Systems thinking is en vogue these days as we increasingly realize how complex the world really is. Too many manage enterprises based on small rules and adages, but neglect to see how the bigger picture works. Then they are surprised when their interventions end up with a different effect. That’s because the rest of the world works systemically through feedback loops. The small game is not the only relevant factor. Before she died, Dartmouth professor…
Remote work has been a trend for a long time as Internet technology inundated homes. Working as a developer in health IT, I have often troubleshot issues from home via my laptop for over a decade. Writing software, I’ve interacted with people all over the globe from my kitchen table or personal office for a long time. The recent COVID pandemic forced the wider workplace to catch up with these trends. As the health threat…
Engineering management books can sometimes be a bit technical, like the field of engineering itself. Of course, it’s no surprise that engineers often view the task as one of exacting competence – like their work. Yet management can, in truth, be its own thing because it deals with people. Humans pose their own set of challenges, and few can speak authoritatively about both realms. Thus, few good books exist in this domain. Unfortunately, many engineers…
Engineering presents unique challenges to managers. Not only are engineering managers usually picked from those who work primarily with objects, but they also receive little training in the discipline. Having little training reinforces a dynamic where little training material is also available to the next generation. To fill this void, Will Larson provides a succinct introduction to the field. His perspective aims to inform from a systems perspective – that is, by observing how managerial…
I grew up in a conservative home in a conservative state with a religion that enshrined conservatism more than Christianity. Fortunately, I was allowed to read, and reading has become a salvation of sorts. As I’ve aged and expanded my horizons, I’ve nonetheless grown concerned that I might have picked up some bad habits along the way. I’m recognized as an expert in my field, but I strive not to be one that oppresses others.…
As Michael Kahn states in this book’s introduction, there exist many guides to giving interviews generally along with guides to being interviewed about software development, but there are few guides to giving interviews specifically to developers. This 2006 book tries to fill that niche. It is short and certainly not comprehensive – as if that were even possible. But it advances wisdom that people like me need in finding a software developer, especially for the…
The Coronavirus pandemic provided a great challenge for modern business and introduced new challenges for us all to address. Post-pandemic, business is working through which novelties are good to keep and which to discard. Among these are remote work, artificial intelligence, ESG (environment, social, and governance), and social justice movements (like DEI, or diversity, equity, and inclusion). This book, compiled by Harvard Business Review (HBR), seeks to help business leaders make smarter decisions by understanding…
As technological development has increasingly driven the world economy, many observe that it causes a disruptive economic effect. New technology can humble big players and lift new players to leading positions. These effects often happen despite managers doing all the “right things.” We now have enough data to begin to analyze how technological disruptions happen across many industries. More importantly, we have data about how to manage innovation’s turbulence. In this classic text, Clayton Christensen…
The COVID pandemic continues to shape the face of the global workforce in 2024. This book, written in the middle of the pandemic in 2021, sought to bring prior research about remote work to the forefront of business leaders. Written by a Wharton School professor, it briefly summarizes earlier studies and speculates on the pandemic’s future business outcomes. Given that it was written in the middle of a global crisis, this work is tightly coupled…
In the early twentieth century, Harlem was the place to be for black culture. Many had recently moved northward from the South to try out city life. As much as they wanted to reinvent themselves, past culture, built on the Christian Scriptures, remained ever near. In a small Harlem church, a teenage son came to terms with his identity in a relatively short amount of time. This book starts with the beginning of his epiphany,…