) Rudolf Steiner, Roberto Trostli (Paperback)

Learning All the Time by John Holt (Perseus, reprint, 1990). This book for parents and teachers challenges many widely accepted classroom-practices and offers specific suggestions for alternative ways to help encourage children to learn in settings inside and outside a classroom.

A Mind at a Time. Mel Levine M.D. (Simon & Schuster, hb March 2002, pb January 2003). Levine’s book addresses the individualized learning and social needs of children. He writes in the style of a comforting medical doctor dispensing sage advice. I spent some time with Dr. Levine several years ago and I was very impressed with his ability to turn complex scientific research into practical suggestions that help children succeed.

The Myth Of Laziness: America’s Top Learning Expert Shows How Kids And Parents Can Become More Productive. Mel Levine M.D. (Simon & Schuster, hb 2003, pb will be released January 2004. In a follow-up to A Mind at a Time, this book helps readers understand motivation. See more on motivation

Schoolproof: How to Help Your Family Beat the System and Learn to Love Learning the Easy Natural Way. Mary Pride

Coloring Outside the Lines. Roger C. Schank. Quill, 2001. One of my favorite learning pundits shatters several myths about how children learn and offers candid advice for parents who want to raise kids with gumption, ambition, creativity, inquisitiveness, and analytic and verbal proficiency.

The Complete Guide to the Learning Styles In-service System Rita Stafford Dunn, Kenneth J. Dunn.

How to Implement and Supervise a Learning Style Program. Rita Stafford Dunn. Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development, 1996. This slim easy-to understand book offers guidelines and tips for introducing a learning styles program in your workplace or at school, taking into account the cognitive, physiological, and sociological aspects of learning. Also see adult learning.

Learning How to Learn. L. Ron Hubbard

Evolution's End: Claiming the Potential of Our Intelligence Joseph Chilton Pearce

How Your Child Is Smart: A Life-Changing Approach to Learning. Dawna Markova and Anne R. Powell. Conari Press, 1992. This book takes an in-depth look at visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning and teaches parents how to identify their child’s pattern so they can help them think, learn, and communicate to the best of their ability. The book also provides specific guidelines to enhance communication with children of each pattern.

C Is for Curious: An ABC of Feelings/2 Is for Dancing: A 1-2-3 of Actions (2 Books in 1). Woodleigh Hubbard Marx

Coaching & Mentoring

Coaching for Performance: Growing People, Performance and Purpose, (3rd edition). John Whitmore. Nicholas Brealey, 2002. This book is a comprehensive guide to practical coaching practices, complete with techniques that readers can adopt in their own careers.

The Handbook of Coaching: A Comprehensive Resource Guide for Managers, Executives, Consultants, and HR. Frederic M. Hudson. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999). This book offers a guide and resources for working and aspiring business and lifestyle coaching.

Take Time for Your Life: A Personal Coach's Seven-Step Program for Creating the Life You Want. Cheryl Richardson. Broadway Books, reprint 1999. This books teaches you how to become your own life coach, showing you how to switch from being stressed, unfulfilled, and overworked, to living a life you love. See more books on balancing life.

Cognitive Sciences, Brain-based Learning, and Thinking Skills

Keep Your Brain Alive: 83 Neurobic Exercises. Lawrence Katz, Manning Rubin (Workman Publishing, 1999). This small book does a great job introducing readers to fun and unusual activities which are suppose to strengthen neural pathways and therefore improve your brain-power.

The Brain Book Peter Russell. (New York: Plume, 1979).

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind Shunryu Suzuki, Trudy Dixon (Editor)

The Art of Thinking Allen F. Harrison, et al

A User’s Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain. John J. Ratey, M.D. (Vintage Books, 2002). From one of our favorite medical writers, this book offers tidbits from neuroscience research and plain common sense to suggest how the brain develops and manifests personality and behavior. See more books on attention & learning disabilities.

Brain Power: Learn To Improve Your Thinking Skills by Karl Albrecht (Simon & Schuster, 1992)

How Brains Think: Evolving Intelligence, Then and Now. William H. Calvin. Basic Books, 1997. This book offers an evolutionary perspective on how consciousness, abstract thought, and communication develop.

