The absolute best books to become great at decision-making

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a U.S. Air Force Fighter pilot who has dedicated my life to the subject of decision-making. When flying, my job is to make thousands of decisions on each flight, often with limited information and lives on the line. My calling now is to share the lessons that I’ve learned with the world to allow them to make better, quicker decisions, and to have more confidence in their thinking. 


I wrote...

The Art of Clear Thinking: A Stealth Fighter Pilot's Timeless Rules for Making Tough Decisions

By Hasard Lee,

Book cover of The Art of Clear Thinking: A Stealth Fighter Pilot's Timeless Rules for Making Tough Decisions

What is my book about?

This book distills powerful decision-making principles that can be used in business and in everyday life. With gripping firsthand accounts and stories about fascinating turning points throughout history, this book is entertaining to read while imparting the reader with actionable skills. As one major publication editor remarked, this is Top Gun: Maverick meets a Malcolm Gladwell book. How to learn faster by cultivating Mental Toughness; developing the skills to quickly Assess, Choose, and Execute; and become confident in your decisions.

Hasard has used and taught these techniques across the full spectrum of human endeavors and proven their effectiveness in both the cockpit and the boardroom. Those who have already benefited include CEOs, astronauts, CIA agents, students, parents, and many others. The Art of Clear Thinking will change your life.

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right

Hasard Lee Why did I love this book?

To me, it’s not enough for someone to academically understand a concept—I need them to have shown that they know how to use it in practice.

Atul Gawande is a world-class surgeon who also happens to also be a writer. He understands the concepts and describes first-hand stories about how he’s used them in the field.

This is a short book that is entertaining to read and will impact how you work.

By Atul Gawande,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Checklist Manifesto as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In his latest bestseller, Atul Gawande shows what the simple idea of the checklist reveals about the complexity of our lives and how we can deal with it.

The modern world has given us stupendous know-how. Yet avoidable failures continue to plague us in health care, government, the law, the financial industry—in almost every realm of organized activity. And the reason is simple: the volume and complexity of knowledge today has exceeded our ability as individuals to properly deliver it to people—consistently, correctly, safely. We train longer, specialize more, use ever-advancing technologies, and still we fail. Atul Gawande makes a…


Book cover of Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

Hasard Lee Why did I love this book?

I like practitioners who use what they’re talking about.

Peter Thiel is a successful entrepreneur and investor who has field tested the concepts in this book. If you’re looking to increase your creativity and ability to think outside the box this book is for you.

There’s no fat in the writing so your time won’t be wasted.

By Peter Thiel, Blake Masters,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Zero to One as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What Valuable Company Is Nobody Building? The next Bill Gates will not build an operating system. The next Larry Page or Sergey Brin won't make a search engine. If you are copying these guys, you aren't learning from them. It's easier to copy a model than to make something new: doing what we already know how to do takes the world from 1 to n, adding more of something familiar. Every new creation goes from 0 to 1. This book is about how to get there. "Peter Thiel has built multiple breakthrough companies, and Zero to One shows how". (Elon…


Book cover of Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

Hasard Lee Why did I love this book?

Tips on leadership and decision-making from the greatest college sports coach of all time.

He’s distilled decades of experience and wisdom into a short book that can be read in a day or two. Some of the concepts are obvious, but I’m willing to bet that a few of them are new to you.

You’ll walk away a better person.

By John Wooden,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Wooden as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

"I am just a common man who is true to his beliefs."--John Wooden

Evoking days gone by when coaches were respected as much for their off-court performances as for their success on the court, Wooden presents the timeless wisdom of legendary basketball coach John Wooden.

In honest and telling passages about virtually every aspect of life, Coach shares his personal philosophy on family, achievement, success, and excellence. Raised on a small farm in south-central Indiana, he offers lessons and wisdom learned throughout his career at UCLA, and life as a dedicated husband, father, and teacher.

These lessons, along…


Book cover of Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead

Hasard Lee Why did I love this book?

Leadership and decision-making philosophy straight from the battlefield.

