| Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 31 reviews)
Sales Rank: 45528
Category: Book
Author: Michael Lopp
Publisher: Apress
Studio: Apress
Manufacturer: Apress
Label: Apress
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 209
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.7
ISBN: 159059844X
Dewey Decimal Number: 658.300207
EAN: 9781590598443
ASIN: 159059844X
Publication Date: June 12, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Managing Humans is a selection of the best essays from Michael Lopps web site, Rands In Repose. Drawing on Lopp's management experiences at Apple, Netscape, Symantec, and Borland, this book is full of stories based on companies in the Silicon Valley where people have been known to yell at each other. It is a place full of dysfunctional bright people who are in an incredible hurry to find the next big thing so they can strike it rich and then do it all over again. Among these people are managers, a strange breed of people who through a mystical organizational ritual have been given power over your future and your bank account. Whether you're an aspiring manager, a current manager, or just wondering what the heck a manager does all day, there is a story in this book that will speak to you. You will learn: - What to do when people start yelling at each other
- How to perform a diving save when the best engineer insists on resigning
- How to say "No" to the person who signs your paycheck
Among fans of Michael Lopp is the incomparable Joel Spolsky, cofounder and CEO of Fog Creek Software: "What you're holding in your hands in by far the most brilliant book about managing software teams you're ever going to find".
This book is designed for managers and would-be managers staring at the role of a manager wondering why they would ever leave the safe world of bits and bites for the messy world of managing humans. The book covers handling conflict, managing wildly differing personality types, infusing innovation into insane product schedules, and figuring out how to build a lasting and useful engineering culture.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 26 more reviews...
 interesting and helpful December 23, 2008
I found Rands' book to be both an interesting and helpful read. I'm not in management myself, but I still gained quite a bit from reading the book (and other articles in the blog). Rands explains many of the various personalities you come across in the (software development) workplace, which I found insightful from a purely psychological point of view. If you've ever wondered what makes your seemingly robotic micromanager tick, Rands provides an explanation. He explains some common events in professional life from the managers perspective, such as reorganizations/layoffs, Monday morning freak-outs, and various kinds of meetings. Rands also gives some sage career advice - from "both sides of the table" - about resumes, phone interviews, face-to-face interviews, and so on.
I think the topics in the book are applicable to many science-based fields outside of software development. To me, the take-home message is all about learning how to deal with people (including yourself). It's important to remember that the contents are just one man's opinions, though I feel that said opinions are very well thought-out and explained in an easy-to-read, entertaining manner.
 Mainly for entertainment December 15, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I read parts of this book two separate nights, then sent it to the recycle bin.
This books rambles quite a bit through various stories and occasionally touches some important points. This important points usually aren't explained well or deeply. If you feel like reading a good piece of fiction while gaining some insights into software development then this might a good read for you. If you're really looking to be a better developer or manager then are better books. I don't think the author is very mature, his attitude towards some people is a bit condescending in a "you can't change people" attitude.
One chapter I focused on was how to be effective in meetings. His technique encourages as one step separating the players from the pawns (so far so good). Then the example he gives is absolutely terrible. A meeting with 3 devs (1 senior) and 1 PM and some other people. He says the devs are players automatically because they write code (which has nothing to do with the useful definition of player needed in this context). He says the PM is automatically a pawn (sorry? I mock PMs as next as the much dev but considering what the PM wants is typically critical to handling a meeting well).
I haven't read too many management books- I focus on technical ones I am a developer by trade. But for this subject matter, I can recommend "Making Thing Happen" by Scott Berkun. Its full of lots of good ideas and techniques.
Great Read December 12, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I love this book. Very insightful and the annecdotes about real-life situations are so familiar that they're uncanny and eerie.
Great read if you've ever been in software Development and are getting into Management...in fact great if you're into IT in any way.
The title should be Managing Software Engineering Humans! November 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Living in a Software Engineering world, this book nailed it. Not everyone gets "1.0 Start-Up Tragedies". Perhaps it's something akin to Katrina. (You had to be there.) Beyond that he does a little physco-analysis of personality work approaches: incrementalist and completionists, manager (north and south) poles of organics and mechanics. It's not only funny and true-to-life, but upbeat. It might be a nice stocking stuffer for that new engineer in the family.
 Angry August 24, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
While this book has some very good insights about management that are right on, the relentless use of angry and derogatory terms to describe everyone from managers to subordinates leaves me exasperated and cold. While humans, or should I say people, have their issues, I prefer to see the inherent value, humor, fun and value that each person has. These good qualities that human beings have are what make management an interesting and enjoyable job.
I've yet to find a management book this is not either boring or whining. This book gave me hope when I started it because it was funny and lively, but descends into repetitive negativity that would make anyone want to run away screaming.
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