Book picks similar to
Creating Flow with OmniFocus by Kourosh Dini
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The Effective Engineer: How to Leverage Your Efforts In Software Engineering to Make a Disproportionate and Meaningful Impact
Edmond Lau - 2015
I'm going to share that mindset with you — along with hundreds of actionable techniques and proven habits — so you can shortcut those years.Introducing The Effective Engineer — the only book designed specifically for today's software engineers, based on extensive interviews with engineering leaders at top tech companies, and packed with hundreds of techniques to accelerate your career.For two years, I embarked on a quest seeking an answer to one question:How do the most effective engineers make their efforts, their teams, and their careers more successful?I interviewed and collected stories from engineering VPs, directors, managers, and other leaders at today's top software companies: established, household names like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn; rapidly growing mid-sized companies like Dropbox, Square, Box, Airbnb, and Etsy; and startups like Reddit, Stripe, Instagram, and Lyft.These leaders shared stories about the most valuable insights they've learned and the most common and costly mistakes that they've seen engineers — sometimes themselves — make.This is just a small sampling of the hard questions I posed to them:- What engineering qualities correlate with future success?- What have you done that has paid off the highest returns?- What separates the most effective engineers you've worked with from everyone else?- What's the most valuable lesson your team has learned in the past year?- What advice do you give to new engineers on your team? Everyone's story is different, but many of the lessons share common themes.You'll get to hear stories like:- How did Instagram's team of 5 engineers build and support a service that grew to over 40 million users by the time the company was acquired?- How and why did Quora deploy code to production 40 to 50 times per day?- How did the team behind Google Docs become the fastest acquisition to rewrite its software to run on Google's infrastructure?- How does Etsy use continuous experimentation to design features that are guaranteed to increase revenue at launch?- How did Facebook's small infrastructure team effectively operate thousands of database servers?- How did Dropbox go from barely hiring any new engineers to nearly tripling its team size year-over-year? What's more, I've distilled their stories into actionable habits and lessons that you can follow step-by-step to make your career and your team more successful.The skills used by effective engineers are all learnable.And I'll teach them to you. With The Effective Engineer, I'll teach you a unifying framework called leverage — the value produced per unit of time invested — that you can use to identify the activities that produce disproportionate results.Here's a sneak peek at some of the lessons you'll learn. You'll learn how to:- Prioritize the right projects and tasks to increase your impact.- Earn more leeway from your peers and managers on your projects.- Spend less time maintaining and fixing software and more time building and shipping new features.- Produce more accurate software estimates.- Validate your ideas cheaply to reduce wasted work.- Navigate organizational and people-related bottlenecks.- Find the appropriate level of code reviews, testing, abstraction, and technical debt to balance speed and quality.- Shorten your debugging workflow to increase your iteration speed.
Where Good Ideas Come from: The Natural History of Innovation
Steven Johnson - 2010
But where do they come from? What kind of environment breeds them? What sparks the flash of brilliance? How do we generate the breakthrough technologies that push forward our lives, our society, our culture? Steven Johnson's answers are revelatory as he identifies the seven key patterns behind genuine innovation, and traces them across time and disciplines. From Darwin and Freud to the halls of Google and Apple, Johnson investigates the innovation hubs throughout modern time and pulls out the approaches and commonalities that seem to appear at moments of originality.
I Can Make You Confident: The Power to Go for Anything You Want!
Paul McKenna - 2008
McKenna demonstrates the latest techniques to stop fear and desperation and create massive amounts of confidence and self-belief instantly, whether it's mastering the fear of public speaking or feeling more self-assured in social, business, and romantic situations. Plus, the book contains a hypnosis CD that will fill your mind with positive thoughts and feelings, so you have Paul McKenna on tap 24 hours a day!
