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Becoming a Technical Leader: An Organic Problem-Solving Approach
Becoming a Technical Leader is a personalized guide to developing the qualities that make a successful leader. It identifies which leadership skills are most effective in a technical environment and why technical people have characteristic trouble in making the transition to a leadership role. For anyone who is a leader, hopes to be one, or would like to avoid being one.This is an excellent book for anyone who is a leader, who wants to be a leader, or who thinks only people with 'leader' or 'manager' in their title are leaders. The book can be described briefly as a guide to developing personal leadership potential, but it is much more than that . . . it is filled with useful insights into personal growth as a professional.Readers say it's always fascinating, and "focuses our attention on what it takes to make teams of thinking technical people work effectively together." Moreover, they say "it's always extremely practical and down-to-earth."Becoming a Technical Leader is the "textbook" for Jerry Weinberg's world-famous Problem Solving Leadership Workshop. It consists of twenty-four well-reasoned, thought-provoking chapters on making the change from technical star to problem-solving leader.
284 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1986
278 people are currently reading
3398 people want to read
About the author
Gerald M. Weinberg
95 books373 followersGerald Marvin Weinberg (October 27, 1933 – August 7, 2018) was an American computer scientist, author and teacher of the psychology and anthropology of computer software development.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
February 17, 2013
Various gems in the book can be assimilated only if the reader has had similar/relevant experience. Five years ago, I wouldn't have understood 50% of what I now take away with me.
I intend to occasionally pick a random chapter and re-read it in the future. My future self might be smarter and understand better the advice of Gerald Weinberg.
I intend to occasionally pick a random chapter and re-read it in the future. My future self might be smarter and understand better the advice of Gerald Weinberg.
December 26, 2015
The author of the Foreword says what they'd change about this book is that it's somehow too long and too short at the same time. I agree. There are many interesting discussions and practical pieces of advice across the book, but to find them you have to read through pages and pages of quasi-related anecdotes and general rambling.
April 29, 2016
The book provides many insights on how to be a problem-solving leader. It boils down to the following major points:
- Open to change, acknowledge personal ignorance.
- It’s all about people, and the puzzle of people is complex.
- It’s a continuous art to adapter and optimize on the complexity of people.
- A leader must have a personal vision as the foundation of leadership.
- A leader’s work is people.
Leadership is like sex. Many people have trouble discussing the subject, but it never fails to arouse intense interest and feelings.
To be an effective leader, you will have to have many models at your disposal, and be able to switch appropriately from one to another as the situation demands.
The strength of organic models, by contrast, is that they enable us to be comfortable in complex situations that we don’t fully understand. When we use these models, we’re able to open our minds to dozens of possible explanations (many of which can be true simultaneously) until we have sufficient information to make an appropriate choice.
Under the influence of the threat/ reward model, we may try to assure our security by struggling to keep all people and relationships forever the same. If we do feel the need to change, we usually direct it at someone else. And we usually try to change them by “removing” their “bad” behaviors.
Make a list of situations in which your presence seems to increase the productivity of others. Alongside this list, identify situations in which your presence seems to decrease the productivity. How can you characterize the differences between these situations?
If a particular behavior is considered important by a culture, nearly every normal individual can attain impressive competence.
In order for change to occur, the environment must contain three ingredients: •
- M: motivation– the trophies or trouble, the push or pull that moves the people involved •
- O: organization– the existing structure that enables the ideas to be worked through into practice •
- I: ideas or innovation– the seeds, the image of what will become
If we look more closely at how technical leaders emphasize innovation, we find that they concentrate on three major areas: • understanding the problem • managing the flow of ideas • maintaining quality
In spite of all their differences in style, problem-solving leaders have one thing in common: a faith that there’s always a better way. Where does such faith originate? Bertrand Russell once said that faith is the belief in something for which there is no proof. Though problem-solving leaders may be logical people, they cannot support their faith with logic.
Read the specifications very carefully. Success or failure often turns on minuscule differences in problem definitions. Although it is necessary to have an overview of the problem, the big picture often turns on one critical detail. Problem-solving leaders recognize this and pay attention to such details.
Seek clarifications and additional information about the specifications from the customer. No worthwhile project is ever described fully and correctly, even in a written document, but some people would rather plunge right in with what they have than interact with other people. Sometimes a trivial interaction can truly pay off;
Effective leaders build continuous testing of their own understanding into their work. They are self-confident, but realistic about their own intellectual limitations.
Too few ideas means no solution at all; too many ideas means chaos. Without leadership to manage the flow of ideas, two technical experts in the same room make an argument, three make a crowd, and four make a mob. With effective management of ideas, any number makes a successful problem-solving team.
More important than the clever new idea is creating an environment where the right idea for solving the problem will be recognized when it comes along.
Problem-solving leaders are inveterate copiers, though some do not like to admit it. The best ones not only admit it, they cultivate it as a fine art. As Aristotle understood, most “new” ideas are actually copies of ideas from other contexts, and problem-solving leaders are constantly searching other contexts for ideas they can use.
Resist time pressure, and take the time to listen when other people explain their ideas.
When you must criticize an idea, make clear that you are criticizing the idea, not the person who offered the idea. Problem-solving leaders are well aware that not every idea is useful for every problem, but they are even more aware that every person is useful. They know that remarks like “that’s a stupid idea,” or “you can’t really believe that,” tend to discourage further contributions, so they offer their criticisms in a caring way. This means that they pay attention to their choice of words, and criticize only ideas, never people
When time and labor are running short, stop working on new ideas and just pitch in. There comes a time in every project when you have to actually do the work, because if you don’t have enough ideas by then, you won’t finish the project anyway.
