The best 28 New Work books

The Heart of Transformation (2021) is a how-to guide for changing an organization. It focuses on six specific capabilities that leaders can adopt to meet the demands of the twenty-first century.

How the Future Works (2022) provides a blueprint that company leaders can use to implement flexible work policies. It offers a step-by-step guide detailing how to manage this transition effectively so that organizations can benefit from this new way of working.

AI 2041 (2021) is a provocative work of speculative fiction with analysis that explores the ways in which AI will shake up our world over the next twenty years. We’re just at the beginning of the technological revolution that AI will bring. By imagining what that future will look like, we can start preparing for the changes to come.

Trust & Inspire (2022) provides a new leadership model. Instead of the traditional “Command and Control” approach, Covey proposes one that focuses on collaboration, trust and personal growth. It offers a new set of tools for inspiring and unlocking the massive potential of a modern workforce. 

Simple Truths of Leadership (2022) explores simple principles that elevate leaders from good to great. It reveals the common mistakes that leaders make – and uncovers the behaviors that result in better team performance and closer working relationships. 

The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety (2020) is a practical handbook for creating and maintaining psychological safety in the workplace. In order for employees to take risks, ask questions, challenge the status quo, and make mistakes – all while learning and growing – they have to feel included and safe. This book shows how leaders can reduce social friction while encouraging collaboration and innovation.

Learning Agile (2015) is a no-nonsense guide to an often misunderstood concept – agile. The reason for that misunderstanding is simple: all too often, agile is bandied about as a one-size-fits-all solution to every conceivable organizational difficulty. Longtime agile practitioners Andrew Stellman and Jennifer Greene don’t see it that way. For them, agile is a great tool, but you have to know how – and when and why – to use it. And that starts with getting a grasp on agile’s underlying principles. 

The Long-Distance Teammate: Stay Engaged and Connected While Working Anywhere (2021) is a guide to being a quality teammate while working remotely. It helps you navigate all the interpersonal issues that pop up when you’re no longer sharing an office with your coworkers, and gives advice on how to build connections with people you haven’t seen.

Leading from Anywhere (2021) is a guide to leading a remote team, covering everything from building a company culture, managing performance, and running virtual meetings to providing feedback to team members. In addition to setting out the best way to manage a team remotely, it makes a strong case for remote work in general. 

Evidence-Informed Learning Design (2020) takes stock of where learning and development in the workplace is today. While many learning myths are still encountered in contemporary workplace learning, there’re effective ways for learning professionals to identify them – and stamp them out. Once this is done, there are a number of fantastic techniques learning professionals can utilize to help assist employee learning.

Design for How People Learn (2015) is a practical guide for teachers, workshop leaders, and managers who want to create lessons that engage and inspire. It covers the science of how we learn and then shares the design principles that underpin successful lessons – no matter what’s being taught.

How to Thrive in the Virtual Workplace (2021) is a guide to working remotely. With tips for both organizations and individuals, it covers everything from the benefits of remote work to steps for implementing it successfully, and the tools and tricks that make it easy.

The Loop Approach (2019) presents a systematic approach to the transformation of organizations. Its toolkit of ideas and methods is designed to help even the largest organization change its bad habits, thus enabling it to adapt to the challenges of the future. 

The New Corner Office (2020) is a practical guide to succeeding in the world of remote work. This timely tome is filled with sensible advice for remaining creative and productive while working from home.

The 4 Day Week shows us a better way of working – one in which employees are able to maintain flexibility, preserve their well-being, and increase productivity. By avoiding all the pitfalls of the precarious gig economy and relieving the stresses that we’re inflicting on the planet, the four-day week is the future of work. 

The Adaptation Advantage (2020) explores how to navigate the future of work – without worrying about the robots taking over. It provides actionable insights on how to tap into uniquely human attributes like adaptation to excel.

Out of Office (2021) is about working from home, and the bigger, more fundamental questions about contemporary work culture that remote work illuminates. How can we reimagine work to make our lives more meaningful?

Learning at Speed (2022) is your guide to professional learning and development in the modern world. By adopting a lean methodology inspired by startups, L&D can help businesses thrive.

Workplace Learning (2019) argues that learning and development professionals have to offer more than the usual array of courses and seminars. If you want to help your company compete in today’s fast-moving world, Nigel Paine believes, you have to start building the right kind of organizational culture. That culture rests on two pillars: open communication and knowledge sharing. For Paine, these are the foundation for the kind of constant, day-to-day learning organizations need. 

The Learning and Development Handbook (2022) is a practical guide for human resources experts who want to upgrade how people learn in their organization without slavishly following new fads. So what’s their best bet? Michelle Parry-Slater thinks companies’ can benefit from the digital revolution, but only if they embed professional development in wider cultures of learning. That means one thing above all: working with the grain of human psychology, collective as well as individual. 

Workstyle: A revolution for wellbeing, productivity and society (2022) introduces the concept of workstyle: the freedom to choose when and where we work. By examining the outdated history of the standard 9 to 5 working week in the light of the modern digital age, the authors lay the foundation for an individualized and autonomous way of working. 

In Remote, you are given an inside look at a new kind of work relationship made possible by modern technology, called “remote work.” The book details companies’ common fears about allowing employees to work remotely and in contrast, outlines the many benefits of remote work. Importantly, it offers practical advice to managers who employ remote workers or are considering introducing remote work options for their company.

Brave New Work (2019) is an unusual guide to organizational change. Rather than prescribing techniques for corporate change, it offers suggestions and case studies. The real work of transformation is left up to you.

Holacracy (2015) describes a revolutionary new management system championed by some of today’s most forward-thinking companies, like Zappos and Medium. These blinks explain how authority and responsibility are defined and distributed within a Holacracy – and why this system leads to a more effective and dynamic organization.

The Business of Belonging (2021) explores how businesses can harness the power of online communities for the benefit of both themselves and their customers.

The Next Rules of Work (2021) is a kind of cookbook – or “landscape of ideas” – on what’s here now and what comes next in the world of work. It offers a new mindset, skillset, and toolset that’ll equip you to succeed today and in the future. 

Map it! The Action Mapping Book (2017) is a practical, hands-on guide for those in the business world that design training for fellow professionals. This revolutionary guide refocuses on solving problems in business and achieving measurable results. So if you’re longing to dump those ineffective webinars and boring slide stacks look no further—Map it! Will help you focus on what the problems are, how they got that way, and what everyone can do about it for provable results. 

Flexible Working (2021) is a practical guide to organizing work outside the standard nine-to-five. This helpful handbook explores the diverse array of working arrangements possible in the contemporary world.