Other Books
These books are compatible with, or have influenced our approach. They have inspired us to continue our work and learning; we recommend them without hesitation.
Overcoming Organizational Defenses: Facilitating Organizational Learning: by Chris Argyris. This book continues exploring how to deal with defensive routines. It is a short read compared to other of his works.
Intervention Theory and Method: A Behavioral Science View. By Chris Argyris. This contains the chapter on the three primary tasks of intervention (valid information, free and informed choice, and internal commitment). It is one of the classics of intervention and consulting.
Reasoning, Learning and Action. By Chris Argyris. This book develops the three values and theory-in-use approach and shows it can be applied to help organizations.
Organizational Learning II: Theory, Method and Practice. Argyris and Schon's revised and updated version of their 1978 first edition, it applies the Model 2 approach to organizations. It offers an excellent description of double-loop learning.
Art and Fear. By David Bayles and Ted Orland. Developing facilitative competence is very challenging internal work. "This book is about what it feels like to ... try to do the work you need to do. It is about committing your future to your own hands, placing Free Will above predestination, choice above chance. It is about finding your own work."
The Consultant's Calling: Bringing Who You Are to What You Do. By Geoffrey Bellman. An engaging and personal account of what it is really like to be an organizational consultant and the joys, frustrations, worries, and issues that consultants face. Bellman helps consultants think about how to integrate their personal values and identities with their work so that they can live balanced, meaningful lives.
Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-Interest. By Peter Block. Block explores the model of stewardship--the notion of accepting responsibility and accountability for the well-being of the larger organization while simultaneously giving up the need to control or take care of others.
Emotional Intelligence. By Daniel Goleman. Goleman writes clearly about how emotional intelligence is critical to effective behavior and how we can develop this set of skills.
Systems One: An Introduction to Systems Thinking. By Draper Kauffman Jr. This forty-one page, heavily illustrated booklet clearly describes and gives examples of the basic principles of systems thinking.
Selling with Integrity, By Sharon Drew Morgen. In this book, Morgen outlines "Buying Facilitation", an approach to sales that is highly consistent with the Skilled Facilitator Approach.
Open Space Technology, By Harrison Owen. This book outlines an effective, economical, fast, and easily-repeatable strategy for organizing meetings of all sizes.
International Association of Facilitators Handbook, edited by Sandor Schuman. Sponsored by the IAF, this handbook covers a diversity of viewpoints on facilitation methods and techniques, issues, competencies, and resources.
The Fifth Discipline. By Peter Senge. The chapters on mental models and team learning provide good introductions.
The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook. By Peter Senge, Charlotte Roberts, Richard Ross, Bryan Smith, and Art Kleiner. A more applied treatment of The Fifth Discipline with tools, methods, readings, and exercises.
