Management resources

Getting into management

Management is something that I’ve always wanted to do. To me computers and technology boil down to relatively predictable 1s and 0s. Management on the other hand deals with much more complex problems. Managing people is complex in itself because everyone is unique and has different experiences throughout life. Politics is something many don’t want to play but unfortunately you have to navigate at some level to either make sure your team has what they need or advance your career. My experience is that managing people was the easy part; navigating the politics of management has been a bit more of a struggle. This space is meant to be a place for resources on management and for me to drop thoughts and experiences about being a manager.

Management is a shift in mindset. It’s letting go of the technical and focusing on what the people below need to be successful. Not making that shift will only create frustration for everyone involved.

Managing people

Manager Tools: This is a resource I found over a decade ago when I got into management. It’s helped me understand how to manage people by providing actionable advice. They have thousands of podcasts, conferences, and training. I’ve listened to thousands of hours of podcasts. They also have a career podcast to help people navigate their careers. Their style is very direct and if you don’t like their advice they have the data to back up why their stuff works. I can vouch the advice they provide works though I’ve learned to incorporate their advice into my style of managing. If you incorporate even just a little bit of their advice you’ll be ahead of every other manager.

I am a licensee of the website and that gives me access to show notes and tools on the website. My favorite tool is the interview creation tool which allows me to create a custom set of questions based on several factors for the role that I’m hiring.

The Effective Manager Book - Second Edition - by Mark Horstman and Kate Braun - This is a great book to get caught up on all the core fundamentals of Manager Tools. I’ve recommended this to many people just getting into management.

The Effective Hiring Manager Book - by Mark Horstman - Hiring is one of the most important decisions a manager makes. This book will provide guidance into how to hire and retain the best people.

The Essential Drucker - by Peter F. Drucker - Manager Tools refers to Peter Drucker a lot. He’s been around for a long time and this book is a good getting started with Peter Drucker and his ideas on management.

Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World - by Stanley McChrystal and others - This is about empowering teams to do the work. If you’re looking for an anti-micromanaging book this is probably it. The book covers General McChrystal taking over the command of Join Special Operations Task Force in 2004 in Iraq and how he adjusted the force to combat Al Qaeda.

Process

The Phoenix Project - By Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford - This is the book your development team has probably read. The principles and ideas in the book can be applied to managing teams, their objectives, and workloads. The best part is that it’s told as a fictional story.

Strategy

Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters - by Richard P. Rumlet - Strategy books are few and far in between. This defines not only the difference in strategy but also the difference in setting strategy and goals.