The Einstein Factor: A Proven New Method For Increasing Your Intelligence by Win Wenger, Richard Poe (Prima, 1995).

The Memory Workbook: Breakthrough Techniques To Exercise Your Brain And Improve Your Memory by Douglas J. Mason, et al (New Harbinger, 2001)

Mozart’s Brain And The Fighter Pilot: Unleashing Your Brain’s Potential. Richard M. Restak, M.D. (Three Rivers Press, 2002).

The Owner’s Manual for the Brain: Everyday Applications from Mind-Brain Research, 2nd ed. Pierce J. Howard. Bard Press, 2000. This accessible but not overly simplistic language, this book offers fascinating research and applications of how the human brain works. The Owner's Manual for the Brain (1st ed)

Unleashing the Ideavirus. Seth Godin. Download the book for free from Godin's website [requires Acrobat .pdf ] Godin wants to prove that ideas, like viruses, can become contagious and that information can spread most effectively from customer to customer, rather than from controlling marketer to the customer. He's also selling it in book form for $40 and expects it to sell.

Socrates’ Way: Seven Master Keys To Using Your Mind To The Utmost by Ronald Gross (J. P. Tarcher, 2002)

The Meme Machine

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks

The Memory Bible: An Innovative Strategy for Keeping Your Brain Young. Gary Small. Hyperion Books, 2002. This book offers a simple memory assessment that lets you focus a program of memory training that fits your needs and lifestyle. It gives practical tips on what you can do to improve your memory now, ranging from a healthy-brain diet to mental aerobics and simple stress-reduction techniques.

The Mind Map Book: How to Use Radiant Thinking to Maximize Your Brain's Untapped Potential. Tony Buzan. Plume, reprint 1996. This is the classic text on how to create mind maps that can help you organize your thoughts in order to learn and create in new and powerful ways. Also see innovation & creativity.

Training Complex Cognitive Skills: A Four-Component Instructional Design Model for Technical Training. Jeroen J. G. Van Merrienboer. Educational Technology Publications, June 1997.

Art of Memory Francis A. Yates

The Cerebral Code: Thinking a Thought in the Mosaics of the Mind. William H. Calvin. Bradford Books, 1998.

Conversations With Neil's Brain: The Neural Nature of Thought and Language. William H. Calvin, George A. Ojemann. Perseus Press, 1995.

How Brains Think: Evolving Intelligence, Then and Now. William H. Calvin.

How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Everyday Genius. Michael Gelb. Dell Books, reprint 2000. This book describes da Vinci’s life, accomplishments, and theories on approaching each day, and then suggests how to apply these principles to your busy life through exercises and thought-provoking stories. Also see innovation & creativity.

How We Know What Isn't So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life. Thomas Gilovich.

Irrationality: Why We Don't Think Straight! Stuart Sutherland. 1994.

Judgment Under Uncertainty Daniel Kahneman (Editor), et al.

Jump Start Your Brain Doug Hall & David Wecker. 1996.

Making Choices: A Recasting of Decision Theory. Frederic Schick. 1997.

Memory and Attention: An introduction to human information processing Donald A. Norman, Wiley 1969. <This book is no longer in print, but if you find a copy, get it!>

Mindmapping Joyce Wycoff. Berkley Books, 1991.

The Muse in the Machine: Computerizing the Poetry of Human Thought. David Hillel Gelernter. Free Press, 1994.

The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making Scott Plous. McGraw-Hill, 1993.

Research on Judgment and Decision Making: Currents, Connections, and Controversies. William M. Goldstein, Robin M. Hogarth (eds). 1997.

Teach Yourself To Think Edward de Bono

Thinking for a Change Michael J. Gelb. 1996.

How to Think About the Great Ideas: From the Great Books of Western Civilization. Mortimer Adler.

Tools for Thought: The History and Future of Mind-expanding Technology (2nd edition) by Howard Rheingold (MIT Press, 2000). The original version of this book can be found online at Rheingold.com

Community

In Good Company: How Social Capital Makes Organizations Work. Don Cohen, Laurence Prusak. Harvard Business School Press, 2001. This books offers compelling reasons why organizations should invest in having people learn from one another just as they invest today in physical infrastructure.

