In Upstream, Dan Heath teaches us to think about problem-solving from the root causes, as opposed to the normal focusing on the results. This is a great read for anyone interested in thinking about improving the world through ideas such as deploying ambulances more efficiently, providing housing to more people, and ensuring that more students graduate high school.

Joy, Inc. by Richard Sheridan is a blueprint for creating a workplace that people love. If you are interested in group dynamics, motivation, and industrial organization, you will find this book quite fascinating. If you lead a school, it will push your thinking, and if you are an edupreneur, it will give you ideas of different ways to structure your school.

For those interested in the complexities of thought, a deep dive into Farsighted will bring much satisfaction, as it broaches the uncommon topic of how we make important decisions. Models, such as storytelling and scenario planning, combined with warnings of “fallacy of extrapolation” and “anchoring” keep the reader engaged from page to page.

David Geurin’s Future Driven reads like he's been paying close attention to the education reform movement for the past decade, written down what he's learned on scraps of paper, and then compiled them into a book.

George Couros’, The Innovator’s Mindset convincingly makes the case that schools should exist to empower students to be innovative leaders, creators, problem finders, and problem solvers. He creatively introduces a blueprint for how schools can do this by introducing two different approaches focused on making meaningful connections by building trust and taking risks.

Uberland is a great read for anyone interested in how data/algorithms are being used to change the world we live in. It is also fun to extrapolate what algorithms could mean for more efficient leading and reporting out on learning.

If you do dive into this book, be prepared for Simon Sinek to walk you through many examples of organizations in which Why was the main driver and served as the tipping point for success (e.g., Southwest Airlines, Harley-Davidson, Apple). A great example of this phenomenon is Costco, who is so grounded in Why that they have a zero dollar budget for advertising and don’t have a single person devoted to public relations.

Frans Johansson tells stories that illustrate connections across seemingly dissimilar disciplines in order to emphasize his main idea: Intersection is the key to innovation. Most of the book is spent guiding the reader in terms of how to create the Intersection as frequently and efficiently as possible.

Adam Grant’s Originals doesn’t disappoint. He looks at a whole host of variables that play a role in how original ideas are spawned, accepted and rolled out to the world.