Work Psychology books
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, 2011 – If you want to understand how people think and how and why they react, then this is a must read. Daniel Kahneman is a Nobel prize winner in Economics, but this book is all about how people think and react. It's very well written, but I will warn you, it's not an easy read. Plan to spend time reading this one. But it will be worth it for the understanding you get into why we do the things we do.
Redirect by Timothy Wilson, 2011 – If you want to know how to make permanent and lasting change in your behavior, or the behavior of someone you know, then this is the book to read. Wilson covers the recent and often very surprising research on interventions and therapies that result in people actually changing. Permanent behavior change is hard to come by. This book tells you what does and doesn't work based on research.
Drive by Daniel Pink, 2011 – What really motivates people? This book covers the research on human motivation in the last few years. It's well written, and an easy read, and will explode some long-standing beliefs.
The Invisible Gorilla by Chabris and Simon, 2011 – Chabris and Simon explain their research that shows how what we think we are seeing and experiencing is not really what's out there. A fun book about how we deceive ourselves.
How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer, 2009 – There's been a big controversy lately about Jonah Lehrer. But that surrounds his later book, Imagine. No matter what people are saying and writing about Jonah Lehrer, How We Decide is a great book. It's my favorite book on the topic of decision-making. It came out after I wrote my book Neuro Web Design: What makes them click?, or I would have quoted this book many times in my book. It’s a small book, and has lots of research in it, but it is quite readable. Highly recommended if you want to understand the how and why of human decision-making.
by Timothy Wilson, 2004 – This is the second book by Timothy Wilson on my list, and it's the book that actually got me started seriously on the topic of the unconscious. I had read Blink (Malcolm Gladwell) and although that was an interesting book, I wanted more depth and detail. Gladwell referenced Wilson’s book so I started reading it and light bulbs went off for me. This one is a bit more academic and psychological, especially the first few chapters, but all in all, a great book with lots of interesting insights and strong research.
by Dan Gilbert, 2007 – This is a fun read. I don’t think it’s really about Happiness, so I don’t totally understand the title. To me it’s mainly about memory of the past, and anticipation about the future, and the research on how accurate or inaccurate we are about both past and future. It’s full of fascinating research, but is written in a very readable way.
, by Robert Cialdini, 2006 – This is a newer version of the original book that came out several years ago. This book is the “granddaddy” of all the other books on the topic of persuasion. A very worthwhile read. Interesting too, because at the time he originally wrote this book each chapter had a section on how to RESIST the persuasive techniques. He wasn’t a proponent of using them; he wanted you to know about them so you wouldn’t fall prey. He did a turn-around on that mindset for his later work.
