Hoverstadt's Library

Here are books from Patrick's library. I have not read the Hurst book, 'Crisis and Renewal,' so perhaps I'll start there.

Stafford Beer
Almost everything Stafford wrote is worth reading. But isn’t easy – although I do have a mate who said she kept “Heart of Enterprise” as her bedside reading because she loved the elegance of the writing (not because it sent her to sleep). “Heart” is a good place to start though it is quite thick, “Diagnosing the System for Organisations” is a lot thinner, but misses all the underlying theory.

W. Ross Ashby
If you thought Stafford’s stuff was hard…. But Ashby is the man who invented Ashby’s Law of Requisite Variety – which for management is as fundamental and inescapable as the law of gravity, so the guy deserves a mention even if his books are a wee bit tricky. Thin books, but oh so dense and with loads of sums.

Chris Alexander – “Notes on the synthesis of form”Interesting chap – an architect who wrote “Notes” on designing complex systems – specifically physical systems, but the book was rediscovered years later and became a standard text for object orientated programmers. His thinking is very systemic and he does nice job of demonstrating how Ashby’s law is critical to designing physical systems. Thinnish and easy.

Candace Pert – “Molecules of Emotion”If you thought you understood how you work, think again. Her stuff also applies to organisations and how they take decisions; I read this and started to see the traditional strategic model (even more than I did before) as a kind of organisational psychosis. Also worth reading as a savage critique of sexism and denial in the scientific community.

Humberto Maturana & Fransisco Varela - “Tree of Knowledge”Some people love “tree” and some hate it, but Maturana’s work on structural coupling and autopoiesis is seriously important stuff and turns a lot of conventional thinking about evolution and competition on its head. A thin book and relatively easy reading (oh and it has some slightly weird cartoons in it).

David K. Hurst
Every MBA student should read “Crisis & Renewal” When you are in a situation in which it has become relevant, it may be too late. His approach is very Mosaic, but he had to learn it the hard way. Medium thickness, but easy reading.

Niccolo Machiavelli
Brilliant, beautifully written and as relevant today as it was in 1513. This is a thin book that should be a must for anyone interested in management.