Management-Business – Page 9 – Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

The Product Manager’s Guide: Strategy, Psychology & Leadership at Work

By Scott J. Pearson | June 4, 2023September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

In a diverse business, a product manager oversees all of the projects for several products. That is, it sits a step above project managers on the org chart. This corporate designation seems to exist across many companies, especially those which are larger. Potential readers might be mystified by this role among their co-workers; others might aspire to this role and want to know what to do. In this self-published work, Daniel Chak, an experienced product…

Leadership Mentoring

Co-Active Coaching: The Proven Framework for Transformative Conversations at Work & in Life

By Scott J. Pearson | May 3, 2023September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Coaching and mentoring are crucial ingredients for success in almost every endeavor. At first, the coachee needs to learn technical skills to succeed, but later, they must learn how to navigate more complex areas with many shades of grey. For instance, coachees might need to figure out how to find fulfillment and happiness in the midst of competing demands in work and family. There is no black-and-white answer for these. Fortunately, the authors of this…

Management-Business Software-Technology

Precisely: Working with Precision Systems in a World of Data

By Scott J. Pearson | April 7, 2023March 22, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

In recent years, the world, empowered by computer technologies and advanced data collection, has experienced an explosion of information. Instead of focusing on a few fixed principles, decision-making increasingly takes place in light of ever-changing data points. How are business folk supposed to develop, deploy, and use these systems? In this book, Tumin and Want provide a series of case studies that illustrate how leaders across many domains have accomplished this. They then extract guidelines…

Management-Business

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In

By Scott J. Pearson | March 23, 2023March 23, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Negotiation is a crucial life skill. For some, it’s inherent to being a part of society, especially with expensive purchases or haggling in open markets. For others (like lawyers), it composes a part of their professional skillset. Either way, most people can stand to benefit from learning more about the art of negotiation. Many negotiation guides seek to maximize gains by taking strong positions. However, as these authors point out, this strategy can hurt long-term…

Biography-Memoir Management-Business Software-Technology

Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making

By Scott J. Pearson | March 19, 2023March 19, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Tony Fadell assumes that the reader knew of his career by virtue of picking up this book. That was not the case with me. I develop software and implement technology solutions for a living and found the title intriguing. Fadell led iPod and iPhone hardware teams at Apple and pioneered the Nest “connected home” technology company (now Google Nest). So as an author, he brings some “street cred” to the topic of building technology companies.…

Management-Business Psychology

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life & Business

By Scott J. Pearson | March 4, 2023March 4, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Simple, popular, “arm chair” psychology says that life is full of “rational” choices that guide our lives. However, reasoning from human experience and psychological research, we’ve learned that habits guide most of our lives and prevent us from “choice fatigue.” How are we then to make use of habitual practices? In this book, Charles Duhigg analyzes how this impacts our business lives, our personal lives, and our society. He seeks to identify specific ways that…

Leadership Management-Business Software-Technology

The CIO Paradox: Battling the Contradictions of IT Leadership

By Scott J. Pearson | February 23, 2023September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

I write this review a full decade after this book was published. Further, I am a software developer in a large organization and, though quite happy, will likely never become a CIO at that company. Therefore, I don’t reside in the intended audience in this book. However, I notice many of these paradoxes in my work. I have to master the technical aspects of my job yet be adept enough to communicate to end-users. I…

Indie Leadership Mentoring

Equip Your Inner Coach: Personal, Career & Leadership Development in an Uncertain Age

By Scott J. Pearson | February 11, 2023September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

How can someone advance their career and leadership skills without having access to good, personalized mentoring? Many – particularly women and minorities – in the workforce lack such access, yet their ambition to contribute to the world does not lack. What are they to do? One thing they can do is check out Janet Bickel’s book. In it, she teaches readers to rely on their “inner coach” and like-minded peers in figuring out how to…

Leadership Politics

A Message from Ukraine: Speeches, 2019-2022 by Volodymyr Zelensky

By Scott J. Pearson | January 26, 2023September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine in 2022 sent shockwaves through the democratic world. It reminded many of how precarious open, free societies are. As time unfolded, Ukrainian resistance, led by their President Zelensky, proved more formidable than anyone could predict. Most of the free world united behind Ukraine as they fought back Russian gains kilometer by kilometer. Zelensky’s leadership has been admirable. It’ll likely be studied by generations after his time passes, much like Churchill’s…

Leadership Management-Business

Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter

By Scott J. Pearson | January 18, 2023September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

This book entered two new words into my vocabulary of personality: “diminisher” and “multiplier.” To Wiseman, these contrasting interpersonal styles are the secret understanding to why some smart people succeed at leadership and others fail. A diminisher is someone who socially tries to prove how smart they are to everyone around them. As such, they promote themselves, not the people around them. In stark contrast, multipliers make the people around them feel smarter and more…