Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Beyond Delivery: How Technical Program Managers Lead Change & Grow with Impact

By Scott J. Pearson | March 21, 2026March 21, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Technical Program Managers (TPMs) are a recent phenomenon, particularly in larger organizations that use a lot of IT to achieve value. They combine the technical role and a leadership role in one function to enhance technical value. However, today’s literature on how to excel as a TPM is relatively sparse. Johnathan Stephen Sexton adds his experiences as a Walmart TPM to the mix in this book of homespun wisdom. As a very experience-driven account, he…

Biography-Memoir

Finding My Way: A Memoir by Malala Yousafzai

By Scott J. Pearson | March 20, 2026March 20, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Malala, as she is simply called, is widely known as the girl who stood up to the Taliban for girls’ education. She paid for it by being shot in the face, but amazingly survived. She spent the rest of her youth in Manchester in Britain, protected by a security detail against would-be assassins. She started an international fund called the Malala Fund to aid girls’ education in needy countries. This book does not tell that…

Leadership Management-Business

Ownership Unlocked: 4 Principles to Build Self-Driven Teams That Take Initiative, Innovate & Win

By Scott J. Pearson | March 10, 2026March 10, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Employees’ psychological ownership of their projects is a secret weapon to increase their productivity and effectiveness. Increasing ownership of their projects is a trait I seek to encourage among the software developers I work with. Their ownership not only keeps me from making too many tiny decisions for them, but it also tends to increase the quality of their work. It lets me know that they’re gaining self-confidence and investment in their work towards mastery…

Management-Business

The Art of Gathering: How We Meet & Why It Matters

By Scott J. Pearson | March 9, 2026March 9, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Humans are “social animals,” so Aristotle said long ago. We gather together to get things done, whether those gatherings are familial, a work conference, religious, or a party. What makes a good gathering work? Are there universal rules that govern gatherings’ format so that you can construct it to achieve a given goal? Yes, says Priya Parker, and this book seeks to show us how. I help organize biannual academic conferences as a part of…

Program Management Software-Technology

Technical Program Manager’s Handbook: Second Edition

By Scott J. Pearson | March 6, 2026March 6, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Technical Program Management represents a hot field to work in. In today’s world, many have skills to be software developers, and many know how to manage a program of projects, but few combine those skills to manage an entire program of software development projects. In an increasingly digital world, these combined skills are both marketable and valuable and define what a technical program manager (TPM) does. They are force multipliers to projects and organizations who…

Biography-Memoir Healthcare Society

The Cure for Women: Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi & the Challenge to Victorian Medicine That Changed Women’s Lives Forever

By Scott J. Pearson | March 2, 2026March 2, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

By the end of the Victorian age, men had dominated medical practice for centuries, but women were beginning to make inroads into the profession. A few, Mary Putnam Jacobi being the first, made inroads in European training centers and returned to the US to integrate women into American medicine. In this book, Lydia Reeder narrates their struggle and eventual victory that depathologized being a woman. By pursuing their personal questions, these women physician-scientists brought obstetrics…

Leadership Management-Business

Superteams: The Science & Secrets of High-Performing Teams

By Scott J. Pearson | February 28, 2026February 28, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

In today’s workplace, teams represent the instrument of enacting change. Yet anyone who’s served on a team realizes that team dynamics are key to maintaining a healthy atmosphere to make those contributions. Many books suggest ways to improve teams, but relatively few of them are based on critical studies to discern if their ideas actually work. Ron Friedman’s book, in contrast, begins as a study. He identifies top-performing teams in terms of output and nicknames…

Psychology Religion-Philosophy

The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives Us & Divides Us

By Scott J. Pearson | February 22, 2026February 22, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Sometimes, it seems all we do on the Internet and social media is argue about whose activities are most superior and most important. We all want to “matter,” but we can develop elaborate defensive arguments about who gets there the best. Many times, our own need to matter gets in the way of recognizing what matters to other people. And yet needing to matter at something is one of the deepest human longings. We need…

Management-Business Psychology

Rebuilding Trust in the Workplace: Seven Steps to Renew Confidence, Commitment & Energy

By Scott J. Pearson | February 15, 2026February 15, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Trust and betrayal are inevitable parts of life, and likewise, they are parts of careers in the workplace. What happens when you encounter betrayal and trust issues at work? Some might leave, but that option doesn’t always seem feasible. Instead, you have to work on rebuilding trust in your workplace, and that’s easier said than done. This book, written by two leading experts on the psychology of workplace trust, can lead you in the process…

Management-Business Society

The Silo Effect: The Peril of Expertise & the Promise of Breaking Down Barriers

By Scott J. Pearson | February 10, 2026February 10, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Organizational silos occur when groups of people in the same organization do not rely on each others’ insights because of various cultural reasons. While the division of labor that silos create is essential for any business, silos can inhibit an organization’s creativity and innovation. They have been weak points in or even downfalls of many great business empires. Through case studies across many organizations and industries, anthropologist Gillian Tett describes negative results silos can create…