[Sigia-l] Defusing Techies?

[George Olsen]

Scott Berkun said:
> 1) The psychology of computer programming: It's an ancient book, but
> it's the only book I know of focused on understanding how developers
> think, the kinds of personalities drawn to development work, and how to
> manage them effectively.

This is one of many great books written by Jerry Weinberg. I'd also
recommend "Becoming a Technical Leader."
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0932633021/interactionby-20/002-7723352-5434432>
It's actually excellent for anyone (technical, creative, sales, etc.)
who's been promoted based on their expertise into management and who
discovers they need to learn a whole new set of skills. However, since
it's written for programmers, it does tend to focus on issues to
management technical folks. Actually not the different in certain ways to
managing designers...both are like herding cats.

To stray off-topic... Jerry's "Exploring Requirements"
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0932633137/interactionby-20/002-7723352-5434432>
and "Secrets of Consulting"
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0932633013/interactionby-20/002-7723352-5434432>
are excellent reading for IAs/UIs/UXs/etc. And if you really want to have
better-run projects, his four-volume "Quality Software Management" series
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0932633323/interactionby-20/002-7723352-5434432>
if well worth the investment, summing up several decades of consulting
experience in human-focused software engineering and organizational
change.

_____________________________________________________________________
George Olsen                           george at interactionbydesign.com
User Experience Architect                                310-993-0467