Discover the books that are making waves and transforming lives. Our Bestsellers collection features the most impactful, reader-loved titles across leadership, personal growth, workplace transformation, and social change. These standout books have resonated with audiences around the world—delivering timeless wisdom, actionable strategies, and bold ideas that spark real change. Whether you’re new to Berrett-Koehler or looking for your next great read, this is the perfect place to start.
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The bestselling coauthor of The Serving Leader (over 90,000 copies sold) provides a roadmap that all leaders can use to create and align entire organizations around an inspiring purpose that drives superior performance.
Bestselling author Margaret Wheatley and long-time Berkana Institute collaborator Deborah Frieze take readers on a learning journey into seven diverse communities that have walked out of limiting beliefs and practices and walked on to something new. From Brazil to Ohio, they demonstrate how each of these communities made a conscious choice to develop a healthier, more resilient world based on the idea to “create with what we have.”
Entrepreneur and executive development expert Mike Dulworth's THE CONNECT EFFECT provides readers with a simple framework and practical tools for developing that crucial competitive advantage: a high-quality personal, professional/organizational and virtual network.
The most successful organizations add a healthy dose of play into their daily or weekly routines. In fact, research has shown that when people actually enjoy their jobs they're more creative, more productive, and more committed to doing their jobs well. Companies like the Colorado Health Sciences Center and Southwest Airlines attest to the positive effect of fun at work. Both trace increased job satisfaction and decreased employee downtime to concerted efforts to make fun a part of their corporate identity.
With 301 Ways to Have Fun at Work , Dave Hemsath and Leslie Yerkes offer a complete resource anyone can use to create a dynamic workplace that encourages and inspires fun-and-games camaraderie among employees. It combines thorough research with practical hands-on tools, and features hundreds of ideas real companies have used to lighten up the workplace.
The authors surveyed over 1,500 individuals from organizations around the world and received enthusiastic responses that yielded a broad range of ways to spice up the work day. The suggestions in 301 Ways to Have Fun at Work include humorous training films, dress-up and dress-down days, silly job titles, awards for people who go "above and beyond the call of duty" when a coworker is on vacation, "ritual dances" at the completion of a project, a fashion show when it's time to choose a new uniform-even foam dart fights after meetings.
Hemsath and Yerkes offer ideas for instilling an element of fun into various business functions-from office environment, to meetings, training, communication, hiring, recognition, team building, and "simple acts of fun." In addition to the fun ideas in these chapters, a series of side bars, called "fun facts," "fun quotes," and "fun resources" offer humorous and interesting facts and statements about the effects of fun on workplace performance and job satisfaction, and direct readers to useful sources for products and services to enhance workplace "funativity."
Hemsath and Yerkes show that creating a fun atmosphere in the workplace increases productivity and morale and has a positive effect on the bottom line. Most importantly, they give readers the tools to have more fun at work, no matter where they work, or what position they're in.
With 301 Ways to Have Fun at Work , Dave Hemsath and Leslie Yerkes offer a complete resource anyone can use to create a dynamic workplace that encourages and inspires fun-and-games camaraderie among employees. It combines thorough research with practical hands-on tools, and features hundreds of ideas real companies have used to lighten up the workplace.
The authors surveyed over 1,500 individuals from organizations around the world and received enthusiastic responses that yielded a broad range of ways to spice up the work day. The suggestions in 301 Ways to Have Fun at Work include humorous training films, dress-up and dress-down days, silly job titles, awards for people who go "above and beyond the call of duty" when a coworker is on vacation, "ritual dances" at the completion of a project, a fashion show when it's time to choose a new uniform-even foam dart fights after meetings.
Hemsath and Yerkes offer ideas for instilling an element of fun into various business functions-from office environment, to meetings, training, communication, hiring, recognition, team building, and "simple acts of fun." In addition to the fun ideas in these chapters, a series of side bars, called "fun facts," "fun quotes," and "fun resources" offer humorous and interesting facts and statements about the effects of fun on workplace performance and job satisfaction, and direct readers to useful sources for products and services to enhance workplace "funativity."
