Wind at Our Back

Over the past several years, a remarkable convergence has been underway. Researchers across environmental neuroscience, organizational psychology, resilience theory, adult learning, and interspecies studies have been arriving at the same conclusion: Engagement with the natural world is not merely useful as retreat; it is a condition for individual and team performance, leadership practice, and organizational life. Immersion in living systems restores cognitive capacity, deepens relational intelligence, and awakens the kind of creative and adaptive thinking that no classroom or conference room reliably produces.

This is the wind at our back.

We are at the early stages of our own research program, working with leaders and organizations to document, measure, and advance an ecological understanding of organizational development, leadership, and learning. We intend to contribute to this growing body of knowledge, and to build bridges between what science is discovering and what practitioners need to apply.

In the meantime, we want to share the writers, poets, researchers, and thinkers who have shaped our thinking, continue to educate and inspire us. This is not a comprehensive survey of the field, by any means. It’s (fittingly) a living list. Highly personal, always evolving, and offered in the spirit of genuine invitation:

Read widely. Go outside. The two are not unrelated.

Berry, Wendell. The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays. Counterpoint, 2002.
Berry, Wendell. The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture. Sierra Club Books, 1977.

Dillard, Annie. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Harper's Magazine Press, 1974.
Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions, 2013.
McCarthy, Michael. The Moth Snowstorm: Nature and Joy. John Murray, 2015.
Oliver, Mary. Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver. Penguin Press, 2017.
Oliver, Mary. Upstream: Selected Essays. Penguin Press, 2016.
Rebanks, James. The Shepherd's Life: A Tale of the Lake District. Allen Lane, 2015.
Shepherd, Nan. The Living Mountain: A Celebration of the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland. Canongate Books, 2011.
Sheldrake, Merlin. Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures. Random House, 2020.
Wohlleben, Peter. The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate. Greystone Books, 2016.
Berman, Marc. Nature and the Mind: The Science of How Nature Improves Cognitive, Physical, and Social Well-Being. Simon & Schuster, 2024.
Kaplan, Rachel, and Stephen Kaplan. The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective. Cambridge University Press, 1989.
Li, Qing. Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness. Viking, 2018.
Louv, Richard. Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. Algonquin Books, 2005.
Louv, Richard. The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age. Algonquin Books, 2011.
McDonnell, Mia, and David Strayer. "Immersion in Nature Enhances Neural Indices of Executive Attention." Scientific Reports, vol. 14, 2024, article 2064.
Montgomery, Beronda L. Lessons from Plants. Harvard University Press, 2021.
Ratcliffe, Eleanor. "Understanding the Perceived Benefits of Nature for Creativity." Journal of Creative Behavior, vol. 56, no. 1, 2022, pp. 78–95.
Sivagurunathan, R., et al. "Equine-Assisted Experiential Learning: A Literature Review of Embodied Leadership Development in Organizational Behavior." Administrative Sciences, vol. 15, no. 8, 2025, p. 298.
Twohig-Bennett, Caoimhe, and Andy Jones. "The Health Benefits of the Great Outdoors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Greenspace Exposure and Health Outcomes." Environmental Research, vol. 166, 2018, pp. 628–637.
Williams, Florence. The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative. W. W. Norton, 2017.
Wilson, Edward O. Biophilia. Harvard University Press, 1984.
Armstrong, Karen. Sacred Nature: Restoring Our Ancient Bond with the Natural World. Knopf, 2022.

Benyus, Janine M. Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. William Morrow, 1997.
Harman, Jay, and Maggie Pell. The Shark's Paintbrush: Biomimicry and How Nature is Inspiring Innovation. White Cloud Press, 2013.
Holling, C.S. "Resilience and Stability of Ecological Systems." Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, vol. 4, 1973, pp. 1–23.
Hutchins, Giles. The Nature of Business: Redesigning for Resilience. Green Books, 2012.
Hutchins, Giles, and Laura Storm. Regenerative Leadership: The DNA of Life-Affirming 21st Century Organizations. Wordzworth, 2019.
Laloux, Frédéric. Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness. Nelson Parker, 2014.
Romme, Tachi, and Freeman, John. What We Learned in the Rainforest: Business Lessons from Nature. Berrett-Koehler, 2003.
Senge, Peter M. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. Doubleday, 1990.

Simard, Suzanne. Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest. Alfred A. Knopf, 2021.
Wheatley, Margaret J. Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World. Berrett-Koehler, 1992.
Almeras, Hélène Serot, and Sabrina Bresciani. "Experiential Learning with Horses for Leadership and Communication Skills Development: Toward a Model." International Journal of Learning and Change, vol. 16, no. 1, 2024, pp. 86–111.
Kohanov, Linda. Riding Between the Worlds: Expanding Our Potential Through the Way of the Horse. New World Library, 2003.
Kohanov, Linda. The Tao of Equus: A Woman's Journey of Healing and Transformation Through the Way of the Horse. New World Library, 2001.
Roberts, Monty. Horse Sense for People: Using the Gentle Wisdom of Join-Up to Enrich Our Relationships at Home and at Work. Penguin Books, 2001.
Sivagurunathan, R., et al. "Equine-Assisted Experiential Learning: A Literature Review of Embodied Leadership Development in Organizational Behavior." Administrative Sciences, vol. 15, no. 8, 2025, p. 298.
Denning, Stephen. The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2000.
Frankl, Viktor E. Man's Search for Meaning. Beacon Press, 1959.
Gabriel, Yiannis. Storytelling in Organizations: Facts, Fictions, and Fantasies. Oxford University Press, 2000.
Heidegger, Martin. The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays. Translated by William Lovitt, Harper & Row, 1977.
Whyte, David. Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words. Many Rivers Press, 2015.
Whyte, David. The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America. Doubleday, 1994.
Brown, Brené. Dare to Lead: Brave Work, Tough Conversations, Whole Hearts. Random House, 2018.
Edmondson, Amy C. The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth. Wiley, 2018.
Goffee, Rob, and Gareth Jones. Why Should Anyone Be Led by You? What It Takes to Be an Authentic Leader. Harvard Business Review Press, 2006.
Harvard Business Publishing. 2024 Global Leadership Development Study. Harvard Business Publishing, 2024.
Heifetz, Ronald A. Leadership Without Easy Answers. Harvard University Press, 1994.

Hopkins, Rob. How to Fall in Love with the Future: A Time Traveller's Guide to Changing the World. Chelsea Green Publishing UK, 2025.
Kegan, Robert, and Lisa Laskow Lahey. An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization. Harvard Business Review Press, 2016.
Kegan, Robert, and Lisa Laskow Lahey. Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization. Harvard Business Review Press, 2009.
Meadows, Donella H. Thinking in Systems: A Primer. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2008.

Riggio, Ronald E., Ira Chaleff, and Jean Lipman-Blumen, editors. The Art of Followership: How Great Followers Create Great Leaders and Organizations. Jossey-Bass, 2008.