Best business management & leadership books according to Reddit

Reddit mentions of Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams (3rd Edition)

Sentiment score: 13
Reddit mentions: 26

We found 26 Reddit mentions of Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams (3rd Edition). Here are the top ones.

    Features:
  • Addison-Wesley Professional
Specs:
Height9.1 Inches
Length6.05 Inches
Number of items1
Weight0.7495716908 Pounds
Width0.85 Inches
#13 of 1,469

idea-bulb Interested in what Redditors like? Check out our Shuffle feature

Shuffle: random products popular on Reddit

Found 26 comments on Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams (3rd Edition):

u/samort7 · 257 pointsr/learnprogramming

Here's my list of the classics:

General Computing

u/lgstein · 49 pointsr/programming

This is a nightmare. After reading Peopleware (http://www.amazon.de/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Tom-DeMarco/dp/0321934113/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421350607&sr=8-1&keywords=peopleware) you'd expect major players like Facebook and the likes have learned by now. But nooooo, let's continue to pretend a software company is a huge fabric where people sit in front of monitors instead of working the assembly line. What else could be different?

\
It is entirely possible that they just do this to show off to stakeholders, because those aren't impressed by a row of closed doors.

u/daddyc00l · 23 pointsr/programming

there is an excellent book called peopleware that goes into lots of management fads, check it out, you might just like it.

u/ShadowWebDeveloper · 10 pointsr/cscareerquestions

Depending on how much project management you do vs. personnel management, there is Cracking the PM Interview by the same author (though possibly ghostwritten).

General personnel management probably involves more general management interview questions, for which I'm sure a million books have been written (though I don't know enough about them to recommend a specific one).

Edit: If you haven't already, though, read Peopleware. If more shops were run like they suggest, the world would be a better place.

u/Swordsmanus · 7 pointsr/sysadmin

Thank shitty hiring practices that fail to do audition style interviews, where you have the applicant run through a set of tasks common to/representative of the job, using a non-production environment/machine.

That way you, and preferably a few people who do the applicant's job, can see their capabilities, not hear what they say they can do or rote facts they can recall on memory.

Every IT manager should read Peopleware and apply its principles wherever possible in their organization. Sadly, most companies lack leadership of that quality.

u/lifeson106 · 7 pointsr/programming

Interesting that I was never required to read any of these books while in college. Luckily, I have read 5 of the 12 on my own time and they have definitely helped me in my professional development - Refactoring, Clean Code and Design Patterns in particular. I also highly recommend Peopleware and reading other people's code on Github or elsewhere, particularly if you are learning a new language.

u/NoyzMaker · 7 pointsr/ITCareerQuestions

Here is why open office plans became a thing: Money. Employee space is rated on certain amount of sq/ft per employee. If I rent a 1,000 sq/ft office space for open office plans each employee only gets about 30 sq/ft. With cubicles that jumps up to 50-60sq/ft an employee. Offices are about 110 sq/ft.

Looking purely at the cost which route do you think a company is going to go?

This is actually a good book on how people work and offices should be organized: Peopleware

> What does you ideal office space look like?

An office with a door. Doesn't need to be a big one but I need to be able to shut the door when I am on meetings or working on things.

> Do you have an idea of a better layout?

  • All heads down people get pushed to the back of a row and have partitions between their individual work spaces to help keep sound down.
  • Collaboraters get a more open office design with lower partitions.
  • Everyone gets proper noise cancelling headphones and headsets for taking calls on.
  • People won't gravitate to meeting rooms for a single call like people always propose in their layout designs. They will take it at their desk where they have extra monitors and all their material at the ready. Especially if you are on meetings 3-5 hours straight.
u/tech-ninja · 6 pointsr/ProgrammerHumor

Depends what you want to learn. Some of my favorites are

  • Code by Charles Petzold if you want to know how your computer works under the hood.

  • Peopleware if you want to learn how to manage knowledge workers.

  • Clean Code by Uncle Bob if you want to learn about good practices and program structure. Impressive content, covers much more than I expected.

  • Don't Make Me Think if you want to learn about usability.

  • Algorithms by Robert Sedgewick if you want to learn about DS & algorithms.

  • The Art of UNIX Programming by Eric S. Raymond if you want to learn about the unix philosophy. Lots of hidden gems in there. Have you ever heard: write programs that do one thing and do it well; don't tune for speed until you've measured; imagine all this knowledge distilled to you in one book.

    This a good list to get you started :) most of my favorite books are not language specific.
u/srusso_dev · 6 pointsr/programming

I also recommend the book Peopleware

u/fragglet · 5 pointsr/programming

Peopleware has an entire chapter on this, as I recall. Great book.

u/ashmoran · 5 pointsr/btc

I have not even half the experience you have, but I can second this based on what I've seen and been guilty of myself. Bizarrely, developers have the analytic skills to understand psychology and business/economic issues, but often are too dazzled by the coding challenge to apply them. Also, programming has a strange reinforcing effect, where years of bashing away figuring out how to make things work reinforces your own ego, and without a reality check now and again you may end up convincing yourself you're the smartest person on earth. (I found the first 3 years or so of programming convinced me I was the most stupid person on earth, but that did reverse at some point.)

From what I've seen, developers don't necessarily stay like this. Most, with age and experience, start to see the bigger picture and make decisions based on the broader goals of a project. And having your fingers burnt needlessly reimplementing core libraries does eventually teach you why people share code in the first place. Having many young/inexperienced developers on a project is a big risk though, as chance of getting lost on a tangent is much higher.

I wish Peopleware was more widely read, that really opened my eyes to the issue of psychology in software.

u/SparkyMcSparks_ · 4 pointsr/gamedesign

These books are more theoretical and about self growth as a well-rounded designer, if you want game theory others listed some great ones like Rules of Play and Book of Lenses. That said, here's my list:


  • Level Design For Games: Creating Compelling Game Experiences by Phil Co (Valve)

    It's more of a broad game design book since it talks about all the pipelines / processes of all departments coming together, with an emphasis on scripting / level design for crafting experiences. Portion of the book uses Unreal Engine 2 as a reference, but you can probably use UE4 or something else to follow along the actual game design lessons he's teaching and not have the take away be a technical tutorial.

  • Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull (Pixar)

    I cannot describe how invaluable this book is, if you're only to get one from the list it'd be this one. While it does covers Pixar's history as a frame of reference for a lot of stuff, it's also more importantly about their ideology for fostering creativity, productivity and work/ life balance -- all of which are important and can be applied to Game Design.

  • Peopleware by Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister.

    I read this one after Gabe Newell recommended it one of his interviews and it was at a time in my career when I was working at a AAA studio struggling with the corporate forces that got in the way of creativity / productivity. It was one of those that changed me as a developer. It's more from a management point of view, but seriously applicable if you are collaborating with other people in game development, either on the same level as you or those who rely on your work to do theirs. Or if you are going to work at studio, AAA or indie, it's also an insightful book to evaluate whether the culture cultivated by management is in your best interest so that you have the tools to do your best work without burning out.

  • Rework by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson (Basecamp / Ruby on Rails)

    This one is like Peopleware but not as exhaustive, it's an easier read since it's a compilation and edit of blog posts the authors wrote on their old website 37signals. It's more or less about getting stuff done and filtering out noise, simplifying things to make results better -- this one is relatable for planning game project milestones. A lot of it will sound like common sense that a lot of people may say they already know, but it's surprising how many don't actually practice it.
u/bluestudent · 3 pointsr/projectmanagement

I haven't read either of these books so I can't vouch for them personally, but my understanding is that Peopleware and Mythical Man Month are classics.

u/toyg · 3 pointsr/ItalyInformatica

In realtà non mi ricordo esattamente se la citazione viene da The Mythical Man-Month o se da Peopleware, li ho letti praticamente uno dietro l’altro. Se non li conosci, consiglio vivamente.

Non discuto che il “mitico mese-uomo” sia moneta corrente, il discorso è che sappiamo da anni che è una moneta rozza e inaffidabile, e quindi va presa con pinze molto lunghe.

u/g051051 · 2 pointsr/learnprogramming

The first book a new programmer should read is Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister.

u/kwitcherbichen · 2 pointsr/sysadmin

First, congratulations!

It's different work and while it's still technical it's now about people but it can be learned. Find a mentor who is not your boss. Seriously. It's good to have one or more advocates in the organization because there are limits to what "push" vs "pull" can achieve but it's their advice that you need to reduce your mistakes and effectively review them afterward.

