
Ask HN: Reading for first time managers - el_benhameen
I&#x27;ve been working as my company&#x27;s sole QA engineer for the last year or so. I&#x27;ve now been tasked with building a team, and I&#x27;ve just hired my first two engineers.<p>I have a good support system and managers who are excellent models, but I&#x27;m also looking for reading that might help me as I build a multi-person department with processes, etc. Does anyone have recommendations for papers or books that have good insights into 1) managing people and 2) managing software projects?<p>Thanks!
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NumberCruncher
As Dale Carnegie said:

"Even in such technical lines as engineering, about 15% of one's [financial]
success is due one's technical knowledge and about 85% is due to skill in
human engineering, to personality and the ability to lead people."

In this sense a few books about mastering that 85%:

[http://www.amazon.com/How-Found-Freedom-Unfree-World-
ebook/d...](http://www.amazon.com/How-Found-Freedom-Unfree-World-
ebook/dp/B00M20I134)

[http://www.amazon.com/48-Laws-Power-Robert-
Greene/dp/0140280...](http://www.amazon.com/48-Laws-Power-Robert-
Greene/dp/0140280197)

[http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-
People/dp/06...](http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-
People/dp/0671027034)

[http://www.amazon.com/Long-Walk-Freedom-Autobiography-
Mandel...](http://www.amazon.com/Long-Walk-Freedom-Autobiography-
Mandela/dp/0316548189)

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leostatic
I just started off in a very young startup and we will be a building a team
now. So this was my concern too. I started reading Peopleware by Tom DeMarco
and Tim Lister, and I'm 1/3rd in it. Highly recommended.

