Best Product Design Books | Leadership Reading List 2025
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Recommended books

These are the books I most frequently recommend during with product and design leaders. It's not meant to be the ultimate leadership library—just the books I've found particularly helpful with common leadership challenges.

Last updated: October 2025

When you need to navigate the AI revolution...

Book cover: Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick

Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI

Ethan Mollick

The best primer on AI's real-world roles. Read it ASAP – it might be obsolete by next month.

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When complexity overwhelms your organization...

Book cover: Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows

Thinking in Systems

Donella Meadows

This book will rewire your brain to see systems everywhere.

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When you're worried about missing the next market shift...

Book cover: The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail by Clayton M. Christensen

The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail

Clayton M. Christensen

I think about this book more often than I should. It's a business-book earworm.

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When important ideas fail to resonate...

Book cover: Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath & Dan Heath

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

Chip Heath & Dan Heath

Ideas often fail not because they're bad (sadly, a lot of bad ideas persist) but because they just don't survive the game of corporate telephone.

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When you're overwhelmed by decision-making...

Book cover: Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip Heath & Dan Heath

Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work

Chip Heath & Dan Heath

A toolbox of decision-making frameworks. For when coin-flipping just won't cut it anymore.

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When preventable errors keep occurring...

Book cover: The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right

Atul Gawande

Checklists are the gifts that our rational selves give to our stressed selves.

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When you're tired of blaming users for product failures...

Book cover: The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman

The Design of Everyday Things

Don Norman

The design classic that never gets old. And yes, it's time to read it again.

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When product decisions miss user needs...

Book cover: Continuous Discovery Habits: Discover Products that Create Customer Value and Business Value by Teresa Torres

Continuous Discovery Habits: Discover Products that Create Customer Value and Business Value

Teresa Torres

Demystifying the often misunderstood art of product discovery.

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When your team is building products but not solving problems...

Book cover: Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love by Marty Cagan

Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love

Marty Cagan

This is a classic. Read it for inspiration, not as a user guide.

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When work lacks deeper purpose...

Book cover: Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

Man's Search for Meaning

Viktor E. Frankl

For those existential moments. It won't solve your crisis, but it'll help you embrace it.

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When you're worried about pressure compromising ethics...

Book cover: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

John Carreyrou

A case study in why 'fake it till you make it' is often a terrible idea.

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