read – thinking about enterprise architecture

For me non-fiction reading is typically done via audio books as more sticks in my head, and I digest so many books it is the quickest way, but that is personal preference.

technology and business

If you are an architect then 37 Things is the book you wish you’d found in the beginning, but better late than never. Lean Enterprise was groundbreaking, and still is for any large shop. You can’t go past a good selection of Platform business model books, like Revolution, and the blue books has some good guidance on the underline technology. Finally today everything is about integration so keep the classic handy, and lets hope v2 on conversation patterns hits the shelves soon.

lean thinking, systems thinking and decision making

Cognitive bias understanding is key to better decision making and Thinking Fast and Slow is the absolute classic among classics of all psychology books, though I’d go audiobook for sure with this one. Blind Spot is also great, and adding a really interesting real world story with Midnight in Chernobyl is a nice way to bring it all home. Systems thinking is vital for architects and Ackoff is a giant, as is Meadows. Finally get it all moving with the classic Nudge.

philosophy and psychology

The underappreciated power of western and eastern knowledge is unpacked below. Bertrand Russell gives what is still the best overview of western philosophy, but in my view you can’t beat eastern philosophy with the likes of Zen Mind, Mengzi, Dogen, and the contemporary Sadguru, and to merge this all together Jay Garfield stands alone (the master Alan Watts is in the Listen section). For psychology Jonathan Haidt is fantastic, along with Sam Harris. It is well worth reading some Confucius, though please call him Kǒngzǐ (Master Kǒng). Finally you cannot beat the Lao Tzu’s classic Tao Te Ching, and if you only read one eastern philosophy book then this won’t help as you won’t understand it (Alan Watts has some good talks on it that are easier to digest for the beginner).

life and other stuff

Much of the above will let you to need to have Impossible Conversations, and there is a practical guide below. It also helps if you have your own difficult conversations yourself and Think Again. Many architects are introverts and Quiet will change your life, it really will, and if I’d have found one book on this page at 20 it would have been Quiet. Minimalism is another great life aid. Sapiens gives great context. Finally Merit is wonderful, and really does make us much more humble about what we achieve.