I got this book from my manager, when I got “promoted” (unexpectedly, as these things tend to happen) from a senior developer to a team lead of a small team. I felt as if it was written precisely for me. And I recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in a similar position – it helped me a great deal! It is perfect for people coming form a technical background, as it is concise, with no unnecessary bloated descriptions, and one feels that the author has huge experience.
My key takeaways
Though I am not going to summarize the book (I encourage you to read it), I will list some key-points inspired by the it:
- listen until the end before you try to form a response
- there is no need to chase every tiny technical novelty, focus on strong foundations – basics don’t change, new technologies seem to just be reiterations of old ideas
- be sure to see the big picture
- have clearly established rules and make sure they are known (both in writing code and interacting with people)
- listen to people, they are not malicious by principle – they just need to have different needs fulfilled
- give feedback, but do not praise automatically
- when someone seeks your help – “tell them how to use the fishing rod, do not give them the fish”
- don’t be afraid to admit that you don’t know something
- be aware of interpersonal relationships
- be aware of other peoples’ goals and their perspective – it helps to attain fair compromise
- favor simplicity over complexity