The best 53 Decision-Making books

Power vs. Force (2014) explains how anyone can tap into their inner power to change their lives and the lives of those around them. It demonstrates that with consciousness, intention and discernment, anyone can find their truth and follow it toward a more fulfilled and impactful life. 

The Science of Happily Ever After (2014) digs into the history of mating throughout the history of the human species and answers the question of why some couples live happily ever after and some don’t. Part history and anthropology lesson, part self-help, it offers explanations and advice for anyone seeking love.

This title provides you with valuable insights and guidelines that will help you focus your life on the things that are truly the most meaningful. You’ll learn how to set your priorities, make the best decisions, and develop a keen vision for the future. If you’re looking to create positive change in your life, this book is a great place to start!

Noise (2021) is an exploration into the chaotic and costly role that randomness plays in human judgment. By uncovering the mechanisms behind how our minds and societies work, the authors show how noise – unwanted variability in decisions – is both inescapable and elusive. We can, however, with a few solid strategies, make our judgments less noisy and our world fairer.

Blink examines the phenomenon of snap judgments, meaning the split-second decisions we make unconsciously. These snap judgments are important decision-making tools, but can also lead to bad choices and all manner of problems. Blink explains how we can best make use of them.

In Know Thyself (2021) cognitive neuroscientist Stephen M. Fleming lays out the basic principles of metacognition – the way we think about what we think. This revealing book shows by understanding of our metacognitive processes, we can turn them to our advantage, to make accurate, informed judgments.

The message of Nudge is to show us how we can be encouraged, with just a slight nudge or two, to make better decisions. The book starts by explaining the reasons for wrong decisions we make in everyday life.

Financial Intelligence (2013) is an accessible handbook that helps managers and decision makers interpret financial data and understand its importance.

Start, Stay, or Leave (2023) provides practical advice for individuals at any stage of their career who are seeking guidance on how to make informed and fulfilling career decisions. Doing so relies on the importance of self-awareness, defining one's purpose and values, and creating a clear plan for achieving one's goals. 

The abundance of choice that modern society presents us with is commonly believed to result in better options and greater satisfaction. However, author Barry Schwartz argues that too many choices can be detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. Through arguments based on current research in the social sciences, he demonstrates how more might actually be less.

The Great Mental Models (2019) provides a crash course on how to upgrade your thinking and decision making. Drawing from a wide variety of disciplines, it will equip you with nine of the most essential tools for understanding and navigating the complicated world around you.

What’s it about?

The Slight Edge (2005) explores the power of all the small choices we make every day. Far from being insignificant, they are a step in our journey toward success or failure.

The Power of Regret (2022) is a rebuttal of the “no regrets” worldview. Drawing from human psychology, it shares actionable steps for transforming emotion into action and using past disappointments to shape purposeful futures. 

Predictably Irrational (2010) explains the fundamentally irrational ways we behave every day. Why do we decide to diet and then give it up as soon as we see a tasty dessert? Why would your mother be offended if you tried to pay her for a Sunday meal she lovingly prepared? Why is pain medication more effective when the patient thinks it is more expensive? The reasons and remedies for these and other irrationalities are explored and explained with studies and anecdotes.

The Self-Driven Child (2018) shows us how our instinct to control our children’s lives can result in stressed-out, uncooperative, and poorly motivated kids. Instead, the book argues, we should try to help our children come to informed decisions themselves – and trust them to make the big calls. 

How to Decide (2020) investigates the way we make decisions, as well as common types of bias and faulty techniques that afflict them. It teaches you how to identify different types of decisions, and then design practical processes to help slow down or speed up the deliberation process accordingly.

No Rules Rules (2020) sets out the principles of Netflix’s unique company culture, based on employee freedom and responsibility, and optimized for maximum innovation. In doing so, it charts the incredible journey of Netflix, a start-up fairytale.

Rationality (2021) explores the faculty that sets us apart from other species: reason. The ability to think rationally drives individual and social progress. It allows us to attain our goals and create a fairer world. But rationality isn’t just something we do as individuals – it also sustains our best institutions.

