Post #252,543
4/18/06 11:58:51 PM
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IT book recommends for non-IT decision makers?
From an email my brother sent me: Having had such excellent luck with your past "read lists", I would like
to request a new one.
Do you have any suggested "good reads" for IT related materials. In
particular I need to understand database functions, intranet, middle
ware, process monitoring, ASP, system integration, web programming,
hooks, application integration and other related items. I do not need
to be able to do any of these things, but I need to be able to make
decisions and recommendations after talking to people who can do these
things.
In short, think of the non technical decision makers that through
ignorance have made your life difficult, and then think of the books
these people really should have read. I have every reason to believe that if I give him a list of books, he will read them and will try to understand them. He is very intelligent, but does not have a programming background. (He was curious about what I did once, so he learned enough Perl to write himself a small calendar application, and he took a Java course from a local university. That's it for programming for him.) I'm unclear on how he intends to use this knowledge. I believe that he's managing a number of projects that have a programming component (mostly web development), and so has a number of programmers reporting to him in some way or another. So I'm sure that he'll have a good use for it. The only thing that I've thought of so far is [link|http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0735605351/qid=1142615030/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-1621334-3516103?s=books&v=glance&n=283155|http://www.amazon.co...v=glance&n=283155], which I haven't read yet. Cheers, Ben I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
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Post #252,547
4/19/06 1:03:30 AM
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Maybe this will work too. #232626.
[link|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=232626|#232626].
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #252,591
4/19/06 10:57:29 AM
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He's not trying to learn to program
If he was, it would be much easier to come up with recommends. But he's not. He just wants to learn enough about the alphabet soup of terms people throