Curated Book List
The books worth reading on building technology organizations, ranked by relevance from 10 (essential) to 1 (supplementary). Start with the cross-category list: All Hands on Tech and The Art of Scalability rate 10 for any engineering leader.
Written by
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Stefan Munz Founder & Co-CEO
Updated:
Knowledge base 9
Our position. We hold that agentic engineering is engineering: the same domain-driven design, separation of concerns and fast-feedback practice the field has used since the 1970s, applied to agents (the factory bootcamp (opens in a new tab)). No settled doctrine and no shelf of standard books backs agentic engineering itself yet.
Each category answers one question a technology leader faces, from architecture to steering a company. The rating says how much a book changes your practice, not how good it is.
Which books should every technology leader read first?
| Book | Relevance | Link |
|---|---|---|
| All Hands on Tech: Your How-To Guide for Building Great Tech Organizations at Scale | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Art of Scalability, The: Scalable Web Architecture, Processes, and Organizations for the Modern Enterprise | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Good To Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t | 7 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Flow Engineering: From Value Stream Mapping to Effective Action | 3 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses | 3 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Rewired: The McKinsey Guide to Outcompeting in the Age of Digital and AI | 3 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
Which books cover architecture and technology?
| Book | Relevance | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Adaptive Systems with Domain-Driven Design, Strategy Mapping, and Team Topologies: Architecture for Flow | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Accelerate: The Science Behind Devops: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Micro Frontends in Action | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Platform Strategy: Innovation Through Harmonization (Architect Elevator Book Series) | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Learning Systems Thinking: Essential Nonlinear Skills and Practices for Software Professionals | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Pragmatic Programmer, The: Your journey to mastery, 20th Anniversary Edition | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Modern Software Engineering: Doing What Works to Build Better Software Faster | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Facilitating Software Architecture: Empowering Teams to Make Architectural Decisions | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Architecture Modernization: Socio-technical alignment of software, strategy, and structure | 9 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Building Evolutionary Architectures: Automated Software Governance | 9 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Fundamentals of Software Architecture: An Engineering Approach | 9 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Balancing Coupling in Software Design: Universal Design Principles for Architecting Modular Software Systems (Addison-wesley Signature) | 8 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Engineering Executive’s Primer: Impactful Technical Leadership | 8 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change | 8 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Clean Architecture: A Craftsman’s Guide to Software Structure and Design | 7 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Functional Design: Principles, Patterns, and Practices | 7 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager: How to Be the Leader Your Development Team Needs | 7 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Domain-Driven Design Distilled | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Domain Modeling Made Functional: Tackle Software Complexity with Domain-Driven Design and F (Pragmatic Programmers) | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Building Microservices: Designing Fine-Grained Systems | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Software Architecture: The Hard Parts: Modern Trade-Off Analyses for Distributed Architectures | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code (Pearson Addison-Wesley Signature Series) | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Platform Engineering: A Guide for Technical, Product, and People Leaders | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The DevOps Handbook: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, & Security in Technology Organizations | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Domain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Platform Engineering for Architects: Crafting modern platforms as a product | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Managing Humans: More Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager | 4 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Software Architect Elevator: Redefining the Architect’s Role in the Digital Enterprise | 4 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship | 3 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Cloud Strategy: A Decision-based Approach to Successful Cloud Migration (Architect Elevator Book Series) | 3 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Continuous Delivery: Reliable Software Releases through Build, Test, and Deployment Automation (Addison-Wesley Signature Series) | 2 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Continuous Delivery Pipelines: How To Build Better Software Faster | 2 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Data Mesh: Delivering Data-Driven Value at Scale | 1 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Learning Domain-Driven Design: Aligning Software Architecture and Business Strategy | 1 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Implementing Domain-Driven Design | 1 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Data Mesh in Action | 1 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
Which books cover the business model?
| Book | Relevance | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Business Model You: The One-Page Way to Reinvent Your Work at Any Life Stage | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Art of Action: How Leaders Close the Gaps between Plans, Actions and Results | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers (The Strategyzer Series) | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future | 9 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers | 8 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose | 7 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Art of Business Value | 7 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want (The Strategyzer Series) | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Invincible Company: How to Constantly Reinvent Your Organization with Inspiration From the World’s Best Business Models (The Strategyzer Series) | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Start With Why: The multi-million-copy bestselling management and leadership book to help you find success | 5 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Testing Business Ideas: A Field Guide for Rapid Experimentation (The Strategyzer Series) | 5 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant | 2 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
Which books cover organization design?