Satellite Sisters’ Uncommon Senses. Monica Dolan, Sheila Dolan, Liz Dolan, Julie Dolan. Berkley Publishing Group, 2002. This book tells the tales of four sisters who came together to launch a radio show and recount what they learned together while growing up. It’s a terrific volume of big-family wisdom to the range of experiences and issues we face in our grown-up lives. Visit the Satellite Sisters’ radio show website at www.satellitesisters.com.

Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future. Margaret J. Wheatley. Berrett-Koehler, 2002. This beautifully written book is devoted entirely to the role of conversation in healing everything from personal relationships to organizational dysfunction to world discord, offering specific suggestions for how people can use conversation to tackle the biggest challenges they face. Also see Writing, reading, and speaking.

Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity by Etienne Wenger (Cambridge University Press, 1999). This book presents a theory of learning that suggests that engaging in social practices and community is fundamental to all learning and developing who we are. Visit the accompanying website at www.cpsquare.com

Community of the Future. Drucker Foundation, Paperback, 1998 (Hardcover)

Net Gain: Expanding Markets Through Virtual Communities John Hagel and Arthur G. Armstrong, 1997.

Joy of Conversation: The Complete Guide to Salons Jaida n'ha Sandra. Lens Pub Co., 1997.

Hosting Web Communities Cliff Figallo. John Wiley & Sons, Paperback 1998. Want more info on this book? Check out this book's online site. View a review.

Interface Culture: How New Technologies Transform the Way We Create and Communicate by Steven Johnson. (San Francisco: Harper, 1999)

The Cluetrain Manifesto. Highlights the conversations and the emerging power of both customer and employee communities.

Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. Howard Rheingold. New York: Addison-Wesley, 1993. Note: This book is hard to find, but the author has an online version available on his web site!

New Renaissance: Computers and the Next Level of Civilization. Douglas S. Robertson. 1998.

Different Drummer: Community-making and Peace. M. Scott Peck, M.D. 2nd Ed. 1998.

Community Building on the Web: Secret Strategies for Successful Online Communities. Amy Jo Kim. Addison-Wesley, 1999.

Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace: Effective Strategies for the Online Classroom. Rena M. Palloff, Keith Pratt. Paperback, 1999.

Creating Learning Communities: A Practical Guide to Winning Support, Organizing for Change, and Implementing Programs. Jodi Levine & Nancy Larson Shapiro. Paperback 1999. See Note with Building Learning Communities (just above).

Release 2.1: A Design for Living in the Digital Age. Ester Dyson. Paperback, 1998. (Hardcover 1997. Release 2.0)

In the Community of Others: Making Community in the modern world. Claude Whitmyer (ed.) 1993.

Blueprint to the Digital Economy: Wealth Creation in the Era of E-Business. Don Tapscott, Alex Lowy, David Ticoll (Eds.) McGraw-Hill, 1998. (Paperback)

Bowling Alone. Robert D. Putnam, 2000.

Community Building: What Makes It Work. Paul Mattessich, Barbara Monsey, 1997.

Great Good Place. Ray Oldenburg.

Complexity & Life in Chaotic Time

Nobody in Charge: Essays on the Future of Leadership by Harlan Cleveland (Jossey-Bass, 2002). This book brings together a lifetime of essays on personal leadership and organization written by an incredible man who weaves his special interest in education through the themes of every chapter.

Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos by M. Mitchell Waldrop (Simon & Schuster, 1992). This book introduced me to complexity theory in a surprisingly easy-to-read way that can offer you insight into the interrelationship of not only our body and mind, but also our work and the environment around us and all living matter.

Birth of the Chaordic Age by Dee Hock. Berrett-Koehler, 1999.  If you've ever felt in your heart that modern-day organizations are not meeting the needs of those they serve, know you are not alone. Dee Hock, Founder and CEO Emeritus of VISA International felt that way for years and did something about it. He developed the concept of a global system for the exchanges of value and a unique new concept of organization for that purpose. This wonderfully irreverent book offers a deeper understanding of Dee's work written from 3-different perspectives, challenging, inspiring, and funny. It's a cohesive, very honest look at modern organizations and a new model for the next millennium.

Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot (Perennial, reprint 1992). This books explains the theory that despite its apparent tangible reality, the universe is actually a kind of three-dimensional projection and is ultimately no more real than a hologram, a three-dimensional image projected into space. This is one of those books that gets me to rethink everything I think I know about reality and perspective which means I try to read at least some of it at least once a year.

Powers of Ten: A Flipbook by Charles and Ray Eames (1998)

Wholeness and the Implicate Order. David Bohm. Routledge, 1996. All of Bohm's books are great; this is a good place to start.

Post-Capitalist Society Peter F. Drucker, Harper reprinted 1994. Quick read, worth every minute! Go to other productivity & human performance improvement books

The Art of the Long View: Planning for the future in an uncertain world. by Peter Schwartz (1996). Schwartz pioneered scenario based planning at SRI in the 1970s and 1980s. He's now President of the Global Business Network. Also see planning & strategy.

Weaving the Web: The Original Design and Ultimate Destiny of the World Wide Web by Its Inventor. Tim Berners-Lee, Mark Fischetti (Contributor). Harper, September 1999. (Paperback, 2000)

Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose your customers, narrow your focus, dominate your market Michael Treacy and Fred Wierseman, Addison-Wesley 1995

Competing for the Future Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad, Harvard Business School Paperback 1994

Scenarios: The art of strategic conversation. Kees Van der Heijden, Wiley 1996

Future Perfect Stan Davis, Paperback 1997

Learning from the Future: Competitive Foresight Scenarios Liam Fahey (Contributor) and Robert M. Randall (Editor)

Breakthrough: Everything you need to start a solution revolution. Debbe Kennedy (Leadership Solutions Publishing 1998)

Future Edge: Discovering the New Paradigms of Success. Joel Arthur Barker. Hardcover, 1992. Link updated 12/18/01

Paradigms: The Business of Discovering the Future. Joel Arthur Barker. Paperback, 1993

Strategic Planning Plus: An Organizational Guide. Roger Kaufman. 1992.

Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation Don Tapscott, Hardcover 1997.

Being Digital Nicholas Negroponte, Marty Asher (Editor), Paperback 1996.

Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-tech Products to Mainstream Customers Geoffrey A. Moore, Paperback. Newly updated in 1999.

Net Gain: Expanding Markets Through Virtual Communities John Hagel and Arthur G. Armstrong. Harvard Business Press, 1997.

New Rules for the New Economy: 10 Radical Strategies for a Connected World. Kevin Kelly. Paperback. Penguin USA, 1998. (Hardback)

The Work of Nations: Preparing Ourselves for 21st Century Capitalism. Robert B. Reich.

The Cluetrain Manifesto. Highlights the conversations and the emerging power of both customer and employee communities.

The Social Life of Information. John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid. Harvard Business School Press, 2000.

Flawed Advice and the Management Trap: How Managers Can Know When They're Getting Good Advice and When They're Not. Chris Argyris

The New Pioneers: The Men and Women Who Are Transforming the Workplace and Marketplace Thomas Petzinger Jr. Simon & Schuster. 1999. Wall Street Journal columnist, Thomas Petzinger, shows how a new breed of innovative leaders is changing the way successful companies do business through risk-taking entrepreneurism and a return to communitarian values.

The Guru Guide: The Best Ideas of the Top Management Thinkers. Joseph H. Boyett.

Simplicity: The New Competitive Advantage. Bill Jenson. 2000. A great contribution to the business literature. Read some Simpler Bites.

Blur: The Speed of Change in the Connected Economy Stanley M. Davis, et al. Paperback. Little Brown, 1999. (Hardcover, 1988)

Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-tech Products to Mainstream Customers. Geoffrey A. Moore. Updated 1999.

Blueprint to the Digital Economy: Wealth Creation in the Era of E-Business. Don Tapscott, Alex Lowy, David Ticoll (Eds.) McGraw-Hill, 1998. (Paperback)

The Digital Economy: Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence (hardcover) Don Tapscott 1995 (paperback Digital Economy, 1997)

The Digital Estate: :trategies for Competing, Surviving, and Thriving in an Internetworked World. Chuck Martin, et al, 1996.

