Books for Work

This is a collection of books I've read that I have found useful in the context of work.

The Phoenix Project

The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford is a book about organizing software projects told in the format of a YA novel. The sequel The Unicorn Project is more dev focused, and both have good insights on the craft, and how to tie business value to engineering concerns.

Trusted Advisor

This was a popular book at a consulting shop I worked at in the 2010's. This book, written by David H. Maister, Charles H. Green, and Robert M. Galford, focuses largely on how to work with people to build long-lasting relationships built on trust.

To be honest, I need to reread this one. I read through it once as part of a book club at work, but I don't recall any of the specific advice beyond things that feel obvious in building trust like listening to what the other person is saying, and finding ways to be a person that people can rely upon for advice.

Resilient Management

Resilient Management by Lara Hogan is a great overall book about how to set up a practice in people management. This book has tons of good advice on mentoring and growing the people on a technical team, as well as valuable insight on how to survive in periods of crisis in an organization.