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Ask HN: What books do you wish your manager would read?
31–40 of 57 posts
Re: Ask HN: What books do you wish your manager would read?
#32A basic understanding of JavaScript technologies, as described in my book http://pipefishbook.com/
Re: Ask HN: What books do you wish your manager would read?
#33Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense Approach to a Continuous Improvement Strategy
http://www.amazon.com/Gemba-Kaizen-Commonsense-Continuous-Im...
Re: Ask HN: What books do you wish your manager would read?
#34The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu M. Goldratt. It's an old, but a good one.
Re: Ask HN: What books do you wish your manager would read?
#35Re: Ask HN: What books do you wish your manager would read?
#36Atlas Shrugged, but he's not the 'reading books' type of guy.
Atlas Shrugged's Taggart Transcontinental is the company I wish I could work for. I hate the nitpicking and bad attitude that I currently deal with. I took this job to write code and make money, why do I have to go to all these stupid meetings, read these stupid e-mails, use Slack, answer this stupid desk-phone etc?
'Going to work' is what is killing my work, and nothing I say or do seems to matter. I just want to actually get some work done, seemingly unlike the rest of this entire corp.
Give me my keyboard, my editor, and my coffee. That's all I need and I'll write up what I did at the end of the day, talk to me then.
Re: Ask HN: What books do you wish your manager would read?
#37It would be great if my manager read anything at all. Having been through a few managers; the good ones read, the bad ones don't read. It doesn't matter what they read, the last good one I had pretty much only read WW2 novels. That being said, I think Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is an important read for anyone in technology. It changed how I approach and appreciate technology.
How did it change how you think about technology?
I used to be a first adopter, very fervent about certain technologies and brands, always wanted to stay on the cutting edge. I used to spend huge amounts of time on my computer, like frequent 12 hour sprints.
When I started reading the book, it seemed like it was going to justify that lifestyle to me. It's good to tinker and be mechanically aware, you know? I wanted to be like the narrator, he seemed like the pinnacle engineer.
But I just started missing out on things and ignoring people. It clicked for me when I got my first car and when I got in my first accident. I spent so much time keeping this thing in perfect shape, all to be destroyed by some dumb ass maneuver I pulled. After that, I wanted to be more like John. A car is just something to make life happen, it's not a reason to live. Same thing with computers, they're just there to help you out a little, not something to give up your life for.
I guess it was the car accident that really changed how I think about things, but reading the book gave me the language/vocabulary to understand how I felt.
Re: Ask HN: What books do you wish your manager would read?
#38By definition if you know what your manager should be doing you're in the wrong position.
Re: Ask HN: What books do you wish your manager would read?
#39"Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products" by Nir Eyal - I'm reading it myself. I think it's really useful for those doing product development/management and building user engagement.
http://www.amazon.com/Hooked-How-Build-Habit-Forming-Product...
Re: Ask HN: What books do you wish your manager would read?
#40* Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSM-5
Software engineering in particular attracts some extreme personalities. There are elements of narcissism, OCD, borderline, avoidance, etc. in every organization, even if it would not necessarily warrant a diagnosis. People have irrational motivations. This is often ignored in the rational business of software.