Recent Publications

Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading, Part 1: A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach to Building a Great Business

The first in a series of books by Zingerman’s co-founding partner Ari Weinzweig examines the basic building blocks of the culture and structure we know now as Zingerman’s. These approaches are applicable whether you’re running a law office, a library, a restaurant, a record label, a software firm, or an organic farm. They are the behind-the-scenes “secret” stuff that goes into making a very special, sustainable business of any kind.

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Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading, Part 2: A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach to Being a Better Leader

Part 2 in the Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading series continues on sharing the “secrets” that have helped take Zingerman’s from a 25 seat, 4 person start up to a nationally known, $40,000,000 organization employing over 500 people. While Part 1 looked at the “secrets” behind Building a Great Business, Part 2 will look at the leadership style that has helped make Zingerman’s such a special place to work and to eat.

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Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading, Part 3: A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach to Managing Ourselves

Part 3 explores our belief that some of the most important work we do to build great organizations and lead rewarding lives is the work we need to do within ourselves. The book includes essays on our approach to managing ourselves, mindfulness, leadership at the four levels of organizational growth, personal visioning, why the way the leader thinks will be manifested in the way the organization runs, creating a creative organization, and more.

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Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading, Part 4: A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach to the Power of Beliefs in Business

Part 4 is the culmination of a lifetime of learning and 34 years in business—with the 3 years leading up to this publication spent intensively studying, reflecting on, and writing about the critical role of beliefs in the businesses and organizations of which we’re a part. The fruits of that labor are now available in this 600-page book.

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Why Democracy Matters: A Deep Understanding of Democracy in Our Everyday Lives

"Why Democracy Matters” explores democracy not as a political position, but as a daily practice—rooted in dignity, empathy, collaboration, and care. In this pamphlet, Ari Weinzweig invites readers to explore democracy as a way of working together to create hopeful, lasting change in our companies, communities, and country.

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A Revolution of Dignity in the Twenty-First Century Workplace

Can dignity open the door to a revolution in the twenty-first century workplace? Ari Weinzweig says, “Yes!” The 100 pages of the new pamphlet detail Ari’s path from feeling deep despair in late February of 2022 in the weeks following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Unsure of how to help, Ari realized one way that he—we all—can fight back against autocracy and indignity even from afar: to create small revolutions of dignity in our daily lives.

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A Taste of Zingerman’s Food Philosophy: Forty Years of Mindful Cooking and Eating

Ari shares: Our beliefs, I’ve come to understand over the years, play a huge part in making our lives what they are. Change our beliefs and things look—and in this case, cook up and taste—different. This is the food philosophy that underlies what we all (me included) eat at Zingerman’s, a look at how my own beliefs about food and cooking have evolved over the now 40-plus years we’ve been working to make Zingerman’s into something special. Includes recipes you can cook in your kitchen!

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The Story of Visioning at Zingerman’s: Four Visions, Forty Years, and a Positive Look Towards the Future

Ari shares: Early in the 20th century, Rudolph Steiner—educator, philosopher, and the founder of biodynamics—said, “We tell our story until it tells us.” What follows is just that; it’s me, the co-founding partner of the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, telling the story of our organization. At the same time, it’s me trying to get out of the way to let our organizational story speak for itself.

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Humility: A Humble, Anarchistic Inquiry

In this new pamphlet, Zingerman’s co-founder Ari Weinzweig shares his two-year-long inquiry into how the gentle art of humility can bring out our humanness, elevate organizational effectiveness, enhance leadership, and enrich quality of life. Humility, Ari suggests, is subtle, but significant. While it may be easy to miss in the moment, in the long run it’s hugely important to our health and humanity.

Add to cart — $14.95