What work-related books should I buy with a small educational budget?

June 7, 2018 9:13 AM

I have a small education budget at work that I must spend by June 30th. I'd like to get some books related to design, content design, strategy, management, and leadership. I'm looking for the best books you've read in these areas, and also plan to share them with my staff! Thanks!
posted by melodykramer to Work & Money (7 answers total)

Edward Tufte
posted by theora55 at 10:20 AM on June 7, 2018 [4 favorites]

For leadership and strategy: Blue Ocean Strategy, A Sense of Urgency, Hooked, and Start with Why.
posted by neushoorn at 10:30 AM on June 7, 2018

Don't Make Me Think - Usability, mostly webpages
The Design Of Everyday Things - Usability for things that are not webpages
posted by meowzilla at 11:00 AM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]

Radical Candor by Kim Scott
posted by SuperSquirrel at 11:32 AM on June 7, 2018

It might be helpful to know what sort of level of background knowledge/experience the people reading them are expected to have. For example, I like the Non-Designers Design Book, but that's rather basic for people who already have a design background.
posted by Vortisaur at 1:41 PM on June 7, 2018 [1 favorite]

Seconding Vortisaur's question about your team's level of knowledge and experience. If your team is new to those areas, you might want to look at books like Anne Handley's Everybody Writes or Kristina Halvorson's Content Strategy for the Web.

I'll second Blue Ocean Strategy, as well.
posted by synecdoche at 5:27 AM on June 8, 2018

Response by poster: Hello,

I also asked this question on Twitter and have compiled a spreadsheet with all of the responses. Enjoy!
posted by melodykramer at 12:24 PM on June 18, 2018