Effective problem-solving leaders never compromise on quality. They realize that any problem is trivial if you don’t have to solve what you were given.
Design tools and processes to measure quality as you build a solution. Manufacturers don’t meet schedules and specifications by accident, or by telling people to work harder. The implementation process in high-tech industries is itself a high-tech product, requiring the best in problem-solving leadership.
Measure the speed of implementation, compare it to the schedule, and be prepared to change the solution procedure.
Step back from the project to refresh your perspective and to assess its viability. Sometimes the best measurement tool is a fresh perspective on what you’re doing. In the software business, more than half of all projects that begin implementation are never delivered. The earlier a doomed project is abandoned, the more money is saved. Problem- solving leaders are able not only to see when a project is doomed, but also to persuade others to accept doom before pouring more effort into a hopeless cause.
Leaders are leaders of change– change in other people, change in working groups, and change in organizations. Above all, leaders are leaders of change in themselves. To become a leader, you have to understand how change happens; yet it’s difficult to see change in yourself.
Organic models say that any working group is a system and can’t generally be understood by disassembling it and giving each piece a title.
“most critical” link and start believing the myth of the appointed leader. Why is the appointed leader the one most likely to break down? Paradoxically, it’s because so many people believe in the myth of the appointed leader. The boss believes; the workers believe; even the appointed leader believes. Thus, when matters get a little out of hand, everyone turns to the appointed leader to put them back in order. The increased load on the appointed leader makes matters even worse. If the pressure leads to a breakdown, it’s the appointed leader who breaks. Even if the leader averts a breakdown, everyone can see that the appointed leader was the most active person during the crisis. Thus, the myth of the appointed leader becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In the same way, the best-designed working groups are those in which leadership comes from everybody, not merely the appointed leaders. Therefore, you need not wait you should not wait— for an appointment.
If it does, then we will enjoy many new leadership choices. The threat/ reward model may say that change comes from the top, but my experience tells me that change starts with what we choose to have for breakfast. Besides, there’s more to life than large organizations. You may find it empowering to apply this quieter style to such everyday problems as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
This inability to see ourselves as others see us is the number one obstacle to self-improvement. The great majority of would-be problem-solving leaders are stuck on this one obstacle. To surmount it, they must recruit others to help them.
The Chinese say that the first step to knowledge is a confession of ignorance. If you already know everything, how will you ever learn anything?
“I’ve read many rules about what to write about, but only one is crucial for me: Write about yourself. The subject of my journal is me— what I’m like, what I do each day, how I feel about it, how I see others reacting to me.”
My experience with problem-solving leaders tells me that the best of them operate on a central dogma different from that of academic psychology, namely Any real problem has one more solution, which nobody has found— yet.
It’s not the event that matters, but your reaction to the event.
Everybody has failures, if only because their success leads them to fail.
Many people imagine that successful people never experience downs, but life is no fairy tale for anybody. Virtue need not be rewarded. Wisdom sometimes produces blunders. Nobody succeeds every time. People don’t become leaders because they never fail. They become leaders because of the way they respond to failure.
The successful leaders I’ve known have the ability to bounce back and use their defeats as springboards to new successes. (Perhaps “bounce back” is too optimistic; sometimes “crawl back” would be a better description.) People who become leaders are those who do not just overcome adversity, but turn it to their advantage.
People without vision don’t have much influence on other people. Without a personal vision, no leadership skill or secret will do you any good. Without a vision, at the leading edge of technology, people and projects perish.
Perception: Neither of us perceives even the manifest part in the same way, because we are different people and so have different perceptions.
People respond better to me if I devote attention to their problems, but one way of devoting attention to their problems is by being candid about my problems. As the interaction model makes clear, many of their problems arise from trying to deal with me, to understand why in the world I’m doing the crazy things I’m doing. They have no knowledge of my internal response sequence except through my own candor, so congruent statements about me become helpful to them.
Tell them what you perceive, how you feel about what you perceive, and if possible how you feel about that feeling.
*Lesson Number One: When survival is concerned, there’s no choice but to put people first.* People in fear for their lives can’t do any task well, except a task devoted to their personal safety.
*Lesson Number Two: If the job isn’t highly technical, the leader need not be competent, but can lead by fear.*
*Lesson Number Three: People with strong technical backgrounds can convert any task into a technical task, thus avoiding work they don’t want to do.*
*Lesson Number Four: Leaders who don’t care about people don’t have anyone to lead, unless their followers don’t have a choice.* Sharp problem solvers usually have a choice, lots of choices, so they won’t stay around to be abused by an uncaring leader.
*Lesson Number Five: No amount of caring for people will hold your audience if you have nothing to offer but pretend you do.*
*Lesson Number Ten: If you are a leader, the people are your work. There is no other work worth doing.*
Leaders tend to be overly optimistic about the positive social impact of their work. Believing that their vision promises such joy to the world, they can’t allow themselves to worry about what their leadership is doing to the workers. In my own experience, I find engineers and computer programmers are infected with this optimism, which drives that the information explosion. In the end, though, the vision doesn’t seem that important, leaving us “nought but grief an’ pain, For
When the work is complex, no leader can be absolutely sure that plans won’t “gang aft agley.”* In a complex environment, even the most task-oriented leader is forced to put people first, or the task won’t get done.
Whenever there is a task, even an individual task, there are people involved. We don’t work for abstract profits; we work to make profits for certain people.We don’t work for peace; we work so that certain people can enjoy the benefits of living in peace. The people involved in our task may be our customers, or our managers, or our constituents, or our board of directors, but even though they are not directly visible, they are people.
