I liked this book a lot. It’s labeled as a part of a “CIO Series,” but that’s really a mislabel. It’s for anyone working with software developers who has to navigate a distinct company culture. It’s especially geared for those who want to mold that culture for good. Software development is a tricky industry. Good people are hard to find, and they often don’t have a stereotypical personality – especially if they’re really talented. Yet as we all know, emotional intelligence remains invaluable in the workplace.
What are a worker and an employer to do? How are we to deal with co-workers – especially leaders – who put up roadblocks of negativity? How can we ensure that a division’s culture promotes effective knowledge work? Frank Wander explores how these human factors affect productivity. He forcefully argues that software development is unlike factory work. Its workplace cannot be modeled as a system of replaceable cogs. Instead, it’s inherently driven by creative forces and intellect unleashed through workplace happiness. Keeping workers’ loyalty pays huge dividends for a business because knowledge workers retain the expertise and efficiencies that can’t be easily replaced.
I’m not a CIO and don’t really aspire to that professional title. I write software and desire to be a better employee to those around me. I read this book to make the people around me better. This book gave me more confidence that I can contribute through the all-too-human values I appreciate, regardless of what people around me say. Despite usually being done alone in front of a screen, software development is, at its root, a social activity. Making use of those effects can bring life to a division and help them outperform in the marketplace. Reading this book can help an employee identify the little things to make her/his own work of writing software better. By unleashing productive creativity, it can build software – and a company – one human interaction at a time.
Transforming IT Culture: How to Use Social Intelligence, Human Factors, and Collaboration to Create an IT Department That Outperforms
By Frank Wander
Copyright (c) 2013
Wiley
ISBN13 9781118436530
Page Count: 203
Genre: Software, Management
www.amazon.com