Management-Business – Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

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…

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…

Management-Business Program Management

The Standard for Program Management, Fifth Edition

By Scott J. Pearson | February 7, 2026February 7, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Books from the Project Management Institute (PMI) provide standards for the entire industry of project management and program management. ANSI, an American body supervising industry-wide standards, has approved this text as true wherever program management is practiced. Therefore, studying this book can provide a lot of value for your current position as well as any jobs you might attain throughout your career. This book’s tone is not incredibly engaging like a popular book’s tone is.…

Management-Business Psychology

The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results

By Scott J. Pearson | January 24, 2026January 24, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Have you ever watched people whose careers and lives seem to be driven by one central passion and wondered how they do it? In The One Thing, entrepreneur Gary Keller explains how to make that happen in your life – if you’re willing to take the journey. The first step is to identify what your “one thing” is. Are you a writer? Or an organizer? Or do you start businesses? What field are you interested…

Management-Business Psychology

Trust & Betrayal in the Workplace: Building Effective Relationships in Your Organization

By Scott J. Pearson | January 19, 2026January 19, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

This book confronts us with bad news first: Betrayals happen in the workplace, and unfortunately, they will continue to happen. They cause slowdowns; they cause mistrust; they disrupt a customer- or client-centered focus and create infighting. The good news is that quickly recentering your trust, though not blind trust, can overcome these shortcomings. This book can help readers to become more trustful employees in the workplace. This book is known as “the book” for workplace…

Indie Program Management Software-Technology

Mastering JIRA for Agile Projects: A Practical Guide with Real-World Examples (Confluence Included)

By Scott J. Pearson | December 18, 2025December 18, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

Jira is becoming a leading tool for project management at larger businesses, and using it is a skill required for many jobs. This book teaches you how to master Jira processes to manage projects under Agile or Scrum paradigms. Half of this book focuses on Confluence software, which my workplace does not use. Therefore, half of the book was irrelevant to me. However, the Jira sections gave me a formal training that I lacked. It…

Indie Program Management Software-Technology

The Technical Program Manager Guide: Navigating the Path to Success

By Scott J. Pearson | December 6, 2025December 6, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

Traditional program management consists of guiding a suite of programs for business success. As IT has recently become ascendant in the marketplace, that paradigm has applied to software in a role called the technical program manager. Leading tech companies, like Meta, Apple, and Amazon, have made ample use of this position in their business strategy. The problem is that there is no set career progression into this role. Arpit Agrawal tries to demystify this role…

Leadership Management-Business

Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power & Greatness

By Scott J. Pearson | November 15, 2025November 15, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

When observing the world, many see that true leadership does not reflect positions of power; rather, it reflects a quality of personal character. Robert Greenleaf looked at 1970s America and the 1970s world and observed a lack of leadership. We had educated talent out the wazoo, but lacked people able to usher in lasting, good change. He wrote this book to cultivate such leadership qualities in its readers. Leadership, to him, was of a servant’s…

Leadership Management-Business

Simply Managing: What Managers Do- and Can Do Better

By Scott J. Pearson | November 12, 2025November 12, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

Most contemporary management books from scholars tend to center on a central “secret of management” upon which an entire philosophy is built. Henry Mintzberg instead flips the idea on its head and observed dozens of managers from various industries in the field. Then he tried to describe what they were doing empirically. Then he made that into a framework. In this bottom-up approach, he observed managers doing all sorts of things throughout a day, without…