Our shame may explain why people start to believe that work can be separated from people. When we begin to realize, as Eugene Kennedy says, that “people cannot do everything they want to do for others,” we are ashamed of our inadequacy. By pretending the work is somehow abstracted from the people, we can transform our interpersonal failure into a mechanical failure. It’s much easier to say, for example, “We couldn’t get the program working on time” than “I wasn’t skilled enough to help Jack become a better programmer.”
*If people don’t want your help, you’ll never succeed in helping them, no matter how smart or wonderful you are.*
Always check whether they want your help. The simplest way to check is by asking them if they want help, which neither team ever bothered to do.
*Even when people agree that they want your help, that agreement is not usually a lifetime contract.*
So, if you want to motivate people, either directly or by creating a helping environment, you must first convince them that you care about them, and the only sure way to convince them is by actually caring. People may be fooled about caring, but not for long. That’s why the Golden Rule says, “Love thy neighbor,” not “Pretend you love thy neighbor.” Don’t fool yourself. If you don’t really care about the people whom you lead, you’ll never succeed as their leader.
I cannot teach you to care about people, neither people in general nor particular persons, but I have learned that caring about other people is impossible if you don’t care about yourself. The Golden Rule doesn’t say, “Love thy neighbor even though you think you’re a despicable worm.” The ability to love others— and thus to help others, and thus to lead others— starts with the ability to love yourself.
I CAN always help everybody (IF I CHOOSE TO).
If one looks at the history of human progress, at all the steps which have brought us from the cave to our present level of civilization, and of the genius, daring, courage, and creativity that made this progress possible— one cannot help be struck by the fact of how much we owe to those whose lives were primarily given over to the task of discovering and fulfilling their own “destiny”— the artists, the scientists, the philosophers, the inventors, the industrialists whose life path was clearly one of self-actualization (self-development, self-fulfillment).
Power is not a possession, but a relationship.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
‘You do possess something, but it’s expertise, not power. Any power you get from that expertise is based on a relationship between you and someone else. If you were the leader of a mountain-climbing team, your programming expertise would contribute no power whatsoever
“If you don’t know what you want, power is as useless to you as a Ferrari to a blind driver. You might accidentally steer along the track, but you’ll probably crash somewhere.” “So if I concentrate specifically on what I want, power will come to me?” “Not necessarily. I can see perfectly well, but I’d probably crash a Ferrari. Seeing clearly is necessary, but even when you see clearly, you may not be able to prevent the loss of power.” “Then what else do I have to do?” “As long as you keep asking that, you’re too blind to understand the answer. If you’re seeking a promotion in order to obtain more power, forget it! Step away from the lure of power and learn more about yourself.”
The chief assumption underlying my own approach to personal power is that everyone wants to feel useful, to make a contribution, which of course derives from the seed model. Many of us know people who make this a difficult assumption to hold because they seem apathetic, uncooperative, or even destructive. If everyone wants so intensely to do good, how can so many people be doing such a miserable job?
I can always behave congruent to the situation.
The lack of effective communication methods is a relatively minor obstacle, one that can be overcome by training and experience. A bigger obstacle arises when the innovator perceives that the other people are having trouble doing some task. No matter whether the reason is poor communications, lack of skill, inadequate motivation, or a different idea of how the job should be done, the innovator’s first and strongest impulse is to step in and do the work for them. Why? Because, in fact, the innovator can probably do it better. In such cases, the greatest obstacle to organizing other people for problem solving is your own previous success as a problem-solver. Why is this kind of intervention such a great obstacle? Isn’t it the purpose of problem-solving leadership to get the problem solved by whatever means necessary? The fallacy in this view lies in the definition of “the job.” The leader’s job is usually not to solve a single problem, but to create an environment in which many problems will be solved, not just for today, but for the future.
Peace is more difficult to organize, but war is more heroic. Really good organizing seems to lack drama.
Why is it that we reward programmers who work all night to remove the errors they put into their programs, or managers who make drastic organizational changes to resolve the crises their poor management has created? Why not reward the programmers who design so well that they don’t have dramatic errors, and managers whose organizations stay out of crisis mode?
This is the first prize of power for all of us who work in systems: to be able to act in ways which enhance the capacity of our systems to survive and develop in their environment. When we’re able to do that, we know we’re powerful. If we cannot influence systems in this way, then all the other trappings of power— control, dominance, perquisites, intimidation, revenge, hard-lining, bottom-lining— all of these are nonsense; they are power’s second prizes (or booby prizes); they are attempts to feel powerful or look powerful; they are consequences of not being powerful. But the true bottom line of system power is this: Are you able to influence the system? Are you able to act in ways which help the system cope and prosper more effectively in its environment? You may be the chief executive of your organization, you may enjoy an astronomical salary and luxurious perquisites, you may be King or Queen of the hill intimidating and dominating all comers, but if you cannot influence the system so that it is better able to cope and prosper, you are working on second prize.
...
- Open to change, acknowledge personal ignorance.
- It’s all about people, and the puzzle of people is complex.
- It’s a continuous art to adapter and optimize on the complexity of people.
- A leader must have a personal vision as the foundation of leadership.
- A leader’s work is people.
Leadership is like sex. Many people have trouble discussing the subject, but it never fails to arouse intense interest and feelings.
To be an effective leader, you will have to have many models at your disposal, and be able to switch appropriately from one to another as the situation demands.
The strength of organic models, by contrast, is that they enable us to be comfortable in complex situations that we don’t fully understand. When we use these models, we’re able to open our minds to dozens of possible explanations (many of which can be true simultaneously) until we have sufficient information to make an appropriate choice.
