Jessica Lahey gives every parent in the world reason to calm down and disengage from helicopter or snowplow parenting. In what could be a sister book to The Blessing of a Skinned Knee, The Gift of Failure reassures us that the real lessons in life are the ones that are personal, determined by our own decisions, and force us to look in the mirror and take aim at who we are and want to be.

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.

This book is a must read for any school in the midst of change as there are anecdotes and guidelines that are sure to be useful. An example of the kind of advice doled out is Kotter’s rule of thumb for vision explanation: “If you can’t describe the vision for a change initiative in five minutes or less and get a reaction of understanding and interest, you aren’t going to be successful.”

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.

Are you a Giver, Taker, or Matcher? In Give and Take, Adam Grant explains how our style of interacting with others shapes us and our organizations. One of his main claims is that Takers achieve short-term, individual success, but Givers are inherently better leaders.

Dare to Lead reads as though you are sitting down with Brene Brown for a gut check over a really strong cup of coffee (hold the artificial sweetener). Through her unapologetic tone, she lights a spark in that one corner of your heart, better yet, your soul that makes you sit straight up in your bed, grab your remote as though it’s a microphone, and say to yourself - “I can do this”.

The solid takeaways here (e.g., about 1 in 6 internet searches are new, more American families have Amazon Prime than own a gun, etc.) help us wonder how consumerism and technology will impact the world of learning. If you want to read about educational prototypes- go elsewhere. If you want to learn about the modern economy and then try to make connections to the future of education, there may not be a better book.

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.

In Thanks for the Feedback Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen address an incredibly important, yet rarely written about, concept: how we receive feedback from those around us. The three types of feedback: appreciation, coaching, and evaluation are teased out and concepts such as “wrong spotting” help us to understand how our natural tendency to protect our ego/identity gets in the way of evaluative feedback.

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.

Ibram X. Kendi blends research, personal anecdotes, and history together poetically to paint the picture of what it means to live out the title of this book. How to be an Antiracist will give you the definitions, background, and theories to guide you towards a new way of viewing your role in the world.

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.

Are your students discovering their talents and pursuing their passions? In The Element, Sir Ken Robinson explains why and how all humans should tap into their aptitudes and interests in order to find more fulfillment in life and prepare for the complex problems facing our ever-changing world.

In Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em, Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans walk the reader through the process of appreciating, learning from, and retaining top employees. Employers who are more interested in retaining quality rather than retraining quantity are sure to find a handful of nuggets to get them thinking about continuously “re-recruiting” their best people.

Andrew Hacker presents The Math Myth as America’s antidote to the global hysteria surrounding rigor and achievement at all levels of math study. He argues, quite convincingly, that the intensity in content level and pressure to understand is disconnected from what is needed for success in the real world.

In The Model Thinker, Scott E. Page takes the reader through the whys and hows of model thinking followed by dozens of models to help us understand the world. However, in the final analysis, this book is lacking in models that are directly impactful for educators, but knowing there are models out there that drive policy will cause all of us to make decisions using logic and data via the models we find adjacently relatable.

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.

If you are a model thinking junkie, Quiet Leadership by David Rock will whet your whistle and then some, as it’s full of complex and interwoven models. If you prefer fewer diagrams and acronyms, Rock will still push your thinking to make sure your conversations are leading others to think for themselves.

In The Tyranny of Metrics, Jerry Muller warns all leaders to be wary of overemphasizing data to make decisions/set policy. He provides examples from medicine, the military, education, and philanthropy to drive home the message that we often misuse data in a way that derails the mission of organizations.