Management is a key part of any organization, yet the discipline is often self-taught and unstructured. Getting to the good solutions of complex management challenges can make the difference between fulfillment and frustration for teams, and, ultimately, the success or failure of companies. Will Larson's An Elegant Puzzle orients around the particular challenges of engineering management--from sizing teams to technical debt to succession planning--and provides a path to the good solutions. Drawing from his experience at Digg, Uber, and Stripe, Will Larson has developed a thoughtful approach to engineering management that leaders of all levels at companies of all sizes can apply. An Elegant Puzzle balances structured principles and human-centric thinking to help any leader create more effective and rewarding organizations for engineers to thrive in.

    The result: greater productivity, quality, and profits achieved with minimal cost, time, and effort invested.

    It covers topics ranging from personal responsibility and career development to architectural techniques for keeping your code flexible and easy to adapt and reuse. Read this book, and you'll learn how toFight software rot; Avoid the trap of duplicating knowledge; Write flexible, dynamic, and adaptable code; Avoid programming by coincidence; Bullet-proof your code with contracts, assertions, and exceptions; Capture real requirements; Test ruthlessly and effectively; Delight your users; Build teams of pragmatic programmers; and Make your developments more precise with automation. Written as a series of self-contained sections and filled with entertaining anecdotes, thoughtful examples, and interesting analogies, The Pragmatic Programmer illustrates the best practices and major pitfalls of many different aspects of software development. Whether you're a new coder, an experienced programmer, or a manager responsible for software projects, use these lessons daily, and you'll quickly see improvements in personal productivity, accuracy, and job satisfaction. You'll learn skills and develop habits and attitudes that form the foundation for long-term success in your career. You'll become a Pragmatic Programmer.

    The book begins with an Overview section. This provides an introduction to Financial Management and to the Financial Environment. The next part covers Financial Planning and Analysis. This section explains concepts like taxes, cash flow, financial statements, and analysis of funds flow and statements. It also discusses financial planning and forecasting.The third part covers the Fundamental Valuation Concepts. This section looks at risk and return, and Securities valuation. The next two parts focus on capital structure, budgeting and dividends. These sections discuss cost of capital, capital structure, planning the capital structure, share valuation and dividend policy. The chapter on Capital budgeting also includes techniques of capital budgeting and analyzing risks in capital budgeting. Part seven goes into Long Term Financing. It covers securities market and sources of long term finance.The next part discusses Working Capital Management. It covers topics like working capital policy and financing, inventory management, and cash and credit management. The last part looks at some special topics like acquisitions, restructuring and mergers. It also discusses international finance management, and project finance, leasing and hire purchase.Fundamentals Of Financial Management provides a good coverage of the basic concepts relating to the financial environment. The topics explained include tax systems, financial institutions, banking arrangements and the regulatory framework. All the concepts are explained using numerous examples and illustrations. Besides the illustrations given within the chapter, additional concepts, tools and techniques with illustrations are provided at the end of chapter sections. The book takes an analytical approach, and explains the various analytical methods in context.

    The Art of Action is a thought-provoking and fresh look at how managers can turn planning into execution, and execution into results.Drawing on his experience as a consultant, senior manager and a highly respected military historian, Stephen Bungay takes a close look at the nineteenth-century Prussian Army, which built its agility on the initiative of its highly empowered junior officers, to show business leaders how they can build more effective, productive organizations. Based on a theoretical framework which has been tested in practice over 150 years, Bungay shows how the approach known as "mission command" has been applied in businesses as diverse as pharmaceuticals and F1 racing today. The Art of Action is scholarly but engaging, rigorous but pragmatic, and shows how common sense can sometimes be surprising.

    Business analysts must respond by developing practical, creative and financially sound solutions and this excellent guide gives them the necessary tools. It supports everyone wanting to achieve university and industry qualifications in business analysis and information systems. It is particularly beneficial for those studying for ISEB qualifications in business analysis.

    Cooper details many of these meta functions to explain his central thesis: programmers need to seriously re-evaluate the many user-hostile concepts deeply embedded within the software development process. Rather than provide users with a straightforward set of options, programmers often pile on the bells and whistles and ignore or de-prioritise lingering bugs. For the average user, increased functionality is a great burden, adding to the recurrent chorus that plays: "computers are hard, mysterious, unwieldy things." (An average user, Cooper asserts, who doesn't think that way or who has memorised all the esoteric commands and now lords it over others, has simply been desensitised by too many years of badly designed software.) Cooper's writing style is often overblown, with a pantheon of cutesy terminology (i.e. "dancing bearware") and insider back-patting. (When presenting software to Bill Gates, he reports that Gates replied: "How did you do that?" to which he writes: "I love stumping Bill!") More seriously, he is also unable to see beyond software development's importance--a sin he accuses programmers of throughout the book. Even with that in mind, the central questions Cooper asks are too important to ignore: Are we making users happier? Are we improving the process by which they get work done? Are we making their work hours more effective? Cooper looks to programmers, business managers and what he calls "interaction designers" to question current assumptions and mindsets. Plainly, he asserts that the goal of computer usage should be "not to make anyone feel stupid." Our distance from that goal reinforces the need to rethink entrenched priorities in software planning. -- Jennifer Buckendorff, Amazon.com

    Combining his candid insights with a rigorous analysis of Toyota's attempts at Lean production, Ohno's book explains how Lean principles can improve any production endeavor. A historical and philosophical description of just-in-time and Lean manufacturing, this work is a must read for all students of human progress. On a more practical level, it continues to provide inspiration and instruction for those seeking to improve efficiency through the elimination of waste.

