From the same author that helped bring us the classic “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing”, Jack Trout provides another amazing book, this time focusing on strategy. As he puts it:
“It's all about having the right strategy. That's because strategy sets the competitive direction, strategy dictates product planning, strategy tells you how to communicate internally and externally, strategy tells you on what to focus.”
This book is simply a classic and demonstrates that most software development issues are people issues, not technical issues. I should of read this book years ago.
“It is the one thing every software manager needs to read . . . not just once, but once a year.”
--Joel Spolsky
It's easier to manage technological issues than it is to manage sociological issues.
“Getting a new disk drive installed is positively trivial compared to figuring out why Horace is in a blue funk or why Susan is dissatisfied with the company after on a few months. Human interactions are complicated and never very crisp and clean in their effects, but they matter more than any other aspect of the work.”
Personally, I'd much rather help someone work through a tough algorithm than help them deal with their personal issues. The reality is that over the last seven years of managing developers I have come to realize that personal issues come up as often, if not more often than any technological challenges. This is very much the same topic covered in “First, Break All the Rules.” Care about your people and their personal issues. Help them where you can, but most importantly, just listen. It's just as important as helping them with the technological challenges they face.
Some Great Quotes From The Book:
There Ain't No Such Thing as Overtime
People under pressure don't work better; they just work faster.
A policy of “Quality - If Time Permits” will assure that no quality at all sneaks into the project.
The manager's function is not to make people work, but to make it possible for people to work.
It's not the quantity of hours that are important, it's the quality. (paraphrased a bit)
The final outcome of any effort is more of a function of who does the work than how the work is done.
Get the right people, make them so happy they won't want to leave, turn them loose.
Sociology matters more than technology or even money. It's suppose to be productive, satisfying fun to work.
Process improvement programs don't work because they entice the play-it-safe behavior of low-risk, and therefore low-benefit, projects. (paraphrased a bit)
Companies of knowledge-workers have to realize that it is their investment in human capital that matters most.
A real working meeting is called when there is a real reason for all the people invited to think through some matter.
And my personal favorite: The ultimate management sin is wasting people's time.
Office Space
The second part of the book focuses on office space:
Quiet work environments = More Productivity = Higher Quality
More square feet per worker = More Productivity = Higher Quality
Stealth Development Offices are Great
Walls and doors are good things.
Appearance is not important, functionality is important.
