Boyd & Beyond 2011 Reading List

Streetlights and Shadows Gary Klein

Heavy Matter Russell Glenn

On Combat Dave Grossman

Bond-Relationship Targeting Dr. Robert J. Bunker (this may not be the precise reference, the topic seems to be within an essay Higher Dimensional Warfare)

Blink Malcolm Gladwell

Descarte’s Bones Russell Shorto

Unrestricted Warfare Qiao Liang & Wang Xianqsui

How to Be Your Own Best Friend Berkowitz and Newman

The Logic of Failure Dietrich Dorner

The Psychology of Personal Constructs GA Kelly

The Unity of the Philosophical Experience, Etienne Gilson

Geography of Thought Richard Nisbett

The classes conducted by Edward Tufte were recommended for visualizing information.

I could not find the following references, so if you have them, please feel free to add a link in the comments or send an email and I’ll add.

1955 Hogenboom Report

Field Command

1970’s Urban Planning/Wicked Problems Rittel and Webbes

Swarming Cato

This is an excellent video series on US Strategic Nuclear Policy.

One closing note, Cameron Schaefer at his blog recommended a healthy dose of fiction for the strategic practitioner, and I agree—here is a link to his list of fiction.

UPDATE 10-29-2011

I did recommend Melanie Mitchell’s book Complexity A Guided Tour, but never managed to write it on the white board—best book I’ve read on the topic.

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  1. Fred Leland:

    You just cost me a lot of money and a bigger pile in the anti-library 🙂 

  2. J.ScottShipman:

    Hi Fred, Which books appeal to you? Only about five or six jumped out at me—I’ve read several of these—Hammond and the Klein books are very good—-as is Grossman. Dorner, Gilson, Shorto, and Nisbett are on my short list. 

  3. Fred Leland:

    I just ordered The Geography of thought, The logic of failure, Strategic intuition, Heavy matter and the Talent Code.  

  4. J.ScottShipman:

    Hi Fred, You’ll like The Talent Code. Coyle is a very good writer. I gave about a half-dozen copies of this book away and to a person, the recipients said it changed their thought process with respect to developed competencies. Heavy Matter looks very good, but might be outside my area of interest—-but Strategic Intuition made need to be added to my list, too. Thanks for sharing!

  5. Fred Leland:

    Most Welcome Scott Listening to you talk about the Talent Code at Boyd and Beyond got me interested in the "Deep Practice" theory. 

  6. J.ScottShipman:

    Hi Fred, I believe the "deep practice" idea is most applicable in force-on-force training—-where there is a symbiosis of the mental/cognitive and the physical. I believe the USMC needs less classroom and more field force-on-force scenarios—the USN as well. Table-tops are good parlor tricks, but lack context and the physical—both are essential to deep practice. Try learning a new musical instrument by table-topping—it ain’t gonna work—-we cognitively need the tactile—even with fake/toy guns and goodies for cops.

  7. zen:

    Likes this +1

  8. Marc Danziger:

    Rittel/Weber is "Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning" – a pdf of the article is here
    Marc D

  9. J.ScottShipman:

    Many thanks, Marc!