Hemsath and Yerkes show that creating a fun atmosphere in the workplace increases productivity and morale and has a positive effect on the bottom line. Most importantly, they give readers the tools to have more fun at work, no matter where they work, or what position they're in.
We live in the midst of one of the greatest technological revolutions in history, an era of deep-seated transformation-a macroshift in civilization, says preeminent scholar and futurist Ervin Laszlo. Its signs and manifestations are all around us, from the deadly HIV/AIDS epidemic sweeping Africa and the dangerous fire-trap sweatshops routinely killing workers in Bangladesh, to the environmental havoc created by genetic engineering, power plant pollution and mechanized agriculture. The application of new technologies has turned into a double-edged sword.
The world is growing together in some respects, but is coming apart in others. Worldwide economic globalization, another sign of the macroshift, all too often benefits the few rather than the many. Hundreds of millions live at a higher material standard of living, but thousands of millions are pressed into abject poverty. The richest 20% earn ninety times the income of the poorest 20%, consume eleven times as much energy, and eat eleven times as much meat.
There have been other macroshifts in human history, but they spanned centuries, allowing cultural values, beliefs, and change to occur gradually. Today, technology has reduced our time to adapt; the entire critical period of change is compressed into the lifetime of a generation.
Today's macroshift, explains Laszlo, harbors great promise, as well as grave danger. He outlines two possible scenarios: "The Breakdown," where we choose to drift without a change in our current direction toward chaos, anarchy, and destruction, or "The Breakthrough," where we collectively transform our thinking and behavior to produce creative, sustainable solutions to dangerous global problems. And he shows what each of us can do-politically, professionally, and privately-to bring about the Breakthrough and shape a humane and sustainable global future.
While technology is what drives the unprecedented speed of this macroshift, it is our vision, values, and actions now that will ultimately determine the outcome. The choice is up to us-the power is in our hands.
The world is growing together in some respects, but is coming apart in others. Worldwide economic globalization, another sign of the macroshift, all too often benefits the few rather than the many. Hundreds of millions live at a higher material standard of living, but thousands of millions are pressed into abject poverty. The richest 20% earn ninety times the income of the poorest 20%, consume eleven times as much energy, and eat eleven times as much meat.
There have been other macroshifts in human history, but they spanned centuries, allowing cultural values, beliefs, and change to occur gradually. Today, technology has reduced our time to adapt; the entire critical period of change is compressed into the lifetime of a generation.
Today's macroshift, explains Laszlo, harbors great promise, as well as grave danger. He outlines two possible scenarios: "The Breakdown," where we choose to drift without a change in our current direction toward chaos, anarchy, and destruction, or "The Breakthrough," where we collectively transform our thinking and behavior to produce creative, sustainable solutions to dangerous global problems. And he shows what each of us can do-politically, professionally, and privately-to bring about the Breakthrough and shape a humane and sustainable global future.
While technology is what drives the unprecedented speed of this macroshift, it is our vision, values, and actions now that will ultimately determine the outcome. The choice is up to us-the power is in our hands.
High performers get passed over every day, and this book explains exactly why, through the story of one man's quest to find out what great leaders are actually made of.
From the international bestselling coauthor of The Secret, this business fable follows Blake Brown, a driven professional who does everything right and still loses the promotion he wanted. His mentor sends him on a journey to meet five of his late father's colleagues, and what Blake discovers changes how he understands leadership entirely.
The core insight is simple but often overlooked: Skills, execution, and industry knowledge are necessary but not sufficient. What separates good leaders from great ones lives deeper, in character.
Inside this book you will find
This book is especially useful for high performers who feel stuck, first-time managers building their leadership identity, and organizations looking for development tools that connect with readers emotionally as well as intellectually.
Leadership is not reserved for a select few, and this book is built to prove that.