Under the influence of the threat/ reward model, we may try to assure our security by struggling to keep all people and relationships forever the same. If we do feel the need to change, we usually direct it at someone else. And we usually try to change them by “removing” their “bad” behaviors.
Make a list of situations in which your presence seems to increase the productivity of others. Alongside this list, identify situations in which your presence seems to decrease the productivity. How can you characterize the differences between these situations?
If a particular behavior is considered important by a culture, nearly every normal individual can attain impressive competence.
In order for change to occur, the environment must contain three ingredients: •
- M: motivation– the trophies or trouble, the push or pull that moves the people involved •
- O: organization– the existing structure that enables the ideas to be worked through into practice •
- I: ideas or innovation– the seeds, the image of what will become
If we look more closely at how technical leaders emphasize innovation, we find that they concentrate on three major areas: • understanding the problem • managing the flow of ideas • maintaining quality
In spite of all their differences in style, problem-solving leaders have one thing in common: a faith that there’s always a better way. Where does such faith originate? Bertrand Russell once said that faith is the belief in something for which there is no proof. Though problem-solving leaders may be logical people, they cannot support their faith with logic.
Read the specifications very carefully. Success or failure often turns on minuscule differences in problem definitions. Although it is necessary to have an overview of the problem, the big picture often turns on one critical detail. Problem-solving leaders recognize this and pay attention to such details.
Seek clarifications and additional information about the specifications from the customer. No worthwhile project is ever described fully and correctly, even in a written document, but some people would rather plunge right in with what they have than interact with other people. Sometimes a trivial interaction can truly pay off;
Effective leaders build continuous testing of their own understanding into their work. They are self-confident, but realistic about their own intellectual limitations.
Too few ideas means no solution at all; too many ideas means chaos. Without leadership to manage the flow of ideas, two technical experts in the same room make an argument, three make a crowd, and four make a mob. With effective management of ideas, any number makes a successful problem-solving team.
More important than the clever new idea is creating an environment where the right idea for solving the problem will be recognized when it comes along.
Problem-solving leaders are inveterate copiers, though some do not like to admit it. The best ones not only admit it, they cultivate it as a fine art. As Aristotle understood, most “new” ideas are actually copies of ideas from other contexts, and problem-solving leaders are constantly searching other contexts for ideas they can use.
Resist time pressure, and take the time to listen when other people explain their ideas.
When you must criticize an idea, make clear that you are criticizing the idea, not the person who offered the idea. Problem-solving leaders are well aware that not every idea is useful for every problem, but they are even more aware that every person is useful. They know that remarks like “that’s a stupid idea,” or “you can’t really believe that,” tend to discourage further contributions, so they offer their criticisms in a caring way. This means that they pay attention to their choice of words, and criticize only ideas, never people
When time and labor are running short, stop working on new ideas and just pitch in. There comes a time in every project when you have to actually do the work, because if you don’t have enough ideas by then, you won’t finish the project anyway.
Effective problem-solving leaders never compromise on quality. They realize that any problem is trivial if you don’t have to solve what you were given.
Design tools and processes to measure quality as you build a solution. Manufacturers don’t meet schedules and specifications by accident, or by telling people to work harder. The implementation process in high-tech industries is itself a high-tech product, requiring the best in problem-solving leadership.
Measure the speed of implementation, compare it to the schedule, and be prepared to change the solution procedure.
Step back from the project to refresh your perspective and to assess its viability. Sometimes the best measurement tool is a fresh perspective on what you’re doing. In the software business, more than half of all projects that begin implementation are never delivered. The earlier a doomed project is abandoned, the more money is saved. Problem- solving leaders are able not only to see when a project is doomed, but also to persuade others to accept doom before pouring more effort into a hopeless cause.
Leaders are leaders of change– change in other people, change in working groups, and change in organizations. Above all, leaders are leaders of change in themselves. To become a leader, you have to understand how change happens; yet it’s difficult to see change in yourself.
Organic models say that any working group is a system and can’t generally be understood by disassembling it and giving each piece a title.
“most critical” link and start believing the myth of the appointed leader. Why is the appointed leader the one most likely to break down? Paradoxically, it’s because so many people believe in the myth of the appointed leader. The boss believes; the workers believe; even the appointed leader believes. Thus, when matters get a little out of hand, everyone turns to the appointed leader to put them back in order. The increased load on the appointed leader makes matters even worse. If the pressure leads to a breakdown, it’s the appointed leader who breaks. Even if the leader averts a breakdown, everyone can see that the appointed leader was the most active person during the crisis. Thus, the myth of the appointed leader becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In the same way, the best-designed working groups are those in which leadership comes from everybody, not merely the appointed leaders. Therefore, you need not wait you should not wait— for an appointment.
If it does, then we will enjoy many new leadership choices. The threat/ reward model may say that change comes from the top, but my experience tells me that change starts with what we choose to have for breakfast. Besides, there’s more to life than large organizations. You may find it empowering to apply this quieter style to such everyday problems as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
This inability to see ourselves as others see us is the number one obstacle to self-improvement. The great majority of would-be problem-solving leaders are stuck on this one obstacle. To surmount it, they must recruit others to help them.
The Chinese say that the first step to knowledge is a confession of ignorance. If you already know everything, how will you ever learn anything?
“I’ve read many rules about what to write about, but only one is crucial for me: Write about yourself. The subject of my journal is me— what I’m like, what I do each day, how I feel about it, how I see others reacting to me.”
My experience with problem-solving leaders tells me that the best of them operate on a central dogma different from that of academic psychology, namely Any real problem has one more solution, which nobody has found— yet.