The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts
Richard Susskind - 2015
In an Internet society, according to Richard Susskind and Daniel Susskind, we will neither need nor want doctors, teachers, accountants, architects, the clergy, consultants, lawyers, and many others, to work as they did in the 20th century.The Future of the Professions explains how 'increasingly capable systems' -- from telepresence to artificial intelligence -- will bring fundamental change in the way that the 'practical expertise' of specialists is made available in society.The authors challenge the 'grand bargain' -- the arrangement that grants various monopolies to today's professionals. They argue that our current professions are antiquated, opaque and no longer affordable, and that the expertise of their best is enjoyed only by a few. In their place, they propose six new models for producing and distributing expertise in society.The book raises important practical and moral questions. In an era when machines can out-perform human beings at most tasks, what are the prospects for employment, who should own and control online expertise, and what tasks should be reserved exclusively for people?Based on the authors' in-depth research of more than ten professions, and illustrated by numerous examples from each, this is the first book to assess and question the relevance of the professions in the 21st century.
Becoming a Technical Leader: An Organic Problem-Solving Approach
Gerald M. Weinberg - 1986
The book emphasizes that we all contain the ingredients for leadership, though some elements are better developed than others. "Anyone can improve as a leader simply by building the strength of our weakest elements, " author Gerald M. Weinberg writes. "Mr. Universe doesn't have more muscles than I do, just better developed ones."On one level, the book is an extremely down-to-earth, how-to guide. On a second, it is a set of parables, full of analogies that stick in the mind -- the art of management taught through stories about pinball, tinkertoys, and electric blankets. On yet another level, this is a book about the philosophy and psychology of managing technical projects. On every level, the author brings these entertaining and enlightening elements together to teach you the essentials of leadership.You'll learn how to-- master your fear of becoming a leader-- be creative in solving problems-- motivate people while maintaining quality-- gain organizational power-- plan personal change.-- Whether you manage people, are managed by people, or just want to change the way you interact with others, this book is about success. How to plan it, how to make it happen -- Becoming a Technical Leader shows you how to do it!
Real-Life BPMN: With Introductions to CMMN and DMN
Jakob Freund - 2010
It is about business process management (BPM) and Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN 2.0). Truth be told, there are several BPMN books on the market. Some of them are quite good, so why should you care about this one? This book distills the experience the authors accumulated while running Camunda, a consulting company that specializes in BPM. Camunda helped to define the BPMN specification, and during the past ten years, they have applied BPMN in over 1000 customer engagements. These were big businesses, small companies, and public institutions. Now you can benefit from this practical experience. Topics covered: The basics of modeling processes with Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN 2.0) Methods to apply BPMN successfully to real-world problems A practical approach for automating processes with BPMN 2.0 The alignment of business and IT as an attainable goal Advice on introducing BPMN across your company This book explains the notation, of course, but it also delves into the kinds of challenges that process designers face every day. It talks about pitfalls to avoid. It gives dos and don'ts. There are guidelines and best practices. In the 3rd edition we added introductions to the related BPM standards CMMN 1.1 for case management, handling unstructured processes DMN 1.1 for decision management, you might know as business rules management (BRM) This third edition in English is based on the successful fith German edition, which, according to amazon.de, it is the highest-ranked book on BPMN in German. The number of five-star ratings awarded by readers speaks volumes. Also available in Spanish. Note: The resolution of all images for the 3rd edition of the ebook has been increased to improve the digial reading experience.
How to Talk So Your Husband Will Listen: And Listen So Your Husband Will Talk
Rick Johnson - 2013
Or maybe it’s just that we think we say one thing and our spouse hears something else entirely. But if good communication is one of the keys to a happy marriage, it’s time to get on the same page!You can have a powerful influence on your husband if you know how to talk to him. Now relationship expert Rick Johnson shares the secrets to speaking to your husband in ways he will respond to positively. He shows you how to • recognize and affirm your man’s good qualities• encourage leadership, forgiveness, and patience in your husband• build his authentic masculinity• deal with a man’s anger, self-centeredness, or other negative traits• and much moreIf you’re ready for a brighter, more harmonious future for your relationship, you will love this insightful and sometimes humorous insider’s look into the mind of every man.
Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even If You Hate Marketing and Selling
Michael Port - 2006
It gives you simple, yet effective techniques for creating relentless demand and endless leads. It includes more than 200 proven marketing strategies for attracting new clients, earning more referrals, and building profitable, long-lasting professional relationships. If you want to take your service business to the next level, start here and "Book Yourself Solid.