From the international bestselling coauthor of The Secret, this business fable follows Blake Brown, a driven professional who does everything right and still loses the promotion he wanted. His mentor sends him on a journey to meet five of his late father's colleagues, and what Blake discovers changes how he understands leadership entirely.
The core insight is simple but often overlooked: Skills, execution, and industry knowledge are necessary but not sufficient. What separates good leaders from great ones lives deeper, in character.
Inside this book you will find
- the five specific character traits that define exceptional leaders,
- a story-based format that makes complex ideas easy to absorb and remember,
- a clear framework for diagnosing why capable people plateau in their careers,
- practical insight for anyone who wants to lead in a way that earns genuine followership, and
- a fast, engaging read designed for busy professionals.
This book is especially useful for high performers who feel stuck, first-time managers building their leadership identity, and organizations looking for development tools that connect with readers emotionally as well as intellectually.
Leadership is not reserved for a select few, and this book is built to prove that.
Every organization dreams of having enough leaders, and yet so few do; bestselling author Mark Miller shows how any organization can build its leadership capacity from the ground up to the C-suite.
The most important attribute high-performing organizations have in common is that they are well led. Every organization dreams of having enough leaders. Yet too many organizations take a haphazard or inconsistent approach to leadership development. The result is a dearth of leaders and a failure to leverage the full capacity of the enterprise.
Leadership guru and Chick-fil-A executive Mark Miller describes how any organization can create a culture in which leaders are routinely and systematically developed, resulting in a surplus of leaders. Miller details how to nurture leaders throughout the organization, from the front lines to the executive ranks. He provides a game plan for organizations to create a deep leadership bench.
To help bring the ideas to life, Miller uses the story of Charles, a new executive, as he and his team discover best practices from around the world to ensure a continuous supply of capable leaders. Charles and his team then translate their findings into a practical plan that any organization can use to create a leadership culture that will assure a sustainable competitive advantage and long-term success.
The most important attribute high-performing organizations have in common is that they are well led. Every organization dreams of having enough leaders. Yet too many organizations take a haphazard or inconsistent approach to leadership development. The result is a dearth of leaders and a failure to leverage the full capacity of the enterprise.
Leadership guru and Chick-fil-A executive Mark Miller describes how any organization can create a culture in which leaders are routinely and systematically developed, resulting in a surplus of leaders. Miller details how to nurture leaders throughout the organization, from the front lines to the executive ranks. He provides a game plan for organizations to create a deep leadership bench.
To help bring the ideas to life, Miller uses the story of Charles, a new executive, as he and his team discover best practices from around the world to ensure a continuous supply of capable leaders. Charles and his team then translate their findings into a practical plan that any organization can use to create a leadership culture that will assure a sustainable competitive advantage and long-term success.
Previous editions of Affluenza described the early symptoms of the disease that led to a nearly fatal shutdown of all our financial systems in 2008. This new edition puts more focus on the behavior changes we need to make to be certain that the Great Recession does not become a prelude to something worse.
"We had no vehicle. We didn't know how or if we could continue heading south. I was in a vast, seemingly endless desert. I didn't know when or if we'd make it to the other side. I didn't even know where the other side was. It wasn't in Algeria. I knew that much. Was it in Niger? Where does the Sahara actually end?"
We live in a culture, Donahue writes, which loves "climbing mountains." We want to see the peak, map out a route, and follow it to the top. Sometimes this approach works, but not always, particularly when we are enduring a personal crisis-divorce, job loss, addiction, illness, or death. We may not know exactly where we are going, how to get there, or even how we'll know we've arrived.
And it's not just in times of crisis. There are many deserts in our lives, situations with no clear paths or boundaries. Finding a job is usually a mountain, but changing careers can be a desert. Having a baby is a mountain, especially for the mom. But raising a child is a desert. Battling cancer is a mountain. Living with a chronic illness is a desert.
In the desert, we need to follow different rules than we follow when conquering a mountain. We need to be more intuitive, more patient, more spontaneous. Donahue outlines six "rules of desert travel" that will help us discover our direction by wandering, find our own personal oases, and cross our self-imposed borders.
