Every year, I get asked some version of the same question:
“What should I read or learn if I actually want to get better at IT Service Management?”
Not certifications for the sake of certifications. Not frameworks memorized and forgotten. But resources that genuinely help you think more clearly about services, people, technology, and value.
This list isn’t data-mined, auto-generated or optimized by a recommendation engine. It’s handpicked – shaped by real work, real mistakes and real conversations with people doing ITSM in the trenches.
Because Service Management is, at its core, a human discipline. It’s dedicated to how people experience technology, how teams collaborate under constraints and how organizations create (or destroy) value through the services they provide.
The books and courses below reflect that mindset. They focus less on rigid frameworks and more on experience, systems thinking and practical judgment…and these are the things that actually help ITSM professionals do better work in the real world.
If you want to do ITSM better in 2026, start here.
Books every ITSM pro should have on their radar
1. "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
ITSM is ultimately about helping people do meaningful work with minimal friction. "Flow" explains what peak experience actually looks like, and why poorly designed systems quietly destroy it.
2. "Co-Intelligence" by Ethan Mollick
This isn’t an “AI will save us” book, and that’s exactly why it’s useful. Mollick focuses on how humans and intelligent systems actually work together, which is where ITSM teams increasingly live. Smart, grounded and refreshingly practical.
3. "Good Services" by Lou Downe
If you only read one service-design book, make it this one. "Good Services" cuts through the fluff and gives you a simple, usable definition of what a service is, and how to tell if yours actually works. Directly applicable to ITSM.
4. "The Best Service Is No Service" by Bill Price & David Jaffe
A classic for a reason. The core idea, removing demand instead of optimizing failure, is still one of the most under-applied principles in ITSM. If you’re drowning in tickets, this book will challenge how you think about “support.”
5. "A Practical Guide to Service Management" by Keith Sutherland & Butch Sheets
Straightforward, no-nonsense and written for practitioners. This is the kind of book you can actually apply without needing a translation layer.
6. "Thinking in Systems" by Donella H. Meadows
ITSM problems are rarely isolated. They’re systemic. This book teaches you how to see feedback loops, unintended consequences and leverage points – which is invaluable when you’re dealing with complex service environments.
7. "This Is Service Design Doing" by Marc Stickdorn et al.
More toolbox than theory. Journey maps, service blueprints, workshops; all the artifacts ITSM teams can use to move from abstract ideas to real service improvements.
8. "Introduction to Enterprise Service Management" – InvGate
I wouldn’t leave a book I was involved in off a list like this. "Introduction to ESM" is a practical primer on Enterprise Service Management, which becomes increasingly relevant as Service Management expands beyond IT. A solid starting point if you want consistent service thinking across the entire organization – and it's free to download!
9. "Mapping Experiences" by Jim Kalbach
If you’ve ever struggled to explain why a service feels broken even when the metrics look fine, this book helps. Experience maps and journey maps are powerful tools for service owners who want visibility beyond tickets.
10. "Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT and the Race That Will Change the World" by Parmy Olson
Not an ITSM book, but important context. Understanding how AI is reshaping organizations, power structures and work itself helps service leaders make smarter decisions about automation and tooling.
11. "Human Edge in the AI Age" by Nitin Seth
A useful counterweight to purely technical AI narratives. This book focuses on what humans still do best, and how organizations can design work that preserves that edge.
Courses worth your time (and attention)
1. IT Asset Lifecycle Management - InvGate
Full disclosure, I’m biased; this IT Asset Lifecycle Management course on YouTube was also developed by our team at InvGate. It focuses on connecting assets, cost, risk and service outcomes across the entire lifecycle, positioning ITAM as a core part of effective service management rather than a siloed function.
2. Humanising IT Foundation
A strong option for teams that want to move beyond process compliance and into experience-led service design. Especially useful if you’re trying to make IT feel more intuitive and less transactional.
3. ITXM: Happy Signals
Another great free option is a series that helps connect measurement to service improvement. While I don’t particularly love XLA’s (a convoluted concept, I believe), the rest of this series is great and useful.
4. UX Experience Design Fundamentals - Joe Natoli
Hands-on and practical. You’ll learn how to research, map, prototype and improve services in ways that translate well to ITSM environments. Just keep in mind, this course is for anyone learning UX in any industry.
5. Beyond Retention: The Customer Loyalty Blueprint - Elena Kostopoulou
Understand how to build for both loyal customers, or, as is the case in IT: loyal colleagues and employees. This course is good at the high-level philosophy as well as the detailed tasks you can apply right away.
6. Product Analytics Mastery: Data-Driven Growth & Insights
This course is great for IT Service Design nerds because Santiago uses digital products as the focus of the course – and so much of what we build is delivered in that same manner! Easily translatable to teams looking to improve employee experience.
Final thoughts
If you’re reading this article, you already know that ITSM goes beyond processes, frameworks and tools. The core of it is about how people experience technology at work and whether IT enables or gets in the way of that experience.
The books and courses above won’t give you all the answers. They’re not meant to. But they will help you ask better questions, and that’s always where real improvement starts.