10 books to help you understand and work with complexity
My friends at Bring on the Zoo in The Netherlands publish a little series of bookmarks with resources for their clients and workshop participants. The asked me for a recommendation of 10 books to help you work with complexity and here’s what I came up with. I hope some of these are new to you.
Accessible Theory (Because you need theory)
Emergent Strategy, adrienne maree brown
A personal and vulnerable account of working in complexity with inspiration and resources you may have never seen before.
Simple Habits for Complex Times, Jennifer Garvey Berger and Keith Johnson
Accessible theory situated in stories that will help you relate to the leadership challenges posed by complexity.
Adaptive Action, Glenda H. Eoyang and Royce J. Holladay
Practical models and tools for understanding complex systems and shifting patterns
Facilitation (Because you need tools)
The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures, Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless
33 group methods grounded in good theory and practice which engage total participation
The Facilitators Guide to Participatory Decision Making, Sam Kaner, et. al.
The classic text for working through the stages of emergence in groups.
Going Horizontal, Samantha Slade
Applying participatory practices and methods to everyday organizational life.
The Circle Way, Christina Baldwin and Ann Linnea
The mother of all meeting methods, and the core of good facilitation practice.
The World Cafe, Juanita Brown et. al.
Beyond the method, and into the power of conversational leadership to transform.
Personal Practice (Because you need to keep it together)
Loving What Is, Byron Katie
A simple and profound practice for transforming your limiting beliefs
Comfortable with Uncertainty, Pema Chödron
Short teachings on how to stay present with compassion and courage when you don’t know what’s happening.
So there you go, that will get you started. And if you want to come over to Bowen Island to read them, and you want the view pictured above, come visit Zack and Renee at Tell Your Friends Cafe, on the pier.
I would definitely include Rosalind Armson’s book Growing Wings on the Way in a list of essential resources on practical application of complexity theory. Maybe one day Dave Snowden will actually write his book.
Thank you for sharing this Chris
Dear Chris, on behalve on the whole zoo a big thank you for this inspiring list. Will share the titles with our large international WE-team that works on human rights in factories. We collectively try to deepen our understandig on what it means to work in and with complexity. Hope that we can exchange insights and experienced at Bowen Island in 2020.
I recently read Cracking Complexity by David Komlos and David Benjamin. It’s a good introductory primer and has an insight into facilitation techniques.
https://www.amazon.com/Cracking-Complexity-Breakthrough-Formula-Anything-ebook/dp/B07H7GN1NZ/