My Personal Bookshelf
A personal selection of books that have helped shape my perspective on leadership, technology, governance, and organizational architecture.
Je bent wat je doet
by Ray Klaassens
"The book was given to me as a gift by a good friend of mine, because it provided him with new insights into personal effectiveness. The moral of this book is 'the situation is a given, how you deal with it is your character.' That seems to align with my own beliefs, and therefore I gladly accepted the book and am starting to read with healthy curiosity."
Recommended Reading
Straight-Line Leadership
by Dusan Djukich
"A powerful, no-nonsense manual on operational decisive action. It cuts through executive overthinking, inner noise, and excuses to focus entirely on closing the gap between intention and execution."
Devil Inside
by Bas Kodden
"A deep dive into personal drive, endurance, and leadership psychology. Explores how leaders can channel their inner ambition and passion into sustainable performance without burning out."
Measure What Matters
by John Doerr
"A pragmatic guide to implementing OKRs effectively. Helps translate high-level boardroom strategy into actionable, measurable execution on the shop floor."
Team Topologies
by Matthew Skelton & Manuel Pais
"Essential reading for every IT leader. It provides a clear framework for structuring teams so that software architecture and organizational structure align seamlessly (Conway's Law in practice)."
Thinking, Fast and Slow
by Daniel Kahneman
"An indispensable masterclass in behavioral economics and decision-making. Reveals how cognitive biases skew strategic risk assessment and provides the mental models needed for rational executive judgment."
Turn the Ship Around!
by L. David Marquet
"The definitive book on intent-based leadership. Demonstrates how to relinquish command-and-control while shifting ownership lower in the organization without sacrificing quality or safety."
The Phoenix Project
by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr & George Spafford
"A classic business novel on IT alignment. Painfully illustrates how unmanaged technical debt and lack of visibility paralyze organizations — and how Lean, ITIL, and DevOps solve it."
Extreme Ownership
by Jocko Willink & Leif Babin
"A uncompromising framework on absolute executive accountability. Teaches leaders to eliminate all external excuses, take full ownership of every operational outcome, and align teams around flawless execution."