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Ask HN: What books do you wish your manager would read?

50 points by a3n ↗ HN
Non-technical, technical, technical management, people management, perspective, insight.

What books or other resources do you believe would make your life better, if your present and future managers read them and lived their lessons?

56 comments

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jlhonora
Peopleware has great insights for both managers and programmers. Recommended read for both.
Tcepsa
I am both a manager and a programmer and just read it last month. I fully agree that it has valuable insights for both.
jbob2000
It 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.

nibnib
Just curious how you came to this conclusion, were you asking about reading habits? I have no idea what my managers are/were reading, unless they mention it or make a recommendation.
jbob2000
No, but you get to know someone when you work closely with them, you pick up these kinds of things through conversation; "What did you do last night?" "Oh, I stayed up to finish this book, I've read the whole series". As opposed to "Oh, I watched the last season of breaking bad again".
minikites
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is amazing and I happened to read it at just the right time in my life where it shaped a lot of how I think about technology and the different ways to approach it.
mrfusion
Care to explain? I didn't really get anything like that from the book.
minikites
It's been a while since I've re-read it so I might not have the finer points correct, but one of the main lessons is how the authors approach to motorcycle tweaking differs from the couple he is traveling with. He has a old bike that needs a mixture adjustment as they change altitude and he enjoys the act of figuring out how to make the engine run just right. In contrast, the couple he is traveling with has a new bike that makes all those adjustments automatically. The author takes great pains to point out that neither of these views is wrong, each one is enjoyable in its own way.
beeboop
I haven't read the book, but I found this summary: https://lettersfromtheporch.wordpress.com/2010/03/07/what-yo...

You are close, but I think the message is more nuanced than you state (as you guessed). What the book seems to be contrasting is the "romantic" view of something (the emotions it generates) and the classical view (the logic and order of something). This applies to a lot of things in life (cooking, music, programming etc) and the book uses the examples of motorcycles. One person doesn't mind tinkering with his motorcycle because it's part of the "experience" and he finds an emotional appeal to it. The other person only sees the motorcycle as a means to a different experience (traveling) and only cares that it works for their purpose.

The summmary says, "Only by finding the middle ground that accepts both views can a person deal with the frustration and dissatisfaction of everyday life."

I am not sure how finding the middle ground would make me more satisfied with life. I understand cooking has very romantic feelings for some people, but to me it's a chore. I don't have the same experiences, background, and emotional wiring as someone who enjoys cooking, and I don't think I ever will. Understanding that other people like it doesn't make me like it anymore. I guess maybe the point of the book is to try to view things romantically, and giving that view a chance.

bjornsing
> the good ones read, the bad ones don't read

Interesting observation! Note that you're describing a correlational study though (and not a randomized controlled trial), so even if you're right it might not help to get your non-reading manager to read... :P

mrfusion
How did it change how you think about technology?
jbob2000
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.

GFischer
I second that observation. I wish the manager at my day job read ANYTHING, at the very least some informercial-laden industry publication.

In my case, I'd like him to read Fred Brooks' "The Mythical Man-Month", to make him understand how a programming system costs a lot more than a simple module.

Summary: http://javatroopers.com/Mythical_Man_Month.html

In second place, I'd place "Peopleware", so he'd understand the importance of communications, and how the current office arrangement is losing the company a lot of money:

Summary: http://javatroopers.com/Peopleware.html

Amazon link to both:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Mythical-Man-Month-Engineering-Ann...

http://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Second-...

minikites
Not a book, but a particular podcast episode: http://5by5.tv/b2w/17. Skip to 1:05:00 (an hour and 5 minutes in) and listen for 2-3 minutes.

You'll hear something many managers need to hear about the difference between a "priority" and just something you need to do and the resources you need to be putting behind something to really show that it's a priority (owner, budget, deadline).

askyourmother
The childrens book "Maisy makes gingerbread", it might help the aspiring manager understand that often there is a simple, well understood series of steps to follow, and if we do follow them, we deliver something of value.

If we choose to bog down the process, add unnecessary steps, or shortcut some steps, the end result is perhaps less rewarding.

DanBC
I tried leaving Dilbert cartoons around. People don't recognise themselves, even though everyone else can see it clear as day.
niHiggim
Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering (http://www.amazon.com/Facts-Fallacies-Software-Engineering-R...). It may be starting to get a little dated, so it's hard to say that all the referenced research is still applicable in the same way. But it's a good antidote to a common problem everywhere I've worked: the idea that our team is in some way special or unique in a way that implies reasonable standards of software engineering practice don't apply. It's almost always part of a rationalization cycle that justifies the way things have always been done or some kind of Taylorist management practice.
pearjuice
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
koja86
In context of software development these books (and other works by same people) might be interesting. I have not read them all yet but have been recommended by a colleague. My perspective is defined by being a developer in circa 100 people company.

* The Mythical Man-Month by Fred Brooks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythical_Man-Month

* Facts and fallacies of software engineering by Robert L. Glass https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_L._Glass

* Lessons learned from 25 years of process improvement: The Rise and Fall of the NASA Software Engineering Laboratory https://www.cs.umd.edu/users/basili/publications/proceedings...

paulclinger
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu M. Goldratt. It's an old, but a good one.