Reading List
The books that shaped this framework
These works inform the Biology of Business. Some are foundational biology texts. Others are business books whose insights align with biological patterns - sometimes explicitly, sometimes waiting to be connected. Each entry shows which parts of the framework the book connects to.
Foundational
Essential works that provide the theoretical foundation for biological thinking about organizations
Scale: The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life
A physicist's exploration of why size matters - from cities to companies to organisms
"Companies are more like organisms than cities. They're not open-ended. They have a finite lifespan...."
The Selfish Gene
The gene-centered view of evolution that reframed how we understand natural selection
"We are survival machines - robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known..."
Resilience
Books on how systems survive and thrive through volatility and change
Economics
Works that apply complexity and evolutionary thinking to economic systems
The Origin of Wealth: Evolution, Complexity, and the Radical Remaking of Economics
A complexity economics manifesto that treats the economy as an evolving system
"Wealth is the result of evolutionary processes, and economic systems are evolutionary systems...."
Why Information Grows: The Evolution of Order, from Atoms to Economies
An information-theoretic view of economic development and growth
"Products are the physical embodiment of knowledge...."
Decision-Making
Research on how humans and organizations make choices
Business
Practical business books with biological parallels
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't
The research-based study of what differentiates great companies from merely good ones
"Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscio..."
The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
Why successful companies fail by doing everything 'right' - and what to do about it
"The reason is that good management itself was the root cause. Managers played the game the way it wa..."
Complexity
Deep dives into complex adaptive systems and emergence
Technology
How technology evolves and shapes organizations
Biology
Primary biological sources that inform the framework
Design
Nature-inspired approaches to innovation and sustainability