"The sun appears like a silent explosion, a slow motion fireworks display dazzling the volcanic crags of the Hoggar. I stand up and walk to the path and begin descending to Klaus' car. I've made my decision. Tallis and I will travel, somehow, to Agadez. I don't have a logical explanation for my decision or a plan to get to the last oasis. I know I am on the right journey-I am following my compass."
Shifting Sands shows us how to slow down, reflect, and embrace the changes of life graciously, naturally, and courageously.
We live in a culture, Donahue writes, which loves "climbing mountains." We want to see the peak, map out a route, and follow it to the top. Sometimes this approach works, but not always, particularly when we are enduring a personal crisis-divorce, job loss, addiction, illness, or death. We may not know exactly where we are going, how to get there, or even how we'll know we've arrived.
And it's not just in times of crisis. There are many deserts in our lives, situations with no clear paths or boundaries. Finding a job is usually a mountain, but changing careers can be a desert. Having a baby is a mountain, especially for the mom. But raising a child is a desert. Battling cancer is a mountain. Living with a chronic illness is a desert.
In the desert, we need to follow different rules than we follow when conquering a mountain. We need to be more intuitive, more patient, more spontaneous. Donahue outlines six "rules of desert travel" that will help us discover our direction by wandering, find our own personal oases, and cross our self-imposed borders.
"The sun appears like a silent explosion, a slow motion fireworks display dazzling the volcanic crags of the Hoggar. I stand up and walk to the path and begin descending to Klaus' car. I've made my decision. Tallis and I will travel, somehow, to Agadez. I don't have a logical explanation for my decision or a plan to get to the last oasis. I know I am on the right journey-I am following my compass."
Shifting Sands shows us how to slow down, reflect, and embrace the changes of life graciously, naturally, and courageously.
What if better questions could change everything?
The questions you ask yourself shape every decision, relationship, and result. This international bestseller—over 500,000 copies sold—gives leaders, coaches, and professionals a proven system called Question Thinking to shift from reactive, stuck thinking to curiosity, clarity, and breakthrough outcomes.
Through an engaging business fable, Dr. Marilee Adams shows exactly how—and why—it works.
The landmark fifth edition includes the following:
Used by Fortune 500 leaders, executive coaches, educators, and therapists worldwide.
With a foreword by #1 New York Times bestselling author and world's #1 executive coach, Marshall Goldsmith.
The questions you ask yourself shape every decision, relationship, and result. This international bestseller—over 500,000 copies sold—gives leaders, coaches, and professionals a proven system called Question Thinking to shift from reactive, stuck thinking to curiosity, clarity, and breakthrough outcomes.
Through an engaging business fable, Dr. Marilee Adams shows exactly how—and why—it works.
The landmark fifth edition includes the following:
- 14 Question Thinking tools, including 2 brand-new tools built from reader feedback
- The Choice Map, a visual framework for recognizing where your thinking is headed
- Q-Storming, a collaborative approach that generates better questions, not just answers
- New chapter on thriving through AI and technological change
- Step-by-step practices for leadership, coaching, team development, and personal growth
Used by Fortune 500 leaders, executive coaches, educators, and therapists worldwide.
With a foreword by #1 New York Times bestselling author and world's #1 executive coach, Marshall Goldsmith.
As Ken Blanchard, John Carlos, and Alan Randolph clearly demonstrated in their previous bestseller, Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute, empowerment is not a goal that can be achieved in a minute. Empowerment is a process that requires ongoing effort, awareness, and commitment to transforming the hierarchy. This essential guide offers managers detailed, hands-on answers to their real-life questions about how, exactly, they can navigate the journey to empowerment.
Written in an easily accessible Q&A format, the book closely examines and expands on the three keys to empowerment originally presented in Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute-sharing information, creating autonomy through boundaries, and replacing the hierarchy with teams. It clearly outlines the promises and challenges of each stage of the journey, providing managers with thought-provoking questions, clear advice, effective activities, and action tools that will help them create a culture of empowerment. Wherever they are in the journey, managers will find a clear roadmap in this user-friendly action guide.