It’s not the event that matters, but your reaction to the event.
Everybody has failures, if only because their success leads them to fail.
Many people imagine that successful people never experience downs, but life is no fairy tale for anybody. Virtue need not be rewarded. Wisdom sometimes produces blunders. Nobody succeeds every time. People don’t become leaders because they never fail. They become leaders because of the way they respond to failure.
The successful leaders I’ve known have the ability to bounce back and use their defeats as springboards to new successes. (Perhaps “bounce back” is too optimistic; sometimes “crawl back” would be a better description.) People who become leaders are those who do not just overcome adversity, but turn it to their advantage.
People without vision don’t have much influence on other people. Without a personal vision, no leadership skill or secret will do you any good. Without a vision, at the leading edge of technology, people and projects perish.
Perception: Neither of us perceives even the manifest part in the same way, because we are different people and so have different perceptions.
People respond better to me if I devote attention to their problems, but one way of devoting attention to their problems is by being candid about my problems. As the interaction model makes clear, many of their problems arise from trying to deal with me, to understand why in the world I’m doing the crazy things I’m doing. They have no knowledge of my internal response sequence except through my own candor, so congruent statements about me become helpful to them.
Tell them what you perceive, how you feel about what you perceive, and if possible how you feel about that feeling.
*Lesson Number One: When survival is concerned, there’s no choice but to put people first.* People in fear for their lives can’t do any task well, except a task devoted to their personal safety.
*Lesson Number Two: If the job isn’t highly technical, the leader need not be competent, but can lead by fear.*
*Lesson Number Three: People with strong technical backgrounds can convert any task into a technical task, thus avoiding work they don’t want to do.*
*Lesson Number Four: Leaders who don’t care about people don’t have anyone to lead, unless their followers don’t have a choice.* Sharp problem solvers usually have a choice, lots of choices, so they won’t stay around to be abused by an uncaring leader.
*Lesson Number Five: No amount of caring for people will hold your audience if you have nothing to offer but pretend you do.*
*Lesson Number Ten: If you are a leader, the people are your work. There is no other work worth doing.*
Leaders tend to be overly optimistic about the positive social impact of their work. Believing that their vision promises such joy to the world, they can’t allow themselves to worry about what their leadership is doing to the workers. In my own experience, I find engineers and computer programmers are infected with this optimism, which drives that the information explosion. In the end, though, the vision doesn’t seem that important, leaving us “nought but grief an’ pain, For
When the work is complex, no leader can be absolutely sure that plans won’t “gang aft agley.”* In a complex environment, even the most task-oriented leader is forced to put people first, or the task won’t get done.
Whenever there is a task, even an individual task, there are people involved. We don’t work for abstract profits; we work to make profits for certain people.We don’t work for peace; we work so that certain people can enjoy the benefits of living in peace. The people involved in our task may be our customers, or our managers, or our constituents, or our board of directors, but even though they are not directly visible, they are people.
Our shame may explain why people start to believe that work can be separated from people. When we begin to realize, as Eugene Kennedy says, that “people cannot do everything they want to do for others,” we are ashamed of our inadequacy. By pretending the work is somehow abstracted from the people, we can transform our interpersonal failure into a mechanical failure. It’s much easier to say, for example, “We couldn’t get the program working on time” than “I wasn’t skilled enough to help Jack become a better programmer.”
*If people don’t want your help, you’ll never succeed in helping them, no matter how smart or wonderful you are.*
Always check whether they want your help. The simplest way to check is by asking them if they want help, which neither team ever bothered to do.
*Even when people agree that they want your help, that agreement is not usually a lifetime contract.*
So, if you want to motivate people, either directly or by creating a helping environment, you must first convince them that you care about them, and the only sure way to convince them is by actually caring. People may be fooled about caring, but not for long. That’s why the Golden Rule says, “Love thy neighbor,” not “Pretend you love thy neighbor.” Don’t fool yourself. If you don’t really care about the people whom you lead, you’ll never succeed as their leader.
I cannot teach you to care about people, neither people in general nor particular persons, but I have learned that caring about other people is impossible if you don’t care about yourself. The Golden Rule doesn’t say, “Love thy neighbor even though you think you’re a despicable worm.” The ability to love others— and thus to help others, and thus to lead others— starts with the ability to love yourself.
I CAN always help everybody (IF I CHOOSE TO).
If one looks at the history of human progress, at all the steps which have brought us from the cave to our present level of civilization, and of the genius, daring, courage, and creativity that made this progress possible— one cannot help be struck by the fact of how much we owe to those whose lives were primarily given over to the task of discovering and fulfilling their own “destiny”— the artists, the scientists, the philosophers, the inventors, the industrialists whose life path was clearly one of self-actualization (self-development, self-fulfillment).
Power is not a possession, but a relationship.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
‘You do possess something, but it’s expertise, not power. Any power you get from that expertise is based on a relationship between you and someone else. If you were the leader of a mountain-climbing team, your programming expertise would contribute no power whatsoever
“If you don’t know what you want, power is as useless to you as a Ferrari to a blind driver. You might accidentally steer along the track, but you’ll probably crash somewhere.” “So if I concentrate specifically on what I want, power will come to me?” “Not necessarily. I can see perfectly well, but I’d probably crash a Ferrari. Seeing clearly is necessary, but even when you see clearly, you may not be able to prevent the loss of power.” “Then what else do I have to do?” “As long as you keep asking that, you’re too blind to understand the answer. If you’re seeking a promotion in order to obtain more power, forget it! Step away from the lure of power and learn more about yourself.”
