Some books I have read in 2020

Here are some books I have read during 2020. I hope some of them can be useful for you.

[Re-visited] The 7 habits of highly effective people by Stephen Covey

A book I like to have in my pocket and re-check from time to time. There are innumerable occasions when as a manager you feel you are not managing well enough your time or as a person you are not focusing on the essential. The 2020 pandemic has given me the chance to see what’s essential and fundamental for my life multiple times in a single year. Habit 3 ( Put first things first ) and 4 ( Think win-win ) were walking with me throughout this last year. Even really difficult situations become more manageable through putting first things first and by keeping a positive and win-win attitude.

For example, a common scenario for parents was having the kids at home while they need to do home office. What a great opportunity to spend more time with your kids, to understand better how they would behave in a classroom by doing home-schooling, learn from their questions and reasoning, and share some experiences with them. What a great opportunity for a manager to give flexibility to her team members for a better adaptation to the situation.  

 

[Re-visited] The Manager’s Path by Camille Fournier

A must-have book for any engineering manager or similar role. I go back to some of its chapters from time to time and every time I discover things to improve the way I mentor, coach, and learn from people.

 

Resilient Management by Hogan Lara

A nice journey on how to work resiliently with the most ancient technology I know ( humans ). You will find some insights about the brain, psychology, people growth, giving feedback, and much more.

 

The five dysfunctions of a team by Lencioni Patrick

Trust is the foundation of every relationship. Without trust, it is very difficult, or nearly impossible, to see conflicts or problems being exposed transparently in a team. Without conflicts or problems, you have barely anything to start changing the status quo, to feel accountable, or have the commitment to improve. Paraphrasing a friend: “The role of conflict is often underestimated or glossed over”.

 

Getting to yes by Roger Fisher

Negotiation method based on collaboration and focus on reaching your Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA). The method is based on 5 principles: Separate people from the problem, focus on interests, invent options for mutual gain, insist on using objective criteria, and know your BATNA.  

 

[Re-visited] Designing Data-Intensive Applications by Martin Kleppmann

I like to re-read some chapters here and there of this book to de-grease some concepts related to data. The past year I took a look at the Batch and Stream processing chapter once again.

 

The leadership gap by Lolly Daskal

A book where Lolly describes different kinds of leaders and leadership gaps based on her experience as an Executive Coach. Made me reflect on some of my behaviors and gaps. It was definitely useful to see myself represented in some situations she described and increase self-awareness.