management – Page 4 – Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Building Great Software Engineering Teams: Recruiting, Hiring & Managing Your Team from Startup to Success

By Scott J. Pearson | August 3, 2023August 13, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Building excellent software is an intricate task that requires a great deal of technical expertise. Managing people who build software is also an intricate task, but the required skillset is different. A manager has to be a good enough developer to be respected, but she/he must also have “soft skills” to finesse interpersonal situations. Instead of a technical challenge, management becomes a way of life and leading. With a particular focus on software engineering, Josh…

Best Team Ever: The Surprising Science of High-Performing Teams

By Scott J. Pearson | July 31, 2023September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Recent decades have witnessed the fields of neuroscience and psychology advance the insight that feeling a part of a vibrant community enhances a group’s success, however that is defined. This simple insight can be applied to many endeavors, ranging from civic organizations to businesses. When structured correctly, belonging can attract skilled employees while producing first-rate results. In this book, David Burkus seeks to instill readers with virtues that enhance a team’s well-being and success. Burkus’…

Indie Leadership Management-Business

At the Heart of Management: Process, Tools & the Ubiquitous Exponential Law

By Scott J. Pearson | July 20, 2023September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Management and leadership, often coupled together, require a certain amount of experience and training, and much of this is inaccessible through education alone. Like Lino Ciceri, who comes from the background of a chemist, we may have rigorous scientific, technical, or engineering skills, but by themselves, these do not equip us with the skills and character for leading teams. Ciceri tries to fill this gap with this guide to how to think as a manager.…

Management-Business Software-Technology

Product Management In Practice: A Real-World Guide to the Key Connective Role of the 21st Century

By Scott J. Pearson | June 24, 2023June 24, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Product management is a new role in the world of business. Mainly centered around building and deploying technology, product managers began to spring up in early-21st-century corporations. They have been pioneered by organizations around computer technologies, like Intel, Google, or Microsoft. As common with most new roles, figuring out how to meet the challenge on day one can be daunting. To fill that need, Matt LeMay provides a book filled with sage advice from somewhere…

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.…

Fiction-Stories Management-Business

Three Signs of a Miserable Job: A Fable for Managers (& Their Employees)

By Scott J. Pearson | October 5, 2022October 5, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Most people fear having a miserable job, and some are stuck in this predicament. Even jobs with nice enticements like fame and money can leave employees feeling unfulfilled by meaninglessness. One person has a disproportionately large impact on this situation: the manager. She/he can help employees find meaning in their work. In this book, Lencioni describes how managers can gift this to their employees… and achieve better results along the way. Lencioni has written another…

Management-Business

Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Organizations Need & Employees Want

By Scott J. Pearson | August 29, 2022August 29, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Leading and developing a dynamic team is tough in any business field. Many people move from job to job and never gain critical depth. The organizational ladder used to reflect the “true path” towards career growth, but organizations are much flatter than they used to be. This means that career development needs to be rethought for new situations. In this book, Kaye and Winkle Giulioni try to help managers think about how to have these…

Management-Business Software-Technology

Managing Humans: Biting & Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager

By Scott J. Pearson | August 2, 2022August 2, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Software engineers stereotypically have the personality type to stay behind their desks and not socialize too much. Their coding skills, so the story goes, facilitate their contribution to the company, not their finessing of humans. However, if they are ever promoted to a manager, they quickly have to pivot to understanding how to get their needs from subordinates who don’t always seek after managerial social approval. Not everyone is successful with this transition, but once…

Management-Business Program Management

The Unwritten Rules of Managing Up: Project Management Techniques from the Trenches

By Scott J. Pearson | July 11, 2022July 28, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

“Managing up” is a relatively new concept in the business world. It refers to taking care of your boss’ and senior management’s needs as a part of your duties. Managing down, presumably, refers to managing subordinates, but managing up, not just managing down, has a significant impact on one’s career trajectory. Brownlee seeks to explore this concept by describing what this looks like pragmatically as a newer employee. Most employees have encountered difficult bosses at…

Management-Business

Promotions Are So Yesterday: Redefine Career Development. Help Employees Thrive.

By Scott J. Pearson | January 19, 2022January 19, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Workers commonly judge their professional selves by their job title, salary, or position on the organization’s hierarchy. Unfortunately, only so many people can receive promotions. Thus, managers cannot reward everyone on the team with success. How should they manage and develop careers then when not everyone is immediately moving towards high placement? Winkle Giulioni suggests a paradigm shift in management thinking towards alternative dimensions of career development, something she calls the “seven C’s.” Contribution, competence,…