The chief assumption underlying my own approach to personal power is that everyone wants to feel useful, to make a contribution, which of course derives from the seed model. Many of us know people who make this a difficult assumption to hold because they seem apathetic, uncooperative, or even destructive. If everyone wants so intensely to do good, how can so many people be doing such a miserable job?
I can always behave congruent to the situation.
The lack of effective communication methods is a relatively minor obstacle, one that can be overcome by training and experience. A bigger obstacle arises when the innovator perceives that the other people are having trouble doing some task. No matter whether the reason is poor communications, lack of skill, inadequate motivation, or a different idea of how the job should be done, the innovator’s first and strongest impulse is to step in and do the work for them. Why? Because, in fact, the innovator can probably do it better. In such cases, the greatest obstacle to organizing other people for problem solving is your own previous success as a problem-solver. Why is this kind of intervention such a great obstacle? Isn’t it the purpose of problem-solving leadership to get the problem solved by whatever means necessary? The fallacy in this view lies in the definition of “the job.” The leader’s job is usually not to solve a single problem, but to create an environment in which many problems will be solved, not just for today, but for the future.
Peace is more difficult to organize, but war is more heroic. Really good organizing seems to lack drama.
Why is it that we reward programmers who work all night to remove the errors they put into their programs, or managers who make drastic organizational changes to resolve the crises their poor management has created? Why not reward the programmers who design so well that they don’t have dramatic errors, and managers whose organizations stay out of crisis mode?
This is the first prize of power for all of us who work in systems: to be able to act in ways which enhance the capacity of our systems to survive and develop in their environment. When we’re able to do that, we know we’re powerful. If we cannot influence systems in this way, then all the other trappings of power— control, dominance, perquisites, intimidation, revenge, hard-lining, bottom-lining— all of these are nonsense; they are power’s second prizes (or booby prizes); they are attempts to feel powerful or look powerful; they are consequences of not being powerful. But the true bottom line of system power is this: Are you able to influence the system? Are you able to act in ways which help the system cope and prosper more effectively in its environment? You may be the chief executive of your organization, you may enjoy an astronomical salary and luxurious perquisites, you may be King or Queen of the hill intimidating and dominating all comers, but if you cannot influence the system so that it is better able to cope and prosper, you are working on second prize.
...
December 25, 2023
If you want to understand people and tech, you have to read Weinberg’s books. No one has done it as well as him and he’s been doing it since the 80s.
June 25, 2019
Read it!
Even after having had the privilege of experiencing Gerry and Ether’s PSL class, I found it surprisingly enriching.
Gerry has the unique gift of getting to the heart of the matter, providing enough meat to the bones of this thoughts to help you grasp them firmly.
I think aspiring leaders of any sort, not only “technical” ones, will learn much by reading this book.
Even after having had the privilege of experiencing Gerry and Ether’s PSL class, I found it surprisingly enriching.
Gerry has the unique gift of getting to the heart of the matter, providing enough meat to the bones of this thoughts to help you grasp them firmly.
I think aspiring leaders of any sort, not only “technical” ones, will learn much by reading this book.
January 11, 2016
I have been looking up books about technical management and this one was among the mostly recommended ones (along with Peopleware and Mythical Man Month) to develop and refine skills in technical leadership. Since I have no formal training in technical management, I wanted to learn more and make myself a more valuable member of our tech team.
This book comes from the Author's course "Technical Leadership in Computer Programming". It's basically a self-paced workshop, written as a book, broken down to 24 chapters. Every chapter covers an aspect of what it means to be a problem-solving leader, usually with several anecdotes, and ends with a number of questions for reader to work through. A large number of exercises and questions are more suitably for a study of the book, not a casual read before bed.
The main idea is that "becoming a leader is not something that happens to you, but something that you do", so the focus of the book is working on oneself, using the book as a guide.
The book was mostly an enjoyable read, but I found the style to be somewhat dry and had to keep myself alert. The numerous real-life anecdotes help to get certain points across and break up the "teaching" tone of the chapters.
I did gloss over some more abstract parts but mostly, I've answered all the questions at the end of each chapter. Since every chapter is self-contained, it seems useful to refer to a specific chapter when dealing with related issues.
I will definitely re-read the book and do the exercises again after few months. It's a good resource on problem-solving leadership and a valuable reference. Since it's organized as a workshop, the real value I see in continuing to work on myself using it as a guide, and keep coming back to it to see how well or how badly I'm doing.
More in-depth summary I've posted on Github.
This book comes from the Author's course "Technical Leadership in Computer Programming". It's basically a self-paced workshop, written as a book, broken down to 24 chapters. Every chapter covers an aspect of what it means to be a problem-solving leader, usually with several anecdotes, and ends with a number of questions for reader to work through. A large number of exercises and questions are more suitably for a study of the book, not a casual read before bed.
The main idea is that "becoming a leader is not something that happens to you, but something that you do", so the focus of the book is working on oneself, using the book as a guide.
The book was mostly an enjoyable read, but I found the style to be somewhat dry and had to keep myself alert. The numerous real-life anecdotes help to get certain points across and break up the "teaching" tone of the chapters.
I did gloss over some more abstract parts but mostly, I've answered all the questions at the end of each chapter. Since every chapter is self-contained, it seems useful to refer to a specific chapter when dealing with related issues.
I will definitely re-read the book and do the exercises again after few months. It's a good resource on problem-solving leadership and a valuable reference. Since it's organized as a workshop, the real value I see in continuing to work on myself using it as a guide, and keep coming back to it to see how well or how badly I'm doing.
More in-depth summary I've posted on Github.