The book identifies the main issues that typically stand in the way of decision making: a narrow view on our problems, short-term emotions, and overconfidence when it comes to predicting the future. It gives knowledgeable insight into how our decisions are formed and how to avoid making bad ones.

Decision Making and Problem Solving (2019) explains decision-making, problem-solving, and creative thinking. It provides instructions for building and improving these skills and explores the importance of these abilities enabling you to expand your practical thinking capacity.

The Great Mental Models Volume 3 (2021) is the third book in a series that shows how mental models from various disciplines can be applied to make positive changes to your life. This volume focuses on mental models from systems and mathematics. It demonstrates how you can use cognitive tools to improve everything from decision-making and relationships to healthy eating and personal productivity.

The Leading Brain (2017) dismisses the trends and gimmicks surrounding productivity in favor of hard science about how the brain really works in the everyday stress of a nine-to-five job. There is plenty of research and scientific data on how to create productive habits, build the perfect team and keep staff working at their best.

Wild Problems (2022) is an exploration of decision-making, particularly when it comes to the thornier issues of life that can have the deepest impact. Although the modern world offers algorithms and practical approaches to doing so, calculations are not always the best way to a life well lived.

One Decision (2020) is a guide to understanding the various thinking patterns that determine whether we see obstacles or opportunities. It breaks down why we often base decisions on the bleak outlook created by rigidity and confusion and provides practical tools for fostering an opportunity mindset and making life-changing decisions.

You’re About to Make a Terrible Mistake! (2020) deals with the negative but often predictable effects that cognitive biases have on high-stakes decisions. Far from claiming that biases can be eliminated altogether, it demonstrates how every decision is colored by bias and outlines specific techniques that’ll help you make more rational, fact-based business decisions.

The Hour Between Dog and Wolf is an illuminating look at the influence of human physiology on the thinking and behavior of stock market traders. The author, inspired by his experiences on the trading floor, investigates the hormonal basis of financial decision making, and demonstrates the way in which the body’s mechanisms can destabilize our financial markets. The book also explains what can be done to reduce the detrimental effects of our biology on the market, and even how we can use this knowledge to our financial advantage.

Why We Make Mistakes is about the kinds of mistakes we commonly make, and the reasons behind them. With a broad focus encompassing neuroscience, psychology and economics, the book provides convincing explanations for our often fallible perception, our inability to recall simple data and the many biases that direct our decision making without us being aware.

The Next Right Thing (2019) takes a fresh look at common decision-making wisdom. Drawing upon personal anecdotes as well as stories from the Bible, these blinks offer soulful advice to guide you through decision fatigue or chronic hesitation so that you can find your next right thing.

The Marshmallow Test explains why being able to delay gratification and exercise our self-control is essential for living a successful life. Using insights gained from several psychological studies, it explains how exactly our self-control skills function, and what we can do to improve them.

Both/And Thinking (2022) offers a new framework for decision-making. With an either/or mindset, your world appears full of complex choices and difficult sacrifices. By adopting a both/and mindset, you can transform tough choices into fruitful opportunities – no sacrifices necessary.

The Desire Map (2014) is your guide to harnessing the positive power of desire. From fostering creativity to providing motivation for you to chase your goals, desire with a healthy dose of self-awareness can help you on your way to fulfillment.

Strategic Kaizen (2021) examines the principles and practices of corporations that have embraced lean thinking – a paired-down, customer-oriented production process pioneered in postwar Japan. Also known as the Toyota Production System, this managerial philosophy is all about maximizing efficiency and reducing waste by making many small changes. 

The Scout Mindset (2021) explores two very different mindsets: that of the soldier and that of the scout. It explains that most of us have a soldier mindset – we cling to our beliefs and often ignore evidence that might prove us wrong. But we can all learn to be scouts, seeking out truth and improving our “map” of the world.

Why Managers Matter (2022) outlines the benefits and drawbacks of different company organizational styles. It explains when and why a company might prefer hierarchies vs. a bossless environment depending on its workflows.

Thinking 101 (2022) asserts that by understanding and overcoming thinking biases, we can better solve or even avoid most problems, from everyday conflicts to larger societal issues. 

