Thinkers50 announces its Top 10 Best New Management Books

PRESS RELEASE
10 June 2024

Thinkers50 announces its 2024 Management Classics Booklist

LONDON – Thinkers50, the global authority on management thinking, has unveiled its 2024 Top 10 Best New Management Books. Spotlighting the freshest ideas in thought leadership, the Best New Management Booklist addresses some of the pressing challenges facing business and management today. 

Among the authors featured on this year’s list are five from the Thinkers50 2023 Ranking: Amy Edmondson with Right Kind of Wrong: Why Learning to Fail Can Teach Us to Thrive; Adam Grant with Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things; Frances Frei and Anne Morriss with Move Fast and Fix Things: The Trusted Leader’s Guide to Solving Hard Problems; and Zeynep Ton with The Case for Good Jobs: How Great Companies Bring Dignity, Pay, and Meaning to Everyone’s Work.

‘The Best New Management Books are the ones that have the potential to change the way people think about and practice management,’ explains Thinkers50 co-founder Stuart Crainer. 

‘They offer a fresh perspective on how organisations are managed – and how they could be managed.’

Also included on the prestigious list are four authors from the Thinkers50 2024 Radar: Ludmila Praslova (Radar 2024) with The Canary Code: A Guide to Neurodiversity, Dignity, and Intersectional Belonging at Work; Martin Gonzalez (Radar 2024) with The Bonfire Moment: Bring Your Team Together to Solve the Hardest Problems Startups Face (co-authored with Josh Yellin); Dan Pontefract (Radar 2018) with Work-Life Bloom: How to Nurture a Team that Flourishes; and Marga Hoek (Radar 2019) with Tech for Good: Imagine Solving the World’s Greatest Challenges.

Books were selected from nominations and canvassed opinions from within the Thinkers50 Community, which comprises many of today’s most eminent business thinkers and practising managers. Nominations were invited for books that excel in the 3Rs:

Relevance: does the book address a current, pressing issue or challenge?

Rigour: is the book well researched and based on real-world examples?

Readability: is the book accessible, insightful, and inspiring?

The only rules were that books had to be published after January 2023 and participants could not nominate their own book.

Rounding off this year’s list are The Anxious Achiever: Turn Your Biggest Fears into Your Leadership Superpower by Morra Aarons-Mele (shortlisted for the Thinkers50 2023 Leadership Award) and Autonomous Transformation: Creating a More Human Future in the Era of AI by Brian Evergreen (shortlisted for the Thinkers50 2023 Breakthrough Idea Award).

As well as the Best New Management Booklist, Thinkers50 also announces an annual Management Classics Booklist for books which have stood the test of time and remain powerfully relevant today. View the 2024 Classics Booklist, which was released on 13 May.

‘With these two annual lists we are building an indispensable guide for those who want to understand the past, present, and future of management and business,’ says Thinkers50 co-founder Des Dearlove, 

‘The Thinkers50 Community is curating a shelf of must-have books for busy managers.’

In alphabetical order, this year’s top 10 Best New Management Books are:

Autonomous Transformation: Creating a More Human Future in the Era of AI by Brian Evergreen (Wiley, July 2023)

‘In an age of anxiety about AI, Brian Evergreen asks the big questions about the changes we need to make to our political, economic, and management systems to ensure that this new technology does not rob us of our humanity. Whether you want to radically rethink capitalism or uphold it, this is a must-read!’ – Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor 

Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things by Adam Grant (Viking, October 2023)

‘This brilliant book will shatter your assumptions about what it takes to improve and succeed. I wish I could go back in time and gift it to my younger self. It would’ve helped me find a more joyful path to progress.’ – Serena Williams, tennis champion, entrepreneur

Move Fast and Fix Things: The Trusted Leader’s Guide to Solving Hard Problems by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss (HBR Press, October 2023)

‘This hands-on playbook shows readers how to accelerate change and transform organisations while also nurturing a culture of trust, inclusivity, and collaborative problem-solving.’ – Kathleen Hogan, EVP and CHR, Microsoft

Right Kind of Wrong: Why Learning to Fail Can Teach Us to Thrive by Amy Edmondson (Cornerstone, September 2023)

‘Amy Edmondson’s intelligent, warm and funny Right Kind of Wrong will take you through the landscape of failure – the good ones that we learn from, the stupid ones we wish we could roll back, and the catastrophic ones we would all benefit from collaborating to avoid. It’s packed with examples and stories and lands with some meaningful ideas about how you can cultivate awareness to, indeed, fail well.’ –  Rita McGrath, Thinkers50 Ranking, author of Seeing Around Corners

Tech for Good: Imagine Solving the World’s Greatest Challenges by Marga Hoek (Routledge, November 2023)

‘Marga Hoek illustrates the deep relationship between good leaders and Tech for Good. Rather than simply urge us to take responsibility for new innovations, she shows us how to leverage those technologies for a better future.’ – Paul Polman, Thinkers50 Ranking, co-author of Net Positive

The Anxious Achiever: Turn Your Biggest Fears into Your Leadership Superpower by Morra Aarons-Mele (HBR Press, April 2023)  

‘If you are a high achiever and you know – you just know – that you could achieve even more and be happier if you could wrestle your anxiety to the ground, this is your playbook. Aarons-Mele’s book is well-researched, highly practical, searingly candid, and deeply empathic. Riveting.’ – Whitney Johnson, Thinkers50 Ranking, author of Smart Growth 

The Bonfire Moment: Bring Your Team Together to Solve the Hardest Problems Startups Face by Martin Gonzalez and Josh Yellin (Harper, May 2024) 

‘If you’ve ever wondered, Why is it so hard to get things done around here?! Martin and Josh not only offer a structured teardown of why, but also a practical guide on what to do about it. For anyone aspiring to leadership – startup or otherwise – The Bonfire Moment will leave you with examples, frameworks and language you can’t unsee.’ – Gorick Ng, Thinkers50 Radar, author of The Unspoken Rules

The Canary Code: A Guide to Neurodiversity, Dignity, and Intersectional Belonging at Work by Ludmila Praslova (Berrett-Koehler, May 2024)

‘Give everyone in your organisation a copy of this, read it together, and then open your eyes to the magic of the multiple layers of diverse people with whom you’ve been gifted. Embrace them, welcome them, and ultimately, learn to include them. None of us are included until we’re all included.’ – Ron Carucci, author of Rising to Power

The Case for Good Jobs: How Great Companies Bring Dignity, Pay, and Meaning to Everyone’s Work by Zeynep Ton (HBR Press, July 2023)

‘No matter what you thought you knew about the inevitability of lousy, low-wage jobs, this book will change your mind. Whether you’re a CEO, a policy maker, or a cold-hearted economist like me, The Case for Good Jobs will show you how people are underrated, and how their demoralising, low-productivity jobs are not only avoidable but downright wasteful – for the workers themselves, for their firms, and for their firms’ customers.’ – David H. Autor, professor at MIT, co-director of MIT Shaping the Future of Work Initiative

Work-Life Bloom: How to Nurture a Team that Flourishes by Dan Pontefract (Figure-1 Publishing, December 2023)

‘Dan Pontefract’s Work-Life Bloom turns the conventional wisdom about work and life on its head. If you truly want your teams to thrive, read this refreshing indispensable guide now.’ – Dorie Clark, Thinkers50 Ranking, author of The Long Game