August 19, 2015
An excellent book about technical leadership. If I should summarize it, I would use this quote:
Beside that the book defines what technical leading is, it principally tells how to become this mythical person - a technical leader.
It's not something you are born with. It's something you have to work on very hard, fail many times, learn from your wounds, keep a flame of your motivation, explore dead ends and be a Zen monk on this eternal journey.
I can tell you, because I'm a technical leader myself for couple of years. The true true, this book is full of gems. And those are not the hidden gems, they are all around. Unfortunately, not everyone can appreciate them - sometimes some maturity, or experience is needed. But still, it's worth reading, even for (tech) leading beginners - it can be (re)evaluated later, when time will come.
"Becoming a technical leader is not something that happens to you, but something that you do."
Beside that the book defines what technical leading is, it principally tells how to become this mythical person - a technical leader.
It's not something you are born with. It's something you have to work on very hard, fail many times, learn from your wounds, keep a flame of your motivation, explore dead ends and be a Zen monk on this eternal journey.
I can tell you, because I'm a technical leader myself for couple of years. The true true, this book is full of gems. And those are not the hidden gems, they are all around. Unfortunately, not everyone can appreciate them - sometimes some maturity, or experience is needed. But still, it's worth reading, even for (tech) leading beginners - it can be (re)evaluated later, when time will come.
Read
August 6, 2013A book that provokes thought but doesn't answer questions. If you really want to experience this book I would suggest taking time after you've read it (or during!) to answer the questions and reflect on each of the chapters.
June 13, 2022
This was a very thought-provoking read (like other Weinberg's books).
December 20, 2021
I came to this book with high expectations but I can't say I got a ton out of it during my first read. The foreword covers it well: the book is about everything and nothing at the same time. I could partly be my fault or my learning style mismatch: I read the book fairly quick and did not engage in any practical exercises.
The mix of super high-level principles (like respect yourself or you won't respect others) and somewhat detached anecdotes didn't quite fit into a coherent picture for me. This book coming from mid-80s didn't help either - I have no concrete point but it did feel somewhat out of touch with the present moment for me.
Overall - give it a try - I may give it another try myself - and set some time aside to work with the book. It didn't quite work for me though, so be wary.
The mix of super high-level principles (like respect yourself or you won't respect others) and somewhat detached anecdotes didn't quite fit into a coherent picture for me. This book coming from mid-80s didn't help either - I have no concrete point but it did feel somewhat out of touch with the present moment for me.
Overall - give it a try - I may give it another try myself - and set some time aside to work with the book. It didn't quite work for me though, so be wary.
April 15, 2016
In general, this is a good book, but I didn't like the way it is organized. The author has a lot of knowledge and experience, but he would never give you the answer that you are waiting for. When you read this book you will notice that it contains lot of real life discussions, and after the discussions, the author will not give you the point behind the discussions, he will leave it up to you to learn from the situation mentioned, which something I don't like; that's why you may find full chapters full of discussions with some friends or a situation the author passed by. I don't think a book should be organized this way, because after some chapters you will get totally bored and you will feel like reading a novel (unless you love novels!). Also the book is not related to being a technical leader at all, in fact what he mentioned is related to any type of leadership; that means it is mis-named. I didn't like also the order of chapters! Ideas are scrambled everywhere and it is up to you as a reader to find useful idea in hundreds of pages and stories. Still it is a good resource.
March 17, 2016
I read this book to help in my studies but wasn't much related but I still enjoyed it. The exercises and questions at the end of each chapter helps you to connect what you've read with your own experience. The author argues that everyone whether a manager or not is a leader in a certain way. He emphasizes how everyone can benefit and utilize his or her skills to have some sort of leadership power in his or her team. I wish people leading me think the same way the author thinks about leaders that you can grow by helping others grow. The last few chapters were pretty boring especially the ones after power conversion and manipulation. I think I need to read this book again later when I advance in my career. Great read overall.
February 12, 2018
The book started very promising in the first chapter but turned into some sort of home story afterwards.
Although I am convinced that Gerald M. Weinberg has a lot of knowledge, he more or less describes the experiences he has made as a leader and as a coach of leaders. Then he comes up with conclusions, some oft them more or less out of the air. In total, the book is not convincing at all and it does not comprise more than common sense.
Although I am convinced that Gerald M. Weinberg has a lot of knowledge, he more or less describes the experiences he has made as a leader and as a coach of leaders. Then he comes up with conclusions, some oft them more or less out of the air. In total, the book is not convincing at all and it does not comprise more than common sense.
October 9, 2019
Good:
- Book talks about some attributes that are required.
- The content seemed convincing.
- Some of the questions in the sections are provoking and probes to introspect.
Not so good:
- Being from a technical background, I felt like at points the technical skills are taken for granted.
- Some points, the explanations seemed VERY DRAMATIC and ingenuine, contradicting one of the topics in the book which asked to be genuine.
- It doesn't seems radical or a must-read for the above reasons.
- Book talks about some attributes that are required.
- The content seemed convincing.
- Some of the questions in the sections are provoking and probes to introspect.
Not so good:
- Being from a technical background, I felt like at points the technical skills are taken for granted.
- Some points, the explanations seemed VERY DRAMATIC and ingenuine, contradicting one of the topics in the book which asked to be genuine.
- It doesn't seems radical or a must-read for the above reasons.
April 24, 2015
Rather good read - pragmatism and insight from a doer and a thinker who is a teacher. The author is better known for his book on general systems theory, but this is a different kind of book. It is not only for people stepping into management but also for those who've been in management and in the school of hard knocks.
July 18, 2020
I have read a third, skimmed through past the middle and there was basically just 1 or 2 paragraphs about being a TECHNICAL leader.