| Book | Relevance | Link |
|---|---|---|
| The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, 20th Anniversary Edition | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Remote Mob Programming: At home, but not alone | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Leadership Is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say and What You Don’t | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Turn The Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers Into Leaders | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Trillion Dollar Coach: A Leadership Handbook from Silicon Valley | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Lead Without Blame: Building Resilient Learning Teams | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products (Silicon Valley Product Group) | 9 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Team Topologies: Organizing Business and Technology Teams for Fast Flow | 8 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Just Work: How to Confront Bias, Prejudice and Bullying to Build a Culture of Inclusivity | 8 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise: Unleashing Your Inner Champion Through Revolutionary Methods for Skill Acquisition and Performance Enhancement in Work, Sports, and Life | 8 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Mindset - Updated Edition: Changing The Way You think To Fulfil Your Potential | 7 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Grit: Why passion and resilience are the secrets to success (Vermilion) | 7 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Crystal Clear: A Human-Powered Methodology for Small Teams: A Human-Powered Methodology for Small Teams (Agile Software Development Series) | 7 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| A Guide to Team Roles: How to increase personal and team performance | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Dynamic Reteaming: The Art and Wisdom of Changing Teams | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Talent Code: Greatness isn’t born. It’s grown | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention | 5 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Radical Candor: Fully Revised and Updated Edition: How to Get What You Want by Saying What You Mean | 5 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Radical Respect: How to Work Together Better | 5 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage in Human Consciousness: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness | 5 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Remote Work Revolution: Succeeding from Anywhere | 4 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t | 4 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Remote Team Interactions Workbook: Using Team Topologies Patterns for Remote Working | 4 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Management 3.0: Leading Agile Developers, Developing Agile Leaders | 4 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business | 4 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Culture Playbook: 60 Highly Effective Actions to Help Your Group Succeed | 4 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Right Kind of Wrong: How the Best Teams Use Failure to Succeed | 4 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth | 4 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| High-Impact Tools for Teams: 5 Tools to Align Team Members, Build Trust, and Get Results Fast (The Strategyzer Series) | 3 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You | 3 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Holacracy: The Revolutionary Management System that Abolishes Hierarchy | 3 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Thinking, Fast and Slow | 3 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Was Männer nie gefragt werden: Ich frage trotzdem mal. (German) | 2 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great | 2 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
Which books cover service and product?
| Book | Relevance | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Strong Product People: A Complete Guide to Developing Great Product Managers | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Untrapping Product Teams: Simplify the Complexity of Creating Digital Products | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Product Operations: How successful companies build better products at scale | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Managing the Design Factory | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Project to Product: How to Survive and Thrive in the Age of Digital Disruption With the Flow Framework | 8 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Jobs To Be Done: Align Your Markets, Organization, and Strategy Around Customer Needs | 7 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making - The New York Times bestseller | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love (Silicon Valley Product Group) | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Transformed: Moving to the Product Operating Model (Silicon Valley Product Group) | 5 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development | 4 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Continuous Discovery Habits: Discover Products that Create Customer Value and Business Value | 3 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Impact Mapping: Making a Big Impact With Software Products and Projects | 3 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Lean Product Playbook: How to Innovate with Minimum Viable Products and Rapid Customer Feedback | 3 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Value Stream Mapping: How to Visualize Work and Align Leadership for Organizational Transformation | 2 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Lean UX: Designing Great Products with Agile Teams | 2 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Lean Customer Development: Building Products Your Customers Will Buy | 2 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
Which books cover steering a company?
| Book | Relevance | Link |
|---|---|---|
| ReWork: Change the Way You Work Forever (Vermilion) | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Unicorn Project: A Novel About Developers, Digital Disruption, and Thriving in the Age of Data | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| When Will It Be Done?: Lean-Agile Forecasting to Answer Your Customers’ Most Important Question | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Switch: How to change things when change is hard | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts | 10 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Mythical Man-Month. Essays on Software Engineering | 9 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Manager’s Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change | 9 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Shape Up: Pare de andar em círculos e entregue trabalho que importa (Portuguese Edition) | 8 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Measure What Matters: How Organizations Change the World with OKRs | 8 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of Intangibles in Business | 8 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Fifth Discipline (Rough Cut): The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization | 7 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Evidence-Guided: Creating High Impact Products in the Face of Uncertainty | 7 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Escape Velocity: Better Metrics for Agile Teams | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon | 6 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Actionable Agile Metrics for Predictability: An Introduction | 5 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| This is Lean: Resolving the Efficiency Paradox | 4 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Sooner Safer Happier: Antipatterns and Patterns for Business Agility | 3 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Leading Change, With a New Preface by the Author | 3 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Strategy Maps | 2 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Succeeding with Agile: Software Development Using Scrum (Addison Wesley Signature Series) | 2 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time | 2 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Making Work Visible: Exposing Time Theft to Optimize Work & Flow | 2 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| The Goal | 2 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Kanban from the Inside: Understand the Kanban Method, connect it to what you already know, introduce it with impact | 1 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
| Rethinking Agile: Why Agile Teams Have Nothing To Do With Business Agility | 1 | Amazon (opens in a new tab) |
Related
- Software Engineering: the values, principles and philosophy many of these books argue for.
- Leadership: the organization-design questions the leadership books answer.
- Senior Engineering Skills: the skills beyond coding the management books train.
- Product Management: the product discipline the service and product books cover.
- Getting Started and Learning: where to begin with agentic engineering itself.
Blogs, channels and research we recommend besides books: Reading list