Few books in computing have had as profound an influence on software management as Peopleware. The unique insight of this longtime best seller is that the major issues of software development are human, not technical. They’re not easy issues; but solve them, and you’ll maximize your chances of success.

“Peopleware has long been one of my two favorite books on software engineering. Its underlying strength is its base of immense real experience, much of it quantified. Many, many varied projects have been reflected on and distilled; but what we are given is not just lifeless distillate, but vivid examples from which we share the authors’ inductions. Their premise is right: most software project problems are sociological, not technological. The insights on team jelling and work environment have changed my thinking and teaching. The third edition adds strength to strength.”

— Frederick P. Brooks, Jr., Kenan Professor of Computer Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Author of The Mythical Man-Month and The Design of Design

“Peopleware is the one book that everyone who runs a software team needs to read and reread once a year. In the quarter century since the first edition appeared, it has become more important, not less, to think about the social and human issues in software develop¿ment. This is the only way we’re going to make more humane, productive workplaces. Buy it, read it, and keep a stock on hand in the office supply closet.”

—Joel Spolsky, Co-founder, Stack Overflow

“When a book about a field as volatile as software design and use extends to a third edition, you can be sure that the authors write of deep principle, of the fundamental causes for what we readers experience, and not of the surface that everyone recognizes. And to bring people, actual human beings, into the mix! How excellent. How rare. The authors have made this third edition, with its additions, entirely terrific.”

—Lee Devin and Rob Austin, Co-authors of The Soul of Design and Artful Making

For this third edition, the authors have added six new chapters and updated the text throughout, bringing it in line with today’s development environments and challenges. For example, the book now discusses pathologies of leadership that hadn’t previously been judged to be pathological; an evolving culture of meetings; hybrid teams made up of people from seemingly incompatible generations; and a growing awareness that some of our most common tools are more like anchors than propellers. Anyone who needs to manage a software project or software organization will find invaluable advice throughout the book.

What readers are saying:

• "What a revelation to find a book on corporate culture that is actually a joy to read! Happy to Work Here is so well-organized, graphically presented and written that even a non-corporate person like myself, who has been a writer and editor for smallish magazines and newspapers, can enjoy reading it and find so many resonant insights. Some of my favorites: leaders should 'be the behavior you seek;' design in products and the work environment is of utmost importance because 'if you don’t pay attention to beauty then you are consigned to expediency;' company structure should include a shared belief that 'no one is threatened by excellent performance;' and the best of all, for me, was the comment by one of the book’s six authors, Tom DeMarco, that the satisfaction of creating something 'as a partnership was better' than doing it alone, proof of how working together with the right group ethos can be so rewarding. — Jefferson, Maine
• "Yes, I recommend this book! It reeks of hard-learned lessons from which we all can benefit, in or outside of the corporate world." — Camden, Maine
• "I was interested to read Happy to Work Here” as the experienced authors carefully lay out the important drivers of a healthy culture in a company, as well as the culture killers. More importantly they provide a detailed blueprint on how one can assess the culture of their workplace and take steps to improve this most important aspect of a successful organization.As I read the book, I was reminded of observations made by Hyrum Smith, the cofounder with Stephen Covey of the FranklinCovey Co. In a recent book, Smith suggested there are three levels of emotion to motivate people to come to work each day. The lowest level is fear of losing one’s source of income and the feeling of having to come to work each day. The second level is duty were coming to work is considered the proper thing to do, and the highest level to motivate people to act is love where they actually look forward to coming to work. Employees at this level need very little supervision and workplace culture is the key to instilling this feeling of looking forward to working at the company. The research and resulting suggestions the authors provide are spot on to assist readers in first assessing, and then improving, the culture and productivity of their organizations.

This is the digital version of the printed book (Copyright © 2008).

Adrenaline junkies, dead fish, project sluts, true believers, Lewis and Clark, template zombies . . .

Most developers, testers, and managers on IT projects are pretty good at recognizing patterns of behavior and gut-level hunches, as in, “I sense that this project is headed for disaster.”

But it has always been more difficult to transform these patterns and hunches into a usable form, something a team can debate, refine, and use. Until now.

In Adrenaline Junkies and Template Zombies, the six principal consultants of The Atlantic Systems Guild present the patterns of behavior they most often observe at the dozens of IT firms they transform each year, around the world.

The result is a quick-read guide to identifying nearly ninety typical scenarios, drawing on a combined one-hundred-and-fifty years of project management experience. Project by project, you’ll improve the accuracy of your hunches and your ability to act on them.

The patterns are presented in an easy-reference format, with names designed to ease communication with your teammates. In just a few words, you can describe what’s happening on your project. Citing the patterns of behavior can help you quickly move those above and below you to the next step on your project. You’ll find classic patterns such as these: 

• News Improvement
• Management by Mood Ring
• Piling On
• Rattle Yer Dags
• Natural Authority
• Food++
• Fridge Door
• and more than eighty more! 

Not every pattern will be evident in your organization, and not every pattern is necessarily good or bad. However, you’ll find many patterns that will apply to your current and future assignments, even in the most ambiguous circumstances. When you assess your situation and follow your next hunch, you'll have the collective wisdom of six world-class consultants at your side.

Greater risk brings greater reward, especially in software development. A company that runs away from risk will soon find itself lagging behind its more adventurous competition. By ignoring the threat of negative outcomes–in the name of positive thinking or a can-do attitude–software managers drive their organizations into the ground.

In Waltzing with Bears, Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister–the best-selling authors of Peopleware–show readers how to identify and embrace worthwhile risks. Developers are then set free to push the limits.

The authors present the benefits of risk management, including that it makes aggressive risk-taking possible, protects management from getting blindsided, provides minimum-cost downside protection, reveals invisible transfers of responsibility, isolates the failure of a subproject.

Readers are armed with strategies for confronting the most common risks that software projects face: schedule flaws, requirements inflation, turnover, specification breakdown, and under-performance.

Waltzing with Bears will help you mitigate the risks–before they turn into project-killing problems. Risks are out there–and they should be there–but there is a way to manage them.