Robert D. Austin

Having spent my life in technology management and hopefully leadership, I have read alot on these topics as well as related subjects such as innovation, agile and lean. I found this book to be easy to consume, providing some good insights and overall very helpful. I wish I had read it earlier in my career, as I think it would have helped me to progress more quickly in the development of some of my skills. While I really like the narrative approach to non-fiction (it helps me to stay engaged), it always makes me realize just how good novelists are. Too often in narrative non-fiction, especially with business-focused efforts, the events and the dialogue can come across as contrived and not very natural. I have found you just have to ignore some of that, appreciate the narrative approach for making the information interesting and look for the lessons or messages in the story. There are plenty of great insights here worth chewing on, and the narrative is not terribly painful. I definitely recommend this for anyone early in their IT leadership career.… (más)

It's hard to pull off such an instructive business book by means of a fictional story. These three did it, creating an entertaining story line and realistic characters to convey what could otherwise be a very dry set of key points. This book would be useful for any manager, but especially those in the IT and other specialized technical areas. Key points I value most include: making a habit of knowing what you don't know, developing models for processes and organizational dynamics (while realizing they are models, to be adapted and refined as conditions change), avoiding assuming more than you should about people, and emphasizing relationships and talent over projects and tactics.… (más)