Fiction-Stories Management-Business Software-Technology

Review: The Phoenix Project

I’m reading this book to be prepared for a software launch that might happen in the next few months. I read a book like this to ensure that I am on top of my IT game when it comes to responding to life forces. Stories like this tell how powerful information technology can be at transforming organizations when coupled with a simple desire to learn from each other.

Too often, those in IT keeps their ears closed to their fellow co-workers; not surprisingly, those outside of IT do not keep up with software developments either. This book illustrates how to overcome those silos with mere curiosity.

Most organizations – even those outside of traditional tech-sector jobs – can die without effective information management. Through an interesting (and all too typical) narrative, this book illustrates how to make information technology, to buy a metaphor from anatomy, the nervous system of your organizations.

Like all great literature, this story plays upon universal human themes like coming together, listening to each other, and solving huge problems in unconventional ways. It conveys these truths in a way that computer programmers like me can relate to their jobs. I’ve heard and seen most of the bad practices in this book; I’ve also seen many of the suggested solutions in practice in my colleagues. I leave this book ready to encounter the new challenges at my work on Monday morning.

Now, here’s to hoping that I can take the inspiration gathered in this book and apply it to my software launch!

The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win
by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford
Copyright (c) 2013
ISBN13 9780988262591
Page count: 431
Genre: Fiction, Information Technology
www.amazon.com