Holidays without books are like cocktails without garnish – plain and boring. 📚  At d.labs, we read loads of books this summer and with August ending, it’s a perfect time to reflect on some of our best reads. We compiled a list of most inspiring and illuminating titles to add to your reading list (if you haven't already).

Here are our top 10 picks!

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AI Superpowers: how China has suddenly caught up to the US at an astonishingly rapid and unexpected pace.

"Learning how differently the Chinese entrepreneurs have built their today's online behemoths, dispells the myth that the western way of building companies is the only way to scale into greatness."

— Jaka Levstek, Founder and CEO

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Atomic Habits: practical strategies that will teach you to form good habits and break bad ones.

“It teaches you how small changes in your daily activity can have a major impact on your life.”

— Tomaz Dobrisek, Front-end Engineer

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‍It doesn’t have to be crazy at work: strategies for creating the ideal company culture without anxiety and stress.

“It shows you that you can create a successful business without crazy working hours and stressful environment.”

— Filip Potocnik, Front-end Engineer

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‍Leadership and Self-Deception: a book that explains how to escape from destructive patterns in life.

“The book made me realise how some seeming unexplainable behaviours and conflicts follow a clear and simple pattern and what I can do to work toward making them better ”

— Andraz Zvonar, Product Manager

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‍Extreme ownership: learn how to apply SEAL unit principles to any team, family, or organization.

“Extreme ownership is more than a book. It is a set of simple principles that helps you lead and win.”

— David Bojanovic, Tribe Lead

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Weapons of Math Destruction: a book about the dark side of big data.

"As a technical person, I always looked at “Big Data” from the technology perspective and not as much from the ethical/moral perspective. This book shows you the “dark side” of the industry and how “Big Data” or better how mathematical models impact our daily lives, and not always in a positive way.”

— Luka Leskovsek, Team Lead

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Radical Candor: a book on how managers can be successful while retaining their humanity.

“As a psychologist, I hold Kim Scott’s principle close to my heart: for every feedback and every collaboration of any kind, the underlying relationship is much more important than what you say in the moment. If the person knows you really care and that your purpose is to help the person grow, you can give them direct feedback and really improve their life. If the caring relationship is not there, no amount of sugar coating and perfect diction will help get your message across. Read this book and may it help you form great relationships as it did me.”

— Katarina Pirs, Head of People

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The Fearless Organization: explore the culture of psychological safety in organizations.

“Silence can be deadly. As we've learnt from the information bottleneck in the beginnings of COVID outbreak, when people in organisations don't convey critical thoughts openly, the consequences can be devastating. Same goes for companies. What we usually fail to understand is that the cause for such bottlenecks is not malice or indifference. It's the lack of confidence. The Fearless organisation is a step by step guide to build up that confidence by creating organizational psychological safety.”

— Jaka Levstek, Founder and CEO

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Never Split the Difference: a field-tested approach to high-stakes negotiations—whether in the boardroom or at home.

“Never Split the Difference is an awesome book with advice you can start implementing literally the next day.”

— Miloš Mladenovic, Managing Director

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Resilient Management: a recipe for supporting and leading a tech team, while staying grounded along the way.

“An amazing guideline for all the modern tech managers that will help you to get your know your team better, optimise its performance and build resiliency.”

— Janko Tomsic, Team Lead

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We would also love to hear it from you! Which books would you especially recommend? Let us know by sending us a message on Facebook or Instagram.