People, Not Technology

Complexity and burdensome processes put technology ahead of people. This book shows you how to take control, simplifying what you do and how you do it. It isn’t a set of rules; it’s a way of thinking about the things you do.

Your body and mind are your most important tools. This book shows you how to take care of it. To keep doing what you love, you need to maintain your own systems, not just the ones you write code for. Regular exercise and proper nutrition help you learn, remember, concentrate, and be creative—skills critical to doing your job well.

Typically, managers pick teams, but there are better ways. Sandy and David explain how they’ve helped companies switch to self-selecting teams, and how that leads to both happier and more productive developers.

All too often, people are promoted into leadership positions with no real training for the role. The skills needed are very different to those needed to be a great individual contributor. James explains all this in a way that is oriented directly at developers and team leads, showing how you can make the transition successfully.

Stress in the workplace is not the fault of individuals; it’s a symptom of systemic problems. This book gives you a framework for understanding stress, and a vocabulary to make it easier to discuss it among colleagues. Stress can be fixed; find out how.

The office isn’t as essential as it used to be. Flexible working hours and distributed teams are replacing decades of on-site, open-plan office culture. Wherever you work from nowadays, your colleagues are likely to be somewhere else. No more whiteboards. No more water coolers. And certainly no Ping-Pong. So how can you organize yourself, ship software, communicate, and be impactful as part of a globally distributed workforce? We’ll show you how. It’s time to adopt a brand-new mindset. Remote working is here to stay. Come and join us.