There is a lot of information about pin-ball, overeating and keeping a personal diary though, so if you are interested in any of the above described in a quite wordy manner, this book is for you.
There is a lot of information about pin-ball, overeating and keeping a personal diary though, so if you are interested in any of the above described in a quite wordy manner, this book is for you.
August 19, 2015
One of the best books about leading a technical team I have ever read. Extremely helpful in adding perspective, direction, and empathy to the difficult task of leadership.
October 21, 2019
I work and have worked looking after teams for a number of years. I read this book to try and help me to work more effectively and communicate better within those teams. This is the best book I've read on leadership for people who work within IT.
The books start off with the principle that completely redefined what I classed as a leader. A technical leader is anyone within a team who has influence over it. This means that most people who are mid-level up have a responsibility to learn how to be a better leader. Leadership does not equate to just a person manager.
This book is a great guide on how you can work toward expanding your responsibilities wherever your work to have a bigger impact on the company that employs you
The books start off with the principle that completely redefined what I classed as a leader. A technical leader is anyone within a team who has influence over it. This means that most people who are mid-level up have a responsibility to learn how to be a better leader. Leadership does not equate to just a person manager.
This book is a great guide on how you can work toward expanding your responsibilities wherever your work to have a bigger impact on the company that employs you
December 27, 2020
Provides a good perspective on technical leadership, with many lessons. It has however a low signal to noise ratio. The first half about motivation, organization and innovation, and the innovation process, were insightful.
Big part however feels like a collection of notes about various topics, without a clear storyline between them.
Some chapters consist mainly of some anecdotal stories. The actual insights could however be summarised in at most 1 paragraph.
At some moments, it's also clear the book is becoming a bit outdated. Like a mention of "check the internet (added in 2010)" in a list of educational resources.
Big part however feels like a collection of notes about various topics, without a clear storyline between them.
Some chapters consist mainly of some anecdotal stories. The actual insights could however be summarised in at most 1 paragraph.
At some moments, it's also clear the book is becoming a bit outdated. Like a mention of "check the internet (added in 2010)" in a list of educational resources.
December 18, 2018
A must-read book about leadership
I’ve actually started recommending this book to my friends and coworkers before finishing it. The title would set you for some expectations that you will realise after you start reading that it’s not right and the book’s scope is wider than this. It’s a very interesting read about leadership and very entertaining at the same time. I know that one of my weaknesses is writing a review, so sure another review would be more helpful but I wanted to express how much I liked this book :)
I’ve actually started recommending this book to my friends and coworkers before finishing it. The title would set you for some expectations that you will realise after you start reading that it’s not right and the book’s scope is wider than this. It’s a very interesting read about leadership and very entertaining at the same time. I know that one of my weaknesses is writing a review, so sure another review would be more helpful but I wanted to express how much I liked this book :)
December 31, 2023
I enjoyed reading the book even if I am not quite yet at this required level, it is easy to read as Gerald use a lot of real life examples to illustrate what is he talking about. There is a lot of exercice to do at the end of each chapter to help you take action directly. Chapters are small and well divided so it is easier to assimilate each topic. I found that it is not necessarily focused on Tech leader but rather more on leader in general. There is some part specific for tech people but 80% of the book can be applied to pure leaders.
August 14, 2019
I've had this book for years but am just now re-reading it for probably the 5th time and using it to create a course of instruction for technical leadership inside my organization. Jerry's insights and advice are always on point and practical but then continue on to become philosophical in the end. Hard to over recommend this book if you're leading a technical team. Doesn't matter if you yourself are technical or not. This book will improve your work experience and that of your colleagues.
January 18, 2021
This book has been recommended to me by several software engineers for growing in leadership, and it was well worth the read. The questions at the end of each chapter were thought-provoking, and often had me putting the book down and spending a few moments in thought. For me that is the mark of a good self-help book. Weinberg keeps the pace going by mixing in some dialogue and stories from his consulting and workshops, which help make the content a little more interesting.
January 11, 2021
I've learned an interesting framework from this book: MOI (motivation, organisation, inovation) and how each contributes to a person's leadership style. But what I like the most was that often time I was challenged to think about myself and my work from a new perspective and try to really understand myself as a person and my motivations.
November 22, 2022
Some good ideas, some not so useful anecdotes. Some things regarding technical skills just can't be learned, you either good at it or not. Managerial stuff is mostly useful and interesting.
Still, I have saved a lot of notes from this book, just several chapters were almost a waste of time.
His other book on systems thinking looks more promising.
Still, I have saved a lot of notes from this book, just several chapters were almost a waste of time.
His other book on systems thinking looks more promising.
April 27, 2020
I read it in Japanese. Sometimes, there was heavy words, but overall I liked the message.
I re-read this book time to time. And I loved last paragraph, we don't know yet if we want to become a manager or not.
I really don't want to be a manager. But it was helpful to understand my managers :)
I re-read this book time to time. And I loved last paragraph, we don't know yet if we want to become a manager or not.
I really don't want to be a manager. But it was helpful to understand my managers :)
November 9, 2020
This was a much better book than I thought it would be. It talks about leadership but from an analytical, no BS, engineering approach. The book reads like a curious engineer who is figuring out management from first principles. Also, I LOVED the story about Shirley and the Ice cream.
August 29, 2017
This was a very helpful book I read for work.
July 11, 2018
This was my second read of the book. Still consider it great. Mostly helps you organize yourself.
November 12, 2018
This book contains a lot of stuff. That also makes it a though read. Nice stories, interleaved with good knowledge. Probably a book that I should reread in a couple of months/years.
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