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Jurgen Appelo is a writer, speaker, trainer, entrepreneur, illustrator, developer, manager, blogger, reader, dreamer, leader, freethinker, and… Dutch guy. Since 2008 Jurgen writes a popular blog at www.noop.nl, that covers topics including Agile management, software engineering, business improvement, personal development, and complexity theory. He is the author of the book Management 3.0: Leading Agile Developers, Developing Agile Leaders, which describes the role of the manager in Agile organizations. And he wrote the little book How to Change the World, which describes his new supermodel for change management. He is also a speaker who is regularly invited to talk at business seminars and conferences around the world. Jurgen is co-founder of the Agile Lean Europe network (for Agile & Lean thinkers and practitioners in Europe) and the Stoos Network (focusing on change agents for organizational transformation). After studying Software Engineering at the Delft University of Technology, and earning his Master’s degree in 1994, Jurgen Appelo has busied himself starting up and leading a variety of Dutch businesses, always in the position of team leader, manager, or executive. Jurgen has experience in leading a horde of 100 software developers, development managers, project managers, business consultants, quality managers, service managers, and kangaroos, some of which he hired accidentally. Nowadays he works full-time developing innovative courseware, books, and other types of original content. But sometimes Jurgen puts it all aside to do some programming himself, or to spend time on his ever-growing collection of science fiction and fantasy literature, which he stacks in a self-designed book case. It is 4 meters high. Jurgen lives in Rotterdam (The Netherlands) -- and in Brussels (Belgium) -- with his partner Raoul. He has two kids, and an imaginary hamster called George. Jurgen is a DZone MVB and is not an employee of DZone and has posted 129 posts at DZone. You can read more from them at their website. View Full User Profile

The 12 Best Books I Read in 2012

01.23.2013
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What would we do without “Best Of” lists at the end of the year? I have been playing World of Goo because I found it on a list of Best Android Games. Soon I will be checking out the list of best restaurants in Brussels. And I’m writing this post while listening to the annual Top 2000 on Dutch radio.

So here’s my contribution to the long list of of lists. These are the 12 best non-fiction books I read this year

Stumbling on Happiness – Daniel Gilbert

This book not only has a huge number of references to scientific literature, but also an ample supply of humor.

Tribal Leadership – Dave Logan, et al.

I might not agree with the linearity of the staged model proposed here, but the stories and insights are great.

Predictably Irrational – Dan Ariely

Again, a book full of scientific references, which all indicate that human beings make irrational economic choices.

Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure – Tim Harford

The message in this book is no surprise to anyone familiar with Agile thinking, but the stories in the book are good.

What Matters Now – Gary Hamel

The latest offering of the number one management guru in the world. It is hard to disagree with anything he says.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts… Susan Cain

A surprise read for me, and others. It made me feel happy that I don’t have to apologize for being an introvert.

Resonate: Present Visual Stories… Nancy Duarte

One of the best books for anyone doing presentations, with a heavy emphasis on storytelling and visualization.

Business Model Generation – Alexander Osterwalder, et al.

The best looking business book in the world. It may not be a surprise that there were Dutch people involved…

SuperFreakonomics – Steven D. Levitt, et al.

Great overview of statistics, and the silly ways in which people are fooled by them, with plenty of humor on top.

The Fractal Organization – Patrick Hoverstadt

Another surprise read for me. One of the few books with a very good application of complexity thinking to business.

The Magic of Reality – Richard Dawkins

This is actually a children’s book, but who cares? The illustrations are wonderful, and still I learned new things.

The Web of Life – Fritjof Capra

This is another great book on complexity science and its implications for business and management.

If you think I missed an important one, feel free to add it in the comments section.

Published at DZone with permission of Jurgen Appelo, author and DZone MVB. (source)

(Note: Opinions expressed in this article and its replies are the opinions of their respective authors and not those of DZone, Inc.)

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