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

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work & What to Do About It

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

An oft-cited fact is that most small businesses don’t succeed. They fall prey to a common set of challenges – namely, that entrepreneurs never transition their work from a job into building a business. In this book, Michael Gerber shines light on this common error and shows ways to overcome it. He uses a parable of Sarah starting her own business as a way to interject life into these principles and illustrate how entrepreneurs can…

The Right to Speak: Working with the Voice

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

Months of formal voice training has been something that has attracted me for decades, but I could never justify the time or the expense for it. Obviously, anyone who leads groups and speaks to groups regularly needs to attend to the voice. It’s still difficult to get the feedback necessary to articulate words in an engaging manner. This book will not offer customized feedback, but to the self-disciplined, it offers ways to internalize principles of…

Indie Management-Business Software-Technology

Successful Technology Consulting: How to Become a Top Dollar IT Consultant

By Scott J. Pearson | July 25, 2026July 25, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

This short work introduces the reader to a career in IT consulting. Written by Eetu Niemi, a ten-year veteran of the field, it describes what IT consulting actually looks like and presents options about which kind of positions entrants should look for based on their personal values and life traits. Importantly, he distinguishes between management consulting and IT consulting. Management consulting can pay more but is much more demanding in terms of hours and expectations.…

Indie Leadership Management-Business

The Executive Mindset: Unlocking the Strategic Power Inside Every Manager

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

Learning to think like the “next level up” is a challenge in any professional group. As the saying goes, what got you here isn’t going to get you there. The gap between management and leadership remains large. As you move up an organization’s chart, mentoring is harder to come by and free passes to make mistakes become fewer. Reading books like Bobby Lampkin’s provide opportunities to level up your thinking and behavior to bring further…

Program Management Software-Technology

Software Measurement & Estimation: A Practical Approach

By Scott J. Pearson | June 8, 2026June 8, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Metrics around software can be a difficult to attain. Some (Agile) suggest making up estimates and then making metrics based off of those estimates. Others (function points) build entire abstract schemes based on difficult-to-attain calculations. Either way, predicting and measuring progress are complex tasks, but they are necessary to communicate to management and to provide appropriate managerial oversight. In this book, the authors seek to provide practical methods to assure that projects are on track…

Leadership Program Management Software-Technology

More Effective Agile: A Roadmap for Software Leaders

By Scott J. Pearson | May 30, 2026May 30, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Steve McConnell is one of the best writers about software practices in our generation. Over decades, each of his books pushes the field forward, and each new book updates his thought with oodles of new data. This book, an evidence-based look at Agile, is no exception. Agile has become a catch-all term for a lot of software practices, but McConnell recenters his study about Agile on what’s most important in a business – getting results.…

Program Management Software-Technology

Agile Estimating & Planning

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

Agile methods are just different than traditional approaches, kind of like Einsteinian physics is just different from Newtonian physics. They both have the same aims; they only have wildly different ways of getting there. Instead of estimating software schedules by reality-based values, agile creates abstractions like user stories, story points, and velocities to measure progress. Burndown charts project how quickly a feature set can be released. Maybe I’m an old fogey in the world of…

Leadership Management-Business

The Leadership Pipeline: Developing Leaders in the Digital Age

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

Developing a leadership strategy is tough for any organization. Leaders have to function at various levels and lead in different ways, depending on the task at hand. Many leaders become stuck by doing their previous job instead of embracing the new charter of their new responsibilities. Leaders must simultaneously be kept happy doing their present work while being ready to accept different responsibilities when needed. Leadership must no longer be viewed as an ascent but…

Program Management Software-Technology

Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art

By Scott J. Pearson | May 16, 2026May 16, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Software estimation is a somewhat undefined craft. Most coders simply “go with their gut” in estimating a project, and that gut is often wildly off. Alternative techniques involve intense calculations that take a lot of time, but rarely yield enough accuracy to help, especially for smaller projects. Unlike, say, construction or mechanical tasks, software builds represent a creative process where new territory is tread with each project. There’s a learning curve involved, and it’s hard…

Leadership Management-Business

Working Backwards: Insights, Stories & Secrets from Inside Amazon

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

In over two decades of its existence, Amazon has changed the business landscape. After its founding, many investors made fun of the company for reinvesting its profits – or even running at a loss – so that it could position itself better in the future workplace. Once the home of just bookselling, it has become a powerhouse of logistics, web development, eBooks, and digital devices. The authors, former senior leaders at the company, team together…