Will Larson
Engineering leader and writer; wrote An Elegant Puzzle, Staff Engineer and The Engineering Executive's Primer
Becoming a Technical Leader: An Organic Problem-Solving Approach by Gerald Weinberg
Permission to be a leader that builds on your strengths, not whatever model that folks think you should fit into.
on lethain.com · 24 Jul 2018
Designing with the Mind in Mind by Jeff Johnson
An introduction to usability and design, grounding both in how the brain works.
on lethain.com · 24 Jul 2018
Don't Think of An Elephant! Know Your Values and Frame the Debate by George Lakoff
While written from a political perspective that some might find challenging, this book completely changed how I think about presenting ideas. You may be tempted to instead read his more academic writing, but I'd recommend reading this first as it's much briefer and more readable.
on lethain.com · 24 Jul 2018
Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time by Susan Scott
How to say what you need to say, particularly powerful in giving structure to get past conflict aversion.
on lethain.com · 24 Jul 2018
Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse
Success in most life situations is about letting everyone continue to play, not about zero-sum outcomes. This seems pretty obvious, but for me it helped reset my sense of why I work.
on lethain.com · 24 Jul 2018
Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why it Matters by Richard Rumelt
This book gave me permission to acknowledge that many strategies I've seen professionally are not very good, and a structured approach to writing good strategies
on lethain.com · 24 Jul 2018
Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love by Marty Cagan
A thoughtful approach to product management.
on lethain.com · 24 Jul 2018
Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister
The book that has given generations of developers permission to speak on the challenges of space planning and open offices. Particularly powerful in grounding the discussion in data.
on lethain.com · 24 Jul 2018
Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency by Tom DeMarco
Documents a compelling case for middle managers as the critical layer where organizational memory rests and learning occurs. A meditation on the gap between efficiency and effectiveness.
on lethain.com · 24 Jul 2018
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu Goldratt
Explores how constraint-theory can be used to optimize process.
on lethain.com · 24 Jul 2018
The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail by Clayton Christensen
A look at how being hyper-rational in the short-run has led many great companies to failure. These days I think about this constantly when doing strategic planning.
on lethain.com · 24 Jul 2018
The Leadership Pipeline: How to Build the Leadership Powered Company by Charan, Drotter and Noel
This book opened my eyes to just how thoughtful many companies are in intentionally growing new leadership.
on lethain.com · 24 Jul 2018
The Mythical Man-Month by Frederick P. Brooks
The first professional book I ever read, opening my eyes to the wealth of software engineering literature waiting out there.
on lethain.com · 24 Jul 2018
Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella Meadows
For me, systems thinking has been the most effective universal tool for reasoning through complex problems, and this book is a readable, powerful introduction.
on lethain.com · 24 Jul 2018
Everything Will Larson recommends — not just books — on rcmnd →