Knowledge Base · Getting Started
What books should I read to learn continuous improvement?
The appendix Recommended Reading list groups its books in two sections. On quality and continuous improvement it names Deming, Juran, Liker, Ohno, Ries, Womack and Jones, and Harry and Schroeder. On leadership and team building it names Lencioni, Collins, George and Maxwell. The full titles and authors, in the appendix's grouping, are below.
The author introduces the list as books that had a profound impact on his own leadership journey. It is grouped in two sections, and the titles below follow that grouping and naming.
On Quality and Continuous Improvement:
- Out of the Crisis by W. Edwards Deming
- Quality by Design by Joseph M. Juran
- The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer by Jeffrey K. Liker
- Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production by Taiichi Ohno
- The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries
- Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones
- Six Sigma: The Breakthrough Management Strategy Revolutionizing the World's Top Corporations by Mikel Harry and Richard Schroeder
On Leadership and Team Building:
- The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate the Three Essential Virtues by Patrick Lencioni
- The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni
- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't by Jim Collins
- True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership by Bill George
- The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You by John C. Maxwell
Note the appendix uses American spellings in several of these published titles, so they are reproduced as listed there rather than converted. The appendix also points readers to online resources, including GoLeanSixSigma.com, the Lean Enterprise Institute, and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
Related questions
Source: Continuous Improvement in the Workplace, Appendix.