I just finished reading Managing Humans by Michael Lopp. It was a pretty good read. I’ve never read his blog before picking up the book, but I will be tracking it going forward. I saw the book as less of a “how to” manual for managing people and more of an analysis of how different types of people in the software development space think and work.
There are a couple of chapters with great recommendations for managers about keeping information flowing in organizations – both up and down the chain. Having worked in environments where this constant flow of information was disrupted – either because of ignorance or malice – this is very important information for people who want to become good managers.
He also has some great career advice for people in the tech industry – how to work with various types of coworkers, how to resign from a job and so on. Again – having seen some blowups in my day this is good advice – not just for managers but for anyone who wants to have an ongoing career in this space.
One thing I noticed was that Michael/Rands’ career has been spent in large software product shops as well as a venture-backed, software-based startup. This colors his experiences and advice – which is to be expected. While I was reading I did see how situations and organization structures might be different for folks working in in-house IT organizations. This isn’t a criticism of the book – just a reflection of the author’s background and something to keep in mind.
Overall I thought this was a fun read and an interesting take on the folks who make the creation of software their living and I would recommend it.
I have been a big fan of a bunch of these Apress books on software development and I would recommend all of these as interesting reads. I don’t always agree with everything the authors have to say, but I do believe that they have thought about things enough that they well-deserve their opinions.
- Joel on Software
- The Best Software Writing I: Selected and Introduced by Joel Spolsky
- Smart and Gets Things Done
–Dan
dan _at_ denimgroup.com
Interesting, I’m wondering if he takes a certain archetypal approach to defining people who work in software. Makes sense… I just wonder what archetypes he is using. Guess I’ll have to check it out. Thanks.
Thank you for the insightful review.