Software manager reading list

A few days ago, a manager friend of mine asked me for advice about what to do in a project that is near crisis, i.e. it has missed a deadline and looks like will be over budget.

Crises are common in software projects because their complexity usually is beyond our time and resource prediction capabilities. I offered my friend the following books and recommended reading them first before demanding that his team starts working overtime:

• Waltzing with Bears
• Death March
• The Mythical Man Month
• The Logic Of Failure

These books will ground him in reality and make him realize what kind of a mess he is in. I also told him that he should only tell his superiors the reality if he is certain that they are interested in the truth. A lot of times people want to hear only good news and are content with ignorance until it hits.

If you sense that your superiors want to live in fantasy land, never tell them the bad news because you will be labeled as a pessimist. Even after your predictions prove to be true in the end, you being labeled as a nuisance won't be washed away.

These books will help you understand what is going to happen and why. You might not be able to change the outside world, but you will have less stress inside, not feeling any guilt, knowing that you did the best you could.