Written in an easily accessible Q&A format, the book closely examines and expands on the three keys to empowerment originally presented in Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute-sharing information, creating autonomy through boundaries, and replacing the hierarchy with teams. It clearly outlines the promises and challenges of each stage of the journey, providing managers with thought-provoking questions, clear advice, effective activities, and action tools that will help them create a culture of empowerment. Wherever they are in the journey, managers will find a clear roadmap in this user-friendly action guide.
There is a growing epidemic afflicting people working in social change that is rarely talked about - burnout. Laura van Dernoot Lipsky, bestselling author of Trauma Stewardship, offers The Age of Overwhelm as the salve for healing.
Burnout is affecting people working towards social change and is a major obstacle slowing our potential for progress. The Age of Overwhelm reveals effective applications for self-care that ensures how readers can continue to show up to tackle systemic problems. A way to show up more effectively is to think small. The challenge to showing up is that everything is built into a big issue or obstacle that drains energy and becomes an insurmountable task, which fosters frustration and anxiety. The tools in this book are based on the general operating principle that less is more. Doing less of what we usually do and instead focusing on a "smaller" aspect results in more impact in general while also preserving our physical and mental well-being. The Age of Overwhelm distills four key elements that allow readers to continue contributing to causes without suffering burnout. Lipsky teaches readers how to work towards focused and achievable goals, release pain with self-care, and be open to continual learning while letting go of what can't be controlled. Particularly in times of political turmoil and increased isolation, there is a critical need for self-care for people who are working towards long-term equality.
Burnout is affecting people working towards social change and is a major obstacle slowing our potential for progress. The Age of Overwhelm reveals effective applications for self-care that ensures how readers can continue to show up to tackle systemic problems. A way to show up more effectively is to think small. The challenge to showing up is that everything is built into a big issue or obstacle that drains energy and becomes an insurmountable task, which fosters frustration and anxiety. The tools in this book are based on the general operating principle that less is more. Doing less of what we usually do and instead focusing on a "smaller" aspect results in more impact in general while also preserving our physical and mental well-being. The Age of Overwhelm distills four key elements that allow readers to continue contributing to causes without suffering burnout. Lipsky teaches readers how to work towards focused and achievable goals, release pain with self-care, and be open to continual learning while letting go of what can't be controlled. Particularly in times of political turmoil and increased isolation, there is a critical need for self-care for people who are working towards long-term equality.
Positive psychology and organizational guru Larry Senn shows readers how allowing room for your mood swings rather than suppressing them can lead you to be more successful and happy.
Mood swings are a common, almost universal experience-especially in a world as full of unpredictable, uncontrollable changes and chances as ours. People know they have good and bad moods, but most have never thought of them as an emotional elevator they ride and can have influence over. Perhaps they've even tried to suppress their moods and refuse to acknowledge the ride at all.
Larry Senn implores us to take our changing moods seriously and ride the mood elevator, which can help us all be more effective leaders and greatly impact our personal lives. At the top floors, we find ourselves to be grateful, wise, creative, resourceful, and hopeful. At the bottom, we can be depressed, angry, stressed, judgmental, and defensive. The Mood Elevator provides a framework and a series of simple pointers and illustrative stories that help us see that without taking the full ride, we can't access the top floor moods without remembering that we have to build up from the bottom.
The Mood Elevator shows us that we create our own moods through our own thinking and, in the end, have control over the direction we head. The book provides simple steps for readers to quickly change their thinking to create better emotional states based on their environments.
Mood swings are a common, almost universal experience-especially in a world as full of unpredictable, uncontrollable changes and chances as ours. People know they have good and bad moods, but most have never thought of them as an emotional elevator they ride and can have influence over. Perhaps they've even tried to suppress their moods and refuse to acknowledge the ride at all.