Jim Mattis has a wealth of experience spanning multiple wars. What’s unique about this book is that the reader learns lessons from every echelon of leadership—from a new recruit to a 4-star general.

I enjoyed listening to Mattis’ first-hand experiences, both his successes and failures. He also has distilled his lessons into an actionable format.

It’s a highly insightful book that’s worth your time.

By Jim Mattis, Bing West,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Call Sign Chaos as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A clear-eyed account of learning how to lead in a chaotic world, by General Jim Mattis—the former Secretary of Defense and one of the most formidable strategic thinkers of our time—and Bing West, a former assistant secretary of defense and combat Marine.
 
“A four-star general’s five-star memoir.”—The Wall Street Journal

Call Sign Chaos is the account of Jim Mattis’s storied career, from wide-ranging leadership roles in three wars to ultimately commanding a quarter of a million troops across the Middle East. Along the way, Mattis recounts his foundational experiences as a leader, extracting the…


Book cover of Loonshots: Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries

Hasard Lee Why did I love this book?

I enjoyed this book because it helped me to understand why bold ideas often don't get off the ground in big organizations.

These ideas are usually sought after and destroyed by the organization itself because the incentives of the managers who approve the ideas aren’t aligned. However, there is a solution that Safi goes into in depth.

A must-read for people who want to change the world. 

By Safi Bahcall,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Loonshots as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What do James Bond and Lipitor have in common? Why do traffic jams appear out of nowhere on highways? What can we learn about innovation from a glass of water? In Loonshots, physicist and entrepreneur Safi Bahcall reveals a surprising new way of thinking about the mysteries of group behaviour and the challenges of nurturing radical breakthroughs.

Drawing on the science of phase transitions, Bahcall shows why teams, companies, or any group with a mission will suddenly change from embracing wild new ideas to rigidly rejecting them, just as flowing water will suddenly change into brittle ice. Oceans of print…


You might also like...

Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

By Rebecca Wellington,

Book cover of Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

Rebecca Wellington Author Of Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I am adopted. For most of my life, I didn’t identify as adopted. I shoved that away because of the shame I felt about being adopted and not truly fitting into my family. But then two things happened: I had my own biological children, the only two people I know to date to whom I am biologically related, and then shortly after my second daughter was born, my older sister, also an adoptee, died of a drug overdose. These sequential births and death put my life on a new trajectory, and I started writing, out of grief, the history of adoption and motherhood in America. 

Rebecca's book list on straight up, real memoirs on motherhood and adoption

What is my book about?

I grew up thinking that being adopted didn’t matter. I was wrong. This book is my journey uncovering the significance and true history of adoption practices in America. Now, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over women’s reproductive rights places an even greater emphasis on adoption. As a mother, historian, and adoptee, I am uniquely qualified to uncover the policies and practices of adoption.

The history of adoption, reframed through the voices of adoptees like me, and mothers who have been forced to relinquish their babies, blows apart old narratives about adoption, exposing the fallacy that adoption is always good.

In this story, I reckon with the pain and unanswered questions of my own experience and explore broader issues surrounding adoption in the United States, including changing legal policies, sterilization, and compulsory relinquishment programs, forced assimilation of babies of color and Indigenous babies adopted into white families, and other liabilities affecting women, mothers, and children. Now is the moment we must all hear these stories.

Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

By Rebecca Wellington,

What is this book about?

Nearly every person in the United States is affected by adoption. Adoption practices are woven into the fabric of American society and reflect how our nation values human beings, particularly mothers. In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over women's reproductive rights places an even greater emphasis on adoption. As a mother, historian, and adoptee, Rebecca C. Wellington is uniquely qualified to uncover the policies and practices of adoption. Wellington's timely-and deeply researched-account amplifies previously marginalized voices and exposes the social and racial biases embedded in the United States' adoption industry.…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in entrepreneurs, health care, and life satisfaction?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about entrepreneurs, health care, and life satisfaction.

Entrepreneurs Explore 286 books about entrepreneurs
Health Care Explore 54 books about health care
Life Satisfaction Explore 209 books about life satisfaction