13 Fantastic Books Written by Fantastic Women

Why read?

Data is fundamental to the modern world. From economic development, to healthcare, to education and public policy, we rely on numbers to allocate resources and make crucial decisions. But because so much data fails to take into account gender, because it treats men as the default and women as atypical, bias and discrimination are baked into our systems. And women pay tremendous costs for this bias, in time, money, and often with their lives. Celebrated feminist advocate Caroline Criado Perez investigates the shocking root cause of gender inequality and research in Invisible Women​, diving into women’s lives at home, the workplace, the public square, the doctor’s office, and more. Built on hundreds of studies in the US, the UK, and around the world, and written with energy, wit, and sparkling intelligence, this is a groundbreaking, unforgettable exposé that will change the way you look at the world.

272 pages, 2019

Why read?

Melissa Perri’s first book has the potential to become a real classic. In Escaping the Build Trap she focuses on the most common pitfalls Product Managers and companies fall into when releasing feature by feature instead of focusing on the customer’s needs. In this book, Melissa — CEO of Product Labs and founder of the Product Institute — helps you to identify whether you are caught in the “build trap” and more importantly, gives you practical advice how to escape it. She brings together her year-long experience of building products and deep knowledge of how product-lead organisations work.

200 pages, 2018

Why read?

Are you a product leader looking for advice on how to be certain that every product manager on your team lives up to their full potential? Do you want to make sure your product people are competent, empowered, and inspired, and would you like to know how you can best help them on this journey? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then this book is for you! By the end of this book, you will understand: • Why you need to focus on the personal development of every product manager—and of the team as a whole—to unlock their full potential. • Why coaching is an important part of your job, and how to do it in the most effective way. • How you can define what a good product manager looks like. • How you can accurately assess product managers and provide them with valuable, actionable, and helpful feedback on their current performance that will help them perform even better. • Which methods/frameworks you can use to make sure product managers learn what they need to know to be more effective—enhancing their people skills. And you will be able to: • Reflect on your own coaching personality and define your own areas for development. • Efficiently prepare and use one-on-ones as your main coaching tool.

392 pages, 2020

Why read?

Radical Candor has been embraced around the world by leaders of every stripe at companies of all sizes. Now a cultural touchstone, the concept has come to be applied to a wide range of human relationships. The idea is simple: You don’t have to choose between being a pushover and a jerk. Using Radical Candor―avoiding the perils of Obnoxious Aggression, Manipulative Insincerity, and Ruinous Empathy―you can be kind and clear at the same time. Kim Scott was a highly successful leader at Google before decamping to Apple, where she developed and taught a management class. Since the original publication of Radical Candor in 2017, Scott has earned international fame with her vital approach to effective leadership and co-founded the Radical Candor executive education company, which helps companies put the book’s philosophy into practice.

272 pages, 2017

Why read?

Design research is a hard slog that takes years to learn and time away from the real work of design, right? Wrong. Good research is about asking more and better questions, and thinking critically about the answers. It’s something every member of your team can and should do, and which everyone can learn, quickly. And done well, it will save you time and money by reducing unknowns and creating a solid foundation to build the right thing, in the most effective way. In Just Enough Research, co-founder of Mule Design Erika Hall distills her experience into a brief cookbook of research methods. Learn how to discover your competitive advantages, spot your own blind spots and biases, understand and harness your findings, and why you should never, ever hold a focus group. You’ll start doing good research faster than you can plan your next pitch. Erika Hall has been working in web design and development since the late 20th century. In 2001, she co-founded Mule Design Studio where she directs the research, interaction design, and strategy practices. Erika speaks and writes frequently about cross-disciplinary collaboration and the importance of natural language in user interfaces. In her spare time, she battles empty corporate jargon at Unsuck It. She also co-hosts Running from the Law, a weekly podcast on business law and endurance fitness, and can probably outrun you. (Amazon)

154 pages, 2019

Why read?

Top tech executive Julie Zhuo remembers the moment when she was asked to lead a team. She felt like she’d won the golden ticket, until reality came crashing in. She was just 25 and had barely any experience being managed, let alone managing others. This is the book she wishes she had on day one. Here, she offers practical, accessible advice like: · Don’t hide thorny problems from your own manager; you’re better off seeking help quickly and honestly · Before you fire someone for failure to collaborate, figure out if the problem is temperamental or just a lack of training or coaching · Don’t offer critical feedback in a ‘compliment sandwich’ — there’s a better way! Whether you’re new to the job, a veteran leader, or looking to be promoted, this is the handbook you need to be the kind of manager you’ve always wanted.

274 pages, 2019

Why read?

I’d constantly “borrow” this book from one of my best friends (a UX researcher at Google and one of the smartest people I know), so much so that in the end, I had to buy my own copy. It’s full of tools and methods to run ideation workshops to effort sizing exercises. It comes without the fluff that I’ve found in a lot of other books offering the same. Klein is straight to the point, has a great sense of humour and is an expert in the field.

368 pages, 2016

Why read?

Talking about positioning sounds soooooo 90’s, but this doesn’t mean it’s less important today than it was back then. There’s a lot of confusion around the term. Isn’t positioning a product all about being there in the perfect moment at the perfect time? Short answer: no.

April Dunford in her Obviously Awesome shows us that what we need is to follow a 10 step process and put the outcomes of this into practice in order to achieve a suitable product-market fit. On her website you can also find a handful of templates to help you do that.

204 pages, 2019

Why read?

Ready to move your team in the right direction? Read this book together, and learn Wodtke’s powerful system of decision making to create your focus and find success.

166 pages, 2016

Why read?

Whether you work in a home office or abroad, business success in our ever more globalized and virtual world requires the skills to navigate through cultural differences and decode cultures foreign to your own. Renowned expert Erin Meyer is your guide through this subtle, sometimes treacherous terrain where people from starkly different backgrounds are expected to work harmoniously together.

288 pages, 2016

Why read?

Establishing diverse and inclusive organizations is an economic imperative for every industry. Any business that isn’t reaching a diverse market is missing out on enormous revenue potential and the opportunity to build products that suit their users’ core needs. The economic “why” has been firmly established, but what about the “how?” How can business leaders adapt to our ever-more-diverse world by capturing market share AND building more inclusive products for people of color, women and other underrepresented groups? The Product Inclusion Team at Google has developed strategies to do just that and Building For Everyone is the practical guide to following in their footsteps.

272 pages, 2020

Why read?

Leadership is not about titles, status, and wielding power. A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and ideas, and has the courage to develop that potential.

Four-time #1 New York Times bestselling author Brené Brown has spent the past two decades studying the emotions and experiences that give meaning to our lives, and the past seven years working with transformative leaders and teams spanning the globe. She found that leaders in organizations ranging from small entrepreneurial startups and family-owned businesses to nonprofits, civic organizations, and Fortune 50 companies all ask the same question: How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders, and how do you embed the value of courage in your culture?

400 pages, 2019

Why read?

The distinction between “online” and “offline,” between “digital” and “physical,” once seemingly unambiguous, has begun to blur thanks to the ubiquity of smartphones and personal location data, ad and experience targeting, connected devices, wearable technology, the Internet of Things, and additive capabilities like 3-D printing. The biggest business opportunities for innovative experiences, according to digital marketing expert and “tech humanist” Kate O’Neill, will come from blending the physical and digital worlds intentionally to create a meaningful and integrated human experience. “Kate O’Neill’s Pixels and Place is a must read for those of us fascinated by the tidal shift taking place around us in the way we envision the world and our experiences within it.” — Mitch Lowe, Founding executive of Netflix

224 pages, 2016