Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Putt’s Law & the Successful Technocrat: How to Win in the Information Age

By Scott J. Pearson | November 18, 2024November 18, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Great satirical works entertain while speaking deep truths. Like a court jester or Shakespeare’s comedies, humor can often unmask human nature where polite conversation can only obscure. Thus, when approached thoughtfully, jokes play an invaluable role to any thinking person. At their best, they can correct overly genteel approaches to problems. This book, written by a pseudonymous author, does just that. It speaks foundational truths about engineering organizations with a realism that surpasses more respectful…

Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families

By Scott J. Pearson | November 15, 2024November 15, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Family is a bedrock of human civilization. After all, it’s where we first learn to care for ourselves, work for others, and socialize among each other. However, life is not always easy on families, and many eventually separate as time proceeds. Separation often takes a heavy toll. For those who suffered under slavery, dehumanizing conditions continually forced separations among spouses, parents, and children. On top of that, the Civil War caused a social upheaval that’s…

Software-Technology

Modern Software Engineering: Doing What Works to Build Better Software Faster

By Scott J. Pearson | November 13, 2024November 13, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Software engineering is a relatively young discipline that’s rapidly evolving. What practices moved software forward thirty years ago are different from what moves them today. Today, most software requires continual-release techniques in the era of Internet speed. In this book, David Farley, an expert in that area and one seasoned in business practices, brings the field up to date with practices that work. Modern Software Engineering provides a good summary informed by reading, personal practice,…

Software-Technology

UML Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Standard Object Modeling Language

By Scott J. Pearson | November 10, 2024November 10, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Unified Modeling Language (UML) models how software and technology are designed. Unfortunately, its committee-derived specifications are too long and too detailed for most software developers to parse. This book distills that complexity into a series of simple instructions alongside graphics. These graphics can easily serve as starters or quick interpretive guides for thorny situations. Additionally, Martin Fowler, a UML veteran, offers sage advice to help the reader know what’s most essential and what can be…

Software-Technology

Learning UML 2.0: A Programatic Introduction to UML

By Scott J. Pearson | November 7, 2024November 8, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Unified Modeling Language (UML) is the best standardized way to graphically depict a complex software system. It makes a technical language of glyphs to portray software integrations so that large software efforts can be more easily understood by developers. Certifications exist that allow individuals to support UML professionally. As a developer, the main problem I have with UML is that it itself is complex, often too onerous for my efforts. I deal with complex software,…

Psychology

Collaborative Intelligence: Thinking with People Who Think Differently

By Scott J. Pearson | November 4, 2024November 4, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Teachers are often taught different learning styles as channels to reach other students. Workplace leaders, however, often don’t have a deep background in education. Yet they are tasked with challenges in communication that require that they address wide swaths of people, who usually think differently than them. In this book, Dawna Markova and Angie McArthur educate readers about how to apply ideas about learning styles to the modern workplace with the hope of increasing the…

Indie Management-Business Program Management

Practical Project Stakeholder Management: Methods, Tools & Templates for Comprehensive Stakeholder Management

By Scott J. Pearson | November 2, 2024November 2, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

There aren’t a ton of books available on coaching how to manage stakeholders while managing a project towards success. This independently published book attempts to fill that gap by providing a series of methods and tools to those new to the practice. First the strengths: The book indeed delivers as advertised by including most common practices for managing stakeholders. It explains them well and provides examples of documentation. It reads like an internal training document…

Leadership Management-Business

Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances

By Scott J. Pearson | October 31, 2024October 31, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Books on leadership continue to fill bookstores’ bookshelves. Most more or less peddle the same message: Exhibit these characteristics as a leader, and your team will perform great. The problem then becomes how to attain a leadership position. However, life and business usually don’t follow such a simple cause-and-effect pattern. A simple set of postulates cannot control team performance, as if it were a geometry problem. And individual leaders alone do not shape a team;…

Biography-Memoir Religion-Philosophy

Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint

By Scott J. Pearson | October 27, 2024October 27, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Because of its followers, Christianity has gotten a bad wrap. Perhaps that’s just in recent years, but I know enough to suspect that it’s always been so. To put people in the pews, many pastors have appealed to minor parts of the Bible while omitting parts that would make its followers uncomfortable. Like the fact that Jesus hung out with prostitutes. Or that God’s loving forgiveness of humanity is absolute. Or that the first Christian…

Biography-Memoir History

An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s

By Scott J. Pearson | October 24, 2024October 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

The 1960s shaped the unfolding of American history. A new generation born after American triumph in World War II seized the national narrative with the election of John F. Kennedy (JFK). Even after his assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) implemented many of those ideals through Civil Rights Acts and the Great Society. But the Vietnam War, internal fighting, more assassinations, and the troubled Democratic convention of 1968 halted a progressive course and haunted liberals for…