Managing Humans by Michael Lopp

What? A “management” book?!

Wait. Wait. Wait. This book is different.

Its only 209 pages, in compact standalone chapters collected from a series of blogposts. This makes it a quick read, and also easy to pick up/put down whenever you have a few minutes. Oh, and it’s written by a former Netscape employee, in a readable, down to earth style.

If thats not enough encouragement, try this quick experiment.

Next time you’re having a coffee, read through the first few pages of this book. If you’re not hooked by the time you finish your coffee, move on… with a clear conscience. I couldn’t put it down, so bought it. After reading it cover to cover, and re-reading some chapters multiple times, I came back to buy a bunch more copies to give to friends.

If you are a manager at work, or are responsible for coordinating or mentoring others, you should read this.

If you have a manager at work, you should read this. It’ll give you a better understanding of who you are dealing with, some of the behind-the-scenes tradeoffs that managers wrestle with every day, and also help you figure out if your boss is just marking time while pushing paperwork around, or really trying to make a difference while being a good mentor. Tall order in 209 pages, I know, but I really liked this book.

Once you finish reading the book, if you want more from the same author, you should follow his blog at: http://www.randsinrepose.com.

(Thanks to @Morgamic for organizing a recent event that had copies of this book in the office – that prompted me to dust off and publish this half-written post.)

One thought on “Managing Humans by Michael Lopp

  1. this book sounds pretty cool. do you have a copy i can borrow? got have something cool for my 13hr flight to taipei tomorrow night. let me know πŸ™‚