I also found this series of articles about a real person's real experience
while trying to improve things in his company to be pretty interesting.
[http://www.jamesshore.com/Change-Diary/](http://www.jamesshore.com/Change-
Diary/)

~~~
matt_s
This book should be added to your list. The examples in the book are from the
80's/90's so don't dismiss them - the software industry has the same problems
it has always had, just swap out the programming language acronyms for
whatever is popular at the time.

You will find many concepts about managing engineers in the book that might go
against the open office, micro management styles of today.

Also may want to look at the history of articles from Joel Spolsky - Joel On
Software.

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caseyf7
There are some good recommendations in this syllabus: [pdf warning]
[http://ca-cf10.wharton.upenn.edu/syllabi/?term=2014C&course=...](http://ca-
cf10.wharton.upenn.edu/syllabi/?term=2014C&course=MGMT610001)

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andersthue
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us :
[http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-
Motivates...](http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-
Motivates/dp/1594484805)

First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently
:
[http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0684852861/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?qid=...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0684852861/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?qid=1433623814&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=Great+managers&dpPl=1&dpID=51lEgKNNeWL&ref=plSrch)

Managing software projects : The TimeBlock Method by Me :)
[http://timeblock.com](http://timeblock.com)

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mcgin
I found the writings of Samuel Colbert invaluable when I took on a management
role [http://www.performancepreview.com/](http://www.performancepreview.com/)
It was the first piece of management advice that rang true with my own
personal experience.

In a similar vein I'm currently reading Frederic Laloux's Reinventing
Organisations which is great although may be difficult to enact depending on
your company.

Specifically around managing software engineers I would do some reading on
bricolage and how to cultivate that mindset, I've found adopting it in my
teams sees motivation soar. I don't have any specific reading material to
point you at on that though.

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js2
[http://www.quora.com/What-are-Ben-Horowitzs-favorite-
books-o...](http://www.quora.com/What-are-Ben-Horowitzs-favorite-books-on-
management-and-business)

[http://steveblank.com/books-for-startups/](http://steveblank.com/books-for-
startups/)

[http://randsinrepose.com/books/](http://randsinrepose.com/books/)

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davidmr
On Managing People: [http://www.amazon.com/Managing-featured-%C2%93Leadership-
Res...](http://www.amazon.com/Managing-featured-%C2%93Leadership-Results-
Goleman/dp/1422158012)

It's a collection of ten HBR articles focussed on, you guessed it, managing
people. I found it to be very helpful.

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trcollinson
The Mythical Man Month, still exceptionally applicable today.

The HP Way, also still exceptionally applicable today.

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romanhn
How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie (not specific to
management, but required reading for understanding and communicating with
people)

Managing Humans by Michael Lopp

Peopleware by Tom DeMarco & Tim Lister

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zhte415
Not reading, but listening: [http://manager-tools.com](http://manager-
tools.com)

A huge amount of great, actionable, material.

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hoop
Hi there, I'm quite new to engineering management as well, with approximately
one year of experience. I've had some great mentors, as well as a reading list
passed down to me. I'll highlight those I found as having the most impact for
me.

At the top of the list is "Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a
Software Engineering Manager" by Michael Lopp[1], which was recommended to me
by a manager who helped me get my start in engineering management. This book
touches on a lot of the nuances in dealing with people and, as an introvert, I
found this really helpful. The same author blogs under "Rands in Repose[2]"
which has much of the content from the aforementioned book available for free.

While in the people category you'll also get a lot of recommendations for
"Drive!" by Daniel Pink[2], which is a book about intrinsic motivators
(autonomy, mastery, purpose) and how they are more important and effective
than extrinsic motivators (e.g. money), particularly for knowledge workers. My
personal advice, however, is to watch his TED talk[3] which is a great summary
of basically the entire book. In this same category I could also recommend
"The Great Jackass Fallacy" by Harry Levinson[5].

Now on the wall between people management and engineering/project management
is "Slack" by Tom DeMarco[6], which is about how organizations and managers
tend to run their staff at 100% capacity. As the book points out, however,
this is a good way to not only burn people out, but it also sends response
times through the roof (from queuing theory), and stifles change ("too busy to
improve"). You can read this one on a plane. For some shameless self
promotion, I've also written a tiny blog post relating Slack and the need for
upkeep (software operations and maintenance)[7].

Next, fully in engineering/project management, I have to recommend "Waltzing
with Bears" by Tom DeMarco and Anthony Lister[8], which is specifically about
managing risk on software projects. The authors highlight the common practice
of project/engineering managers communicating their "nano date", which they
point out is typically the _lowest_ point on the uncertainty curve. In other
words, the project has the _lowest_ possible chance of shipping by this date
when you look at the possible timeline as a probability distribution. This
book changed the way I talk about projects and the way I manage my team's
various risks and I have been more successful as a result.

One final recommendation I'll make, since you're in the midst of a transition,
is "The First 90 Days" by Michael Watkins[9]. It's a wonderful book that
outlines how and why one should develop a transition plan in order to hit the
ground running - and in the right direction. For my last engineering
management opportunity, developing a preliminary 90 day plan as part of a
"starter project," was a major factor in being given the job.

I believe that a subset of these will give you a great start. After that, you
should read on the areas you feel the need for the most amount of help with or
the areas that interest you. If you are avidly interested in project
management, for example, you should read books on various methodologies,
particularly the one that you or your organization practice.

[1]: [http://www.amazon.com/Managing-Humans-Humorous-Software-
Engi...](http://www.amazon.com/Managing-Humans-Humorous-Software-
Engineering/dp/1430243147)

[2]: [http://randsinrepose.com/](http://randsinrepose.com/)

[3]: [http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-
Motivates...](http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-
Motivates/dp/1594484805/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1433627889&sr=1-2&keywords=drive%21)

[4]:
[http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation?language=en](http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation?language=en)

[5]: [http://www.amazon.com/Great-Jackass-Fallacy-Harry-
Levinson/d...](http://www.amazon.com/Great-Jackass-Fallacy-Harry-
Levinson/dp/0875841007)

[6]: [http://www.amazon.com/Slack-Getting-Burnout-Busywork-
Efficie...](http://www.amazon.com/Slack-Getting-Burnout-Busywork-
Efficiency/dp/0767907698/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433626981&sr=8-1&keywords=slack&pebp=1433626983688&perid=1BWKDGRPZP6AMCF156YQ)

[7]: [http://www.charleshooper.net/blog/on-slack-and-
upkeep/](http://www.charleshooper.net/blog/on-slack-and-upkeep/)

[8]: [http://www.amazon.com/Waltzing-Bears-Managing-Software-
Proje...](http://www.amazon.com/Waltzing-Bears-Managing-Software-
Projects/dp/0932633609/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1433626973&sr=1-1&keywords=waltzing+with+bears&pebp=1433626985821&perid=1KP925A6D8K69ABHF3KE)

[9]: [http://www.amazon.com/The-First-90-Days-
Strategies/dp/159139...](http://www.amazon.com/The-First-90-Days-
Strategies/dp/1591391105)

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sciencesama
any more books you did find interesting ?

