Person
Every book Will Larson recommended on podcasts
Key facts
- Will Larson has recommended or discussed 4 books on podcasts, as of October 21, 2026.
- Will Larson has talked about books on 1 podcast, as of October 21, 2026.
- Those books came up in 1 episode, as of October 21, 2026.
- The 3 books Will Larson has mentioned in the most episodes, as of October 21, 2026: Practical TLA+, Thinking in Systems and Seeing Like a State.
- The latest episode with a book mention from Will Larson aired on October 21, 2026.
Updated
Will Larson appeared on The Pragmatic Engineer podcast to discuss the revised rules of engineering management. Throughout the episode, he recommended and discussed several influential texts that shaped his professional perspective. Larson recommended Donella Meadows's Thinking in Systems, noting that it was the primary book that formed his current view about management and operating inside companies, a recommendation that the podcast host noted he had followed himself. He also highlighted Hillel Wayne's Practical TLA+, praising it as a fantastic book with valuable ideas regarding system verification. In addition to these recommendations, Larson invoked Frederick P. Brooks Jr.'s classic text, The Mythical Man-Month, while arguing against the practice of adding more people to a late project, prompting the host to clarify the original and revised publication dates of 1975 and 1995. Furthermore, Larson cited James C. Scott's Seeing Like a State, describing it as a widespread cultural touchstone in Silicon Valley that effectively illustrates how a bureaucrat's perspective shapes their perception of citizens, accomplishments, and policy execution.
Books recommended by Will Larson
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Practical TLA+
Practical TLA+ by Hillel Wayne is a comprehensive technical guide that introduces software engineers to formal verification methods and system modeling.
Recommended“And then there's a another great book whose name I'm losing on TLA plus And using that Is that Hillel Wayne? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, he was on the podcast. Yeah, he he has the famous TLA plus. Fantastic book.”
Where to get it
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Thinking in Systems
Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows is a foundational primer on systems theory that illuminates how complex feedback structures dictate behavior across various domains.
Recommended“I think, you know, Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella Meadows is like one that I think about a lot. read it based on your recommendation. I I think it's it's honestly the the book that kind of formed my view about management and kind of operating in companies.”
Where to get it
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Seeing Like a State
Seeing Like a State by James C.
Discussed“You know, the J Reed seeing like a state, like you're not allowed to be in Silicon Valley if you haven't read Seeing as it like like a state, but it's basically um a book about how a state sees citizens and accomplishments and how that shapes how policy works.”
Where to get it
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The Mythical Man-Month
The Mythical Man-Month by Frederick P.
Discussed“There's still the mythical man-month thing, but like, 'Hey, we're moving 15 more people to work on this key project.' And, you know, the mythical man-month I I I want to say was written in like '80 '84. '75, 1975. And the second version, '95.”
Where to get it
Books Will Larson wrote
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| The revised rules of engineering management with Will Larson | The Pragmatic Engineer | 2026-10-21 | 4 |
Other mentions (5: passing, ad reads, own books)
“And it might have been like the um The Phoenix Project might have been out around then. I'm forgetting if that the exact timeline, but there was something like The Phoenix Project.”
“And one of the reasons why I wrote Staff Engineer, which I think came out in 2021, was actually like collecting feedback for some of the staff engineers I worked with.”
“I've been thinking about doing like a an add-on to staff engineer. I'll get to it in like I don't know, the next decade sometime. But it's really about decision-making in complicated situations.”
“And then, um wrote my first book, kind of the culmination of the things I'd written at Stripe and Elegant Puzzle, and then got a lot of momentum. I think a total of four books.”
“But for for my books, I I really think I've changed the the industry um with um I think staff engineer, I think in notably, I think like the staff plus kind of concept, that that that book created staff plus as like a concept, right?”