It's Saturday evening and I was sorting out a few files on my drive. Who am I kidding I wasn't sorting out a damn thing - I was deleting as much junk as I could for an install of Deus Ex - Human Revolution, a game I purchased ages ago but only got to playing well... I haven't started the install yet... but this is why.
I found my copy of Scott Berkun's Making Things Happen. I bought this in 2009, and while the cover says that it's a "project management" book, It's actually the corporate IT equivalent of the Cormen bible or TCP/IP Volume I and II that we had in varsity.
Aside: You know you're in Corporate IT when your job title has the word Analyst, Architect, System, Design, Lead, Project or Programme, or (!!!1) Manager...
On a yearly basis, I find myself finding it, opening up to the table of contents, and finding a topic that's relevant to me at the moment. Last night I found a great chapter on Politics and Power (Chapter 16). We've all had awesome initiatives that we're working on that gets no traction because the company simply hasn't prioritised it across departments or (we would like to think) some evil exec in his lair is poisoning the minds of every one of his subordinates. What's great about Scott is that he's not that dramatic and provides a great view of the complexity of relationships. There's always a good reason, and there's more than one way to get it done.
So buy the book :)
Other notable mentions :
Peopleware by Demarco and Lister
Template Zombies and Adrenaline Junkies with Demarco and Lister
Aside: You know you're in Corporate IT when your job title has the word Analyst, Architect, System, Design, Lead, Project or Programme, or (!!!1) Manager...
On a yearly basis, I find myself finding it, opening up to the table of contents, and finding a topic that's relevant to me at the moment. Last night I found a great chapter on Politics and Power (Chapter 16). We've all had awesome initiatives that we're working on that gets no traction because the company simply hasn't prioritised it across departments or (we would like to think) some evil exec in his lair is poisoning the minds of every one of his subordinates. What's great about Scott is that he's not that dramatic and provides a great view of the complexity of relationships. There's always a good reason, and there's more than one way to get it done.
So buy the book :)
Other notable mentions :
Peopleware by Demarco and Lister
Template Zombies and Adrenaline Junkies with Demarco and Lister