Inside the Tornado: Marketing Strategies from Silicon Valley's Cutting Edge (hardcover) Geoffrey A. Moore. 1999, HarperCollins (paperback Inside the Tornado, 1998)

Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation Don Tapscott, Hardcover 1997

Rethinking the Future: Rethinking Business, Principles, Competition, Control & Complexity, Leadership, Markets and the World. Rowan Gibson.

Thriving on chaos Tom Peters. Harper and Row, 1987.

Organization of the Future (Drucker Foundation Future Series) Drucker Foundation. 1997. Great collection of insights from business leaders and thinkers.

The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism Richard Sennett, Norton 1998. Business Week review.

Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy Carl Shapiro, Hal R. Varian

Net Future: The 7 Cybertrends That Will Drive Your Business, Create New Wealth, and Define Your Future. Chuck Martin.

Enterprise One to One: Tools for Competing in the Interactive Age. Don Peppers, Martha Rogers.

Customers.Com: How to Create a Profitable Business Strategy for the Internet and Beyond Patricia B. Seybold, Ronni Marshak Times Books. Hardcover, 1998.

Management Challenges for the 21st Century Peter Drucker. HarperBusiness, 1999.

Customer Service on the Internet: Building Relationships, Increasing Loyalty, and Staying Competitive. Jim Sterne. Hardcover, 1996

Unleashing the Killer App Digital Strategies for Market Dominance. Larry Downes, et al.

Real Time: Preparing for the Age of the Never Satisfied Customer. Regis McKenna.

Burn Rate: How I Survived the Gold Rush Years on the Internet. Michael Wolff. Touchstone Books, 1999.

Frontiers of Management: Where Tomorrow's Decisions Are Being Shaped Today Peter Drucker. Penguin USA, 1999. Paperback.

Blown to Bits: How the New Economics of Information Transforms Strategy. Philip Evans, Thomas S. Wurster. HBSP, 1999.

E-Business: Roadmap for Success Ravi Kalakota, Marcia Robinson. Addison-Wesley, 1999.

JobShift: How To Prosper In A Workplace Without Jobs. William Bridges. Perseus Books, 1994.

Creating You & Co.: Learn To Think Like The CEO of Your Own Career. William Bridges. Perseus Books, 1997.

Managing Transitions: Making The Most of Change. William Bridges. 1991, Perseus Books

Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes. William Bridges. 1988, Perseus Books

The Witch Doctors, John Micklethwait & Adrian Wooldridge, 1997

The Guru Guide, Joseph Boyett & Jimmie Boyett, 1998

The Ultimate Business Library, 50 Books That Shaped Management Thinking, Stuart Crainer, 1997

First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently Marcus Buckingham, Curt Coffman. Simon & Schuster, 1999. Hardcover.

Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends, and Friends into Customers Seth Godin, Don Peppers. Simon & Schuster, 1999. Hardcover.

The Brand You: 50 Ways to Transform Yourself from an 'Employee' into a Brand That Shouts Distinction, Commitment, and Passion! Tom Peters. Knopf , 1999. Hardcover.

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Jeff Cox. North River, 2nd Ed. 1992. Paperback.

Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies James C. Collins, Jerry I. Porras. Harperbusiness, 1997. Paperback

Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies. Jared Diamond. Norton, 1999.

Non Zero: The Logic of Human Destiny. Robert Wright. Pantheon Books, 1998.

Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership. Joseph Jaworski, 1996

Education General

From Plato to Piaget: The Greatest Educational Theorists from Across the Centuries and Around the World. William, Ph.D. Cooney, et al.

Pedagogy of the Oppressed Paulo Freire, Myra Bergman Ramos (Translator), Donaldo P. Macedo (Introduction). Reissue, 2000.

To Know As We Are Known: Education As a Spiritual Journey. Parker J. Palmer. Harper, reprint 1993. This book does a terrific job of explaining the difference between education and schooling, and the conditions of how to create an environment for learning in all that we do.

