Reddit mentions of The Last Lecture

Good recommendations! I owned an independent bookstore for a couple of years. I am not an experienced developer but certainly if one can mention Malcolm Gladwell then this:

The Last Lecture - By Randy Pausch

A computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon (TOP 3 CS SCHOOL) gave a lecture after learning of his own impending death. It's good for everybody, but an iconic book and certainly worth mentioning.

If you haven't read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, I would highly recommend that. It's all about seizing the day and overcoming obstacles. If a guy with a terminal illness can be an optimist, anyone can. Many of the stories don't even have anything to do with his illness.

While the bigger picture is, obviously, that you have no idea what to do with your life (for which I only have one suggestion for; there is a book also), money though...I understand the draw to books that have the word "you" and "rich" or "millionare", etc. in them, but rarely do they elaborate on methods that teach you how to responsibly handle money. Few parents cover how to get out and stay out of debt, budget, save, or invest and I don't think even high schools teach kids how to do that. I know I wish mine did. Go to your library and get a copy of Dave Ramsey's book The Total Money Makeover. It starts with the basics, and walks you through 'baby steps' until you're eventually investing for retirement.

The Last Leture

I'll preface this by saying I'm not in business, but I used to be a military officer and know quite a bit about leadership. I will point you to the example of one of the greatest leaders in modern culture. In all seriousness, Captain James T. Kirk.

While admittedly not that short (I think Shatner is like 5'10?), he was shorter than the rest of his team. Randy Pausch has written one of the best descriptions of his leadership style (or any leadership style I've come across) in his book The Last Lecture:

“Kirk was not the smartest guy on the ship. Mr. Spock, his First Officer, was the always logical intellect onboard. Dr. McCoy had all the medical knowledge available to mankind in the 2260s. Scotty was the Chief Engineer who had the technical know-how to keep that ship running, even when it was under attack by aliens. So what was Kirk’s skillset? Why did he get to climb onboard the Enterprise and run it? The answer: there is this skill set called “leadership”. ...He was the distilled essence of the dynamic manager. A guy who knew how to delegate, had the passion to inspire, and looked good in what he wore to work. He never professed to have skills greater than his subordinates. He acknowledged that they knew what they were doing in their domains, but he established the vision, the tone. He was in charge of morale.”