    Step-by-step strategy of how to successfully organize sales, marketing and business development for a new product or company. The book offers insight into what makes some startups successful and leaves others selling off their furniture. Packed with concrete examples, the book will leave you with new skills to organize sales, marketing and your business for success.

    The power of the A3 report, however, derives not from the report itself, but rather from the development of the culture and mindset required for the implementation of the A3 system. In Understanding A3 Thinking, the authors first show that the A3 report is an effective tool when it is implemented in conjunction with a PDCA-based management philosophy. Toyota views A3 Reports as just one piece in their PDCA management approach. Second, the authors show that the process leading to the development and management of A3 reports is at least as important as the reports themselves, because of the deep learning and professional development that occurs in the process. And finally, the authors provide a number of examples as well as some very practical advice on how to write and review A3 reports.

    Aging computer systems present complex technical challenges for organizations both large and small, and Kill It with Fire provides sound strategies for spearheading modernization efforts.Kill It with Fire examines aging computer systems, the evolution of technology over time, and how organizations can modernize, maintain, and future-proof their current systems.In playful and engaging prose, Marianne Bellotti uses real-world case studies to illustrate the technical challenges of modernizing complex legacy systems, as well as the organizational challenges of time-intensive maintenance efforts. The book explains how to evaluate existing architecture, create upgrade plans, and handle communication structures. Team exercises and historical analyses of complex computer systems make this a valuable resource for those in both older and newer companies, and will help readers restore or create systems built to evolve as time goes on.

    It requires you to develop a data culture that involves people throughout the organization. In this O’Reilly report, DJ Patil and Hilary Mason outline the steps you need to take if your company is to be truly data-driven—including the questions you should ask and the methods you should adopt. You’ll not only learn examples of how Google, LinkedIn, and Facebook use their data, but also how Walmart, UPS, and other organizations took advantage of this resource long before the advent of Big Data. No matter how you approach it, building a data culture is the key to success in the 21st century. You’ll explore: Data scientist skills—and why every company needs a Spock How the benefits of giving company-wide access to data outweigh the costs Why data-driven organizations use the scientific method to explore and solve data problems Key questions to help you develop a research-specific process for tackling important issues What to consider when assembling your data team Developing processes to keep your data team (and company) engaged Choosing technologies that are powerful, support teamwork, and easy to use and learn

    The Responsibility Process proves it. The Responsibility Process is a natural mental pattern that helps you process thoughts about taking or avoiding responsibility. How you navigate it determines whether you are leading toward meaningful results or just marking time. This book gives you precision tools, practices, and leadership truths to navigate The Responsibility Process and lead yourself and others to freedom, power, and choice.FROM THE FOREWORD BY HENRY KIMSEY-HOUSE"The Responsibility Process offers powerful coaching. Christopher doesn't just define the problem and then leave you with it the way some books do. He provides abundant tools, practices, and wisdom for taking ownership, solving problems, and developing your consciousness as a leader. I know you will enjoy this book and live a better life for having read it." -HENRY KIMSEY-HOUSE, co-founder & lead designer of CTI, co-author of Co-Active Coaching & Co-Active LeadershipADVANCE PRAISE FOR THE RESPONSIBILITY PROCESS"This is an important book. The discovery and development of The Responsibility Process is a contribution to the psychology of success and happiness." -DEREK SIVERS, founder of CD Baby, author of Anything You Want"This book changed how I talk about responsibility in my training courses and with my teen daughters. An ownership mindset is critical to business agility. Avery brilliantly dissects how ownership (or the lack of it) works in the mind and what to do about it to lead yourself and others to freedom, happiness, and results that matter." -MIKE COHN, author of Succeeding with AgileCONTENTS Introduction: A More Productive Way to Live and Lead Part I. Personal Responsibility in Everyday Life 1. What is Personal Responsibility? 2. Responsibility != Accountability Part II. Three Tools for Understanding and Practicing Responsibility 3. The Responsibility Process 4. The Three Keys to Responsibility 5. The Catch Sooner Game Part III. Practicing and Mastering Responsibility 6. Lead Yourself First 7. Sharing Responsibility, Sharing Leadership 8. Developing Responsibility in Others 9. Leading the Organization of Choice Conclusion: On the Road to Mastery

    It uses Lean concepts such as limiting work in progress to improve results. A Kanban system is a means of balancing the demand for work to be done with the available capacity to start new work. This book provides a distillation of Kanban: the "essence" of what it is and how it can be used. This brief overview introduces all the principal concepts and guidelines in Kanban and points you to where you can find out more. Essential Kanban Condensed is a great resource to get started or continue exploring ideas for evolutionary change and improvement in business agility.

    Must reading for anyone in the high-tech industry, it is valuable, insightful guide to innovation management and marketing for any industry.