Leading Change Without Losing It: Five Strategies That Can Revolutionize How You Lead Change When Facing Opposition
Carey Nieuwhof - 2012
And change almost always elicits opposition. So how do leaders navigate change, and the opposition to it, without giving up their dream for what could and should be? Carey Nieuwhof, pastor of Connexus Church near Toronto, examines five strategies that can help church leaders engineer change:1. Determine who is for (or against) the change and why.2. Decide where to focus your attention.3. Develop the questions that will set your course.4. Learn to attack problems instead of people. 5. Persevere until the critical breakthrough.Insightful and practical, LEADING CHANGE WITHOUT LOSING IT offers hope and encouragement for leaders, no matter where they serve in the church.Enhanced eBook edition also available, with author videos.
The Passionate Programmer
Chad Fowler - 2009
In this book, you'll learn how to become an entrepreneur, driving your career in the direction of your choosing. You'll learn how to build your software development career step by step, following the same path that you would follow if you were building, marketing, and selling a product. After all, your skills themselves are a product. The choices you make about which technologies to focus on and which business domains to master have at least as much impact on your success as your technical knowledge itself--don't let those choices be accidental. We'll walk through all aspects of the decision-making process, so you can ensure that you're investing your time and energy in the right areas. You'll develop a structured plan for keeping your mind engaged and your skills fresh. You'll learn how to assess your skills in terms of where they fit on the value chain, driving you away from commodity skills and toward those that are in high demand. Through a mix of high-level, thought-provoking essays and tactical "Act on It" sections, you will come away with concrete plans you can put into action immediately. You'll also get a chance to read the perspectives of several highly successful members of our industry from a variety of career paths. As with any product or service, if nobody knows what you're selling, nobody will buy. We'll walk through the often-neglected world of marketing, and you'll create a plan to market yourself both inside your company and to the industry in general. Above all, you'll see how you can set the direction of your career, leading to a more fulfilling and remarkable professional life.
The Crossroads of Should and Must: Find and Follow Your Passion
Elle Luna - 2015
We arrive at this crossroads over and over again, and every day. And we get to choose. Starting out or starting over, making a career change or making a life change, the most life-affirming thing you can do is to honor the voice inside that says your have something special to give, and then heed the call and act. Many have traveled this road before. Here’s how you can, too. #choosemust An inspirational gift book for every recent graduate, every artist, every seeker, and every career change.
The Personal Efficiency Program: How to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed and Win Back Control of Your Work!
Kerry Gleeson - 2008
Readers will learn how to stop procrastinating, stop feeling overwhelmed, and start feeling good about their work lives. This new edition contains new chapters on e-mail and meetings, as well as new content on portable communications and how best to utilize tools like cell phones and Blackberries. As always, this edition features Kerry Gleeson's proven, effective program for helping anyone get organized and become far more productive.
The Tools: Transform Your Problems into Courage, Confidence, and Creativity
Phil Stutz - 2012
Why Simple Wins: Escape the Complexity Trap and Get to Work That Matters
Lisa Bodell - 2016
Why Simple Wins helps leaders and their teams move beyond the feelings of frustration and futility that come with so much unproductive work in today’s corporate world to create a corporate culture where valuable, essential, meaningful work is the norm. By learning how to eliminate redundancies, communicate with clarity, and make simplification a habit, individuals and companies can begin to recognize which activities are time-sucks and which create lasting value.Lisa Bodell’s simplification method has several unique principles:• Simplification is a skill that’s available to us all, yet very few leaders use it.• Simplification is the right thing to do—for our customers, for our company, and for each other. Operating with simplification as our core business model will make it easier to be respectful of each other’s time.• Simplification drives culture, and culture in turn drives employee engagement, customer relations, and overall productivity.This book is inspired by Bodell’s passion for eliminating barriers to innovation and productivity. In it, she explains why change and innovation are so hard to achieve—and it’s not what you might expect. The reality is this: we spend our days drowning in mundane tasks like meetings, emails, and reports. These are often self-created complexities that prevent us from getting to the meaningful work that truly matters.Using simple stories and techniques, Why Simple Wins shows that by using simplicity as an operating principle, we can eliminate the busy work that puts a chokehold on us every day, and instead spend time on the work that we value.
The One-Page Project Manager: Communicate and Manage Any Project with a Single Sheet of Paper
Clark A. Campbell - 2006
This practical guide will save time and effort, helping you identify the vital parts of a project and communicate those parts and duties to other team members.