From building a wine cellar to finding your happily ever after, modern life is increasingly ruled by number crunching and algorithms. Super Crunchers (2007) is about the sheer power of the large data sets that are fed into algorithms and the way they’re revolutionizing our businesses, medical treatment and even our governments.

Don’t Trust Your Gut (2022) turns that tried-and-true wisdom about trusting your gut on its head. Not only does trusting your gut instinct often lead you to make the wrong decision, there’s a pretty foolproof method to ensure you make the right decision – analyzing the available data and acting on it.

The Prepared Leader (2022) is a guidebook for those seeking insights on how to manage and persevere through a crisis. One thing is certain: it won’t be long before another crisis hits. The Prepared Leader shows how you can be ready and successful in weathering the next storm.

Meetings That Get Results (2021) is a practical guide to the art of running more effective and efficient meetings. Designed for leaders tasked with facilitating meetings and group discussions, it emphasizes collaborative approaches to decision-making and problem-solving. 

Risk Savvy is an exploration into the way we misunderstand risk and uncertainty, often at great expense to our health, finances and relationships. However, if we better understand risk, we can develop the tools necessary to navigate this highly complex world without having to become an “expert in everything.”

You Are What You Risk (2021) explains how your relationship with risk defines your life in a unique way. Countless factors influence both how you perceive risk and how you respond to it.

Dedicated (2021) makes the case for commitment in an age of infinite browsing. Based on the author’s Harvard Law School graduation speech, “A Counterculture of Commitment,” it explores how keeping our options open creates inner tension – and why commitment is the solution. 

Framers (2021) takes a bird’s eye view of the issues facing our world today, from pandemics to political polarization, and presents a visionary solution. That solution lies with framing –⁠ the conscious or unconscious act of viewing the world through a particular lens. By recognizing and rethinking the frames we use, we can optimize our attitudes toward the world and give ourselves a leg up in the face of major social, economic, and scientific challenges.

Wiser (2020) combines a scientific approach to wisdom with practical tips on how to grow wiser today. Drawing on decades of research and cutting-edge studies, it pairs explanation and advice in its investigation of compassion, aging, decision-making, and more.

Dream Big (2020) shows us how we can reconnect with our dreams and turn them into reality. Rather than a life half-lived, Dream Big encourages us to dig into our deepest motivations, face our obstacles, and make plans for our most cherished ambitions.

Provoke (2021) draws lessons from provocative entrepreneurs who pinpointed key trends early and rode them to phenomenal success. What’s more, by outlining the key principles of future-oriented strategy, it shows how anyone can act to provoke the future outcomes they want for their business.

Through studies and anecdotes, these blinks explain why, when we make mistakes, we often come up with self-justifications instead of admitting the mistakes to ourselves. It also shows how detrimental these self-justifications can be to personal relationships, medicinal care, the justice system and even international relations.

Illogical (2022) is the story of how Emmanuel Acho, former pro football player turned media star, decided to take the illogical path to fulfill his potential and his dreams. Instead of following society’s rules, expectations, and constraints, he decided to break all of them –⁠ and in doing so, he became what he is today. And guess what? You can do the same.

Read the Face (2021) is a beginner’s guide to the millennia-old art and science of physiognomy, or face reading. It provides a brief history of the practice, outlines techniques and methods, and includes insightful case studies.

Honeybee Democracy (2010) traces the fascinating story of how bees decide where to build their new hive. Using highly evolved skills, like independent research and community debate, the bees’ deeply democratic decision-making process is a model we can all learn from. 

The Art of Choosing draws on the results of fascinating psychological experiments in order to offer you insight into how we make decisions. In this book, you’ll discover the common pitfalls that prevent us from making the right choices, and you’ll receive practical tips for making better decisions in the future.

Lessons from the Titans (2020) tells the stories of ten industrial companies in the United States. From General Electric to Boeing, Honeywell to United Rentals, it looks at which strategic decisions led to success and which disastrous missteps created new obstacles. By analyzing the past performance of such legendary businesses, it offers greater insight into which companies today will stick around – and which won’t. 

Everything Is Obvious offers insights into the failures of the most commonly used method of explaining human behavior: common sense. By offering sound solutions to common sense reasoning, this book gives the reader the tools to better attempt to understand human behavior.