Larry Senn implores us to take our changing moods seriously and ride the mood elevator, which can help us all be more effective leaders and greatly impact our personal lives. At the top floors, we find ourselves to be grateful, wise, creative, resourceful, and hopeful. At the bottom, we can be depressed, angry, stressed, judgmental, and defensive. The Mood Elevator provides a framework and a series of simple pointers and illustrative stories that help us see that without taking the full ride, we can't access the top floor moods without remembering that we have to build up from the bottom.
The Mood Elevator shows us that we create our own moods through our own thinking and, in the end, have control over the direction we head. The book provides simple steps for readers to quickly change their thinking to create better emotional states based on their environments.
Presenting to senior decision makers can be a terrifying "through the looking glass" moment. The stakes are high-one presentation can make or break a career-but the rules are utterly unclear. This book is an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to thrive, not just survive, in a top-level meeting.
The updated edition of the Arbinger Institute's international bestseller—a practical guide to the one mindset shift that improves performance, strengthens relationships, and transforms organizational culture.
Most conflict and disengagement share a common root: an inward mindset. When people focus primarily on their own goals—often without realizing it—they see others as obstacles rather than as people with real needs. The Outward Mindset shows what becomes possible when that changes.
Drawing on real stories from corporations, law enforcement, military units, and families, the Arbinger Institute provides a clear framework and practical tools for making the shift—at the individual, team, and organizational level.
What's inside:
Most leadership books focus on behavior. The Outward Mindset works at the level beneath behavior—the way we see people—because that's the only change that lasts.
Widely used as a team read and leadership development text. Pairs with Arbinger's Leadership and Self-Deception and The Anatomy of Peace but works as a complete standalone.
Most conflict and disengagement share a common root: an inward mindset. When people focus primarily on their own goals—often without realizing it—they see others as obstacles rather than as people with real needs. The Outward Mindset shows what becomes possible when that changes.
Drawing on real stories from corporations, law enforcement, military units, and families, the Arbinger Institute provides a clear framework and practical tools for making the shift—at the individual, team, and organizational level.
What's inside:
- A framework for diagnosing inward versus outward mindset in yourself and your team
- Real case studies from high-stakes environments
- Tools for making the shift durable, not just momentary
- A new preface, updated case studies, and Arbinger's latest research
Most leadership books focus on behavior. The Outward Mindset works at the level beneath behavior—the way we see people—because that's the only change that lasts.
Widely used as a team read and leadership development text. Pairs with Arbinger's Leadership and Self-Deception and The Anatomy of Peace but works as a complete standalone.
Most leaders assume they're good communicators. What they're actually doing—most of the time—is telling. And telling, even when well-intentioned, is a subtle power move that shuts people down, withholds critical information, and quietly erodes trust.
Humble Inquiry makes the case for a different approach: asking questions you genuinely don't know the answers to, from a posture of curiosity rather than authority.
What you'll find inside this fully updated third edition:
Best for: managers, leaders, coaches, healthcare professionals, and anyone navigating complex, interdependent teams. This is a mindset shift, not a script.
Foreword by Michael Bungay Stanier. Based on Edgar H. Schein's fifty years of research at MIT. Over 300,000 copies sold.
Humble Inquiry makes the case for a different approach: asking questions you genuinely don't know the answers to, from a posture of curiosity rather than authority.
What you'll find inside this fully updated third edition:
- The ORJI cycle—why conversations go wrong in a split second, and how to interrupt the pattern
- A levels-of-relationship model to diagnose where your team is—and how to move toward real openness and trust
- Why hierarchy and “tell” culture actively undermine psychological safety—and what to do about it
- A new chapter on humble inquiry in remote and hybrid work (spoiler: it works—and may work better)
- Reader exercises, twelve mini case studies, and a discussion guide for teams
Best for: managers, leaders, coaches, healthcare professionals, and anyone navigating complex, interdependent teams. This is a mindset shift, not a script.
Foreword by Michael Bungay Stanier. Based on Edgar H. Schein's fifty years of research at MIT. Over 300,000 copies sold.