I'll add to the book recommendations already here (The Phoenix Project, Team of Teams, Leaders Eat Last) and suggest:

u/balefrost · 2 pointsr/AskProgramming

Read Peopleware. I don't know how much will be directly applicable, but it sounds like you're the perfect audience for it. I think you'll get something from it.

u/IRLeif · 2 pointsr/japan

I wonder if Peopleware by Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister has been translated to Japanese. If so, then it contains some very solid and well-reasoned arguments on how overtime is counterproductive and hurtful to the business.

u/unit187 · 2 pointsr/gamedev

Thanks! Will definitely take a look! At this moment I am reading this book Peopleware:

http://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-3rd/dp/0321934113/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406873165&sr=1-1&keywords=peopleware

It has similar theme: we should care about people and grow together. Unfortunately we don't really have many companies who do that. I mean, just read this thread at polycount (warning: huge wall of text):

http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137206

Practically everyone is saying that the industry full of incompetent people even at higher management positions who do nothing but make peoples' lives harder. Depressing, isn't it?

u/TheSpoom · 2 pointsr/webdev

C For Dummies, Volumes 1 and 2, by Dan Gookin. At almost 1200 pages, it goes through everything a beginner should know in a very readable way, with no preconditions on prior knowledge. These books will take you from a complete novice to the sort of programmer who can pick up another language similar to C (most of them) in a couple of weeks.

Unfortunately it looks like they shrunk these tomes into a single book that doesn't even mention pointers in the most recent version. C All-in-One Desk Reference may be closer.

Peopleware, by Tom DeMarco. If you ever want to manage a software development team, or even really work with a team, you owe it to yourself to read this book. Team Geek is in the same realm.

JavaScript: The Good Parts, by Douglas Crockford is a necessary read if you're doing anything significant in modern web development. JavaScript is a weird little language and if you don't know best practices, it's very, very easy to get lost. This book will tell you where not to look.

How about yourself, OP?

u/CodeTamarin · 2 pointsr/cscareerquestions

I always thought there should have been a subreddit called r/CompSciSoftSkills. I recently read a couple books, Peopleware and then The Mythical Man Month .

Peopleware mentioned that software development was more a sociological process than a technological one and I found that fascinating. I always thought that having a subreddit dedicated to exploring the sociological side of software development would be very interesting and revealing.

... and by extension and exploration of the skills outside whiteboards and code that apply to software dev.

u/eyenot · 1 pointr/cscareerquestions

> but it often gets derailed because we have a fairly large team and everyone seems to feel the need to say something, even if it is only tangentially related to the topic of discussion.

Oh no. Any meeting with more than 5 people trying to have a dialogue is a terrible idea...

> It's funny you mention adding stories to the sprint for meeting attendance because that's exactly what we do. I don't even want to look at how many hours I've logged so far for this sprint. It's mind-boggling.

My god, it's worse than I thought! I was half joking when I said that...

> How would you justify refusing to attend these meetings?

Well, it kind of depends on a few things, like how much you like your manager, how good is your relationship with your 2nd line manager, how much do you care about the job, how much can you get away with, etc.

In your sprint retrospectives, have you considered making one of the "Stop" actions being "Stop spending so much time during sprints discussing issues that are more appropriate for sprint retrospectives?" or "Stop having so many meetings"? BTW, does your manager attend your retrospectives? I don't believe they're supposed to, but even if they do, it might be a good way for all of you to unite and express your feelings on the matter in a "safety in numbers" group environment.

Otherwise, it sounds like you've already tried the diplomatic approach of talking to your manager (I assume privately?) about the meetings, and expressing that you don't think they're a productive use of your time. If you're on good terms with your 2nd line manager, you might consider mentioning it to them. Or, I don't know what your work environment is like (small/big office?), but what would happen if you just didn't go to the meeting? Or, what would happen if you just got up and left when the discussion drifted into the sprint issues away from the agenda?

Also, not sure it'll help, but you might consider buying your manager a copy of Peopleware. Every dev manager should read this. Even developers should read it. Of course, then you'll be even more pissed about all the stuff your management is doing wrong...

u/czth · 1 pointr/cscareerquestions

Maybe leave a copy of Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams lying around prominently? It has a number of studies showing that a quiet, distraction-free workplace does pay off.

> What I'd give to just move my desk into a corner, or to face a wall, but I'm not sure that would go over well.

> My stuff is on a shelf, and there's no room to put anything on the desk.

The appropriate adage here is "It's easier to ask forgiveness than get permission". There's a clear business need for developers to not be distracted while working; reconfigure/move your area one evening—see if you can get someone else to do the same, there's strength in numbers—and see how it goes. (I take it you've already tried raising the issue through normal channels.) If asked, explain that you're easily distracted by conversations and people walking by (i.e., couch it as your weakness, not their lousy setup) and really need to make some process on the Frobnicator feature if it's to be done by next Tuesday.

If you need space for pictures or toys or other personalization, stack a couple boxes/crates on each other to extend your desk. Call it "startup chic". Maybe it'll shame them into giving you more space.

u/sleepybychoice · 1 pointr/cscareerquestions

Peopleware - Gives interesting insights into the "soft" side of software development