Total Quality Education: Profiles of Schools that Demonstrate the Power of Deming's Management Principles, Michael J. Schmoker & Richard B. Wilson, 1993.

eLearning, Distance Learning, Online Learning and Web-based Training

The Computer Training Handbook: for Helping People to Learn Technology. Elliot Masie, Rebekah Wolman. 1998.

Designing Web-Based Training: How to Teach Anyone Anything Anywhere Anytime. William Horton. 2000.

Distance Training: How Innovative Organizations Are Using Technology to Maximize Learning and Meet Business Objectives. Deborah Schreiber, Zane Berge (eds.). 1998.

eLearning: Strategies for Delivering Knowledge in the Digital Age Marc Rosenburg. To be published fall 2000.

Engines for Education Roger Shank & Chip Cleary. Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc., 1995.

How to Design Self-Directed and Distance Learning: A Guide for Creators of Web-Based Training, Computer-based Training and Self-Study Materials. Nigel Harrison.

Technology-Based Training: The art and science of design, development, and delivery. Kevin Kruse, Jason Keil. 1999.

Virtual Learning: A Revolutionary Approach to Building a Highly Skilled Workforce. Roger Schank. McGraw-Hill, 1997.

Web-Based Training: Using Technology to Design Adult Learning Experiences. Margaret Driscoll, Larry Alexander. Hardcover with CD-ROM. Jossey-Bass, 1998.

Web-Based Training Cookbook Brandon Hall. Paperback with CD-ROM. John Wiley & Sons, 1997. Learn more about Brandon.

Web-Teaching: A Guide to Designing Interactive Teaching for the World Wide Web (Innovations in Science Education and Technology); David W. Brooks

Adult Literacy and New Technologies: Tools for a Lifetime, Office of Technology Assessment US Congress, 1993. <out of print>

Experiential, Action, and  Simulation-based Learning

Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Jean Lave, Etienne Wenger.

Situated Learning Perspectives.

The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies are Turning Knowledge Into Action by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton (Harvard Business School Press, 2000). This book describes the discrepancy between understanding something and taking action on it, largely caused by fear, and profiles successful companies that overcome them. While not called experiential education, that's what this book is about.

Experience and Education by John Dewey (Touchstone, reprint 1997). I reread this tiny book at least once a year, every year, to reground myself in how people learn and the importance of experience. Also see Art As Experience by John Dewey.

Failing Forward: How to Make the Most of Your Mistakes by John C. Maxwell (Thomas Nelson, 2000). This book offers inspirational advice for turning life's difficulties into stepping stones. It also offers examples from people who persevered after encountering adversity, learning from the failures instead of letting the mistakes derailed them.

Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There: New Maxims to Refresh and Enrich Your Life. Richard Eyre. Simon & Schuster, 1995. IN this light-hearted and insightful little book, you’ll learn how to rethink common clichés such as, “If a thing is just barely worth doing, then just barely do it,” so you can begin to challenge the ways you think about things and instead consider how they truly can help (or deplete) your life.

The Fifth Discipline Field Book: Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization. Peter M. Senge, Art Kleiner, Charlotte Roberts, Rick Ross, Bryan Smith. Doubleday, 1994. The pragmatic guide shows you how to create an organization of learners where memories are brought to life, where collaboration is the lifeblood of every endeavor, and where the tough questions are fearlessly asked.

Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. David Kolb.

Do It and Understand: The Bottom Line on Corporate Experiential Learning. Christopher C. Roland, Richard J. Wager, Robert J. Weigand. Kendall/Hunt, 1995. I met the authors of this book in the early 1990s at an AEE conference. At the time, I was quite impressed with their perspective and insight to the field. Many years later, when I stumbled upon this book, I was thrilled to find that the book equally conveyed their depth of knowledge and understanding of experience.

The Experience Economy. B. Joseph Pine, James H. Gilmore. HBSP, 1999. Read an excerpt.

Flow: The psychology of optimum experience. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Harper and Row, 1991. Also see Finding flow. Basic Books, 1997.

Quantum Learning: Unleashing The Genius In You. Bobbi Deporter (Dell Trade Paperback, 1992)