ElderUsr's Blog

The book "Adventures of an IT Leader" was honestly a quick and informative read. It reminded me of similar books that I have read in the past, specifically around the feels of Pheonix Project. It leads you on a journey of an Accountant Manager that takes the role of CIO and leads a team of IT folks, he goes through the initial struggles of coping with existing products and expectations of managers prior and then going ahead and trying to forge out the best options and solutions that he can through his group of specialists and experts along the way. It is meant for someone that is not technical but meant to be managing technical resources. For me it was a quick but understandable read and I would definately keep in my bookshelf to read as a refresher in a year to come. The book can be found here .

The book can be purchased here . This book is amazing in short. It basically places you as a reader in the life of a recently turned Senior IT manager and now having to meet the businesses needs, their projects that he inherited that he wanted nothing of and the fires that the firefighters have been fighting for years. Without ruining too much of the book, basically he changes the way that everyone works within the work place and comes to the rescue for his organization and his boss. Its a great read for anyone in IT management or in C level role that underestimates how valuable IT can be to the organization and how if it is done right can transform the organization into a well oiled machine. Overall, 4.5/5 personally and probably will re-read it again within the next year or so just to see if there is a few items that I can use within my own organization.

The book "The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't" was an interesting read. It placed yourself into a few scenarios in which Robert has had with other folks in the past and defining what an asshole actually is, how to determine if your a long term asshole or a long term one, and how to work with others and why you should keep them around. Truthfully, I did not enjoy the book as much as I thought I would, which is not at the fault of Robert. I think the portion of the book that did catch my eye was the assessment portions allowing the reader to determine if his peers or himself could be a long term asshole vs just the occasional one. He also brought up another interesting point that as Asshole recognize other assholes they tend to stick together (hiring more of them) and that at least one needs to exist in the organization to see how the asshole acts vs the rest of the non-assholes and how the organization treats the asshole so no ...

I have recently read the above book, and would like simply comment that excluding the explicit in the name, the book itself is actually quite good. Basically it is meant to make you take a look at the way that you currently view things and change them. Personally, I took a bit more information from this book more than any other "Lifestyle" or "Self-Help" that I have read in the past because whether it was the way that Mark explained it, or it just seemed to click properly in my head, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend it to friends or anyone in general that may need a bit of guidance, and even those who think they have everything together can take something from it too. Link to Mark's Website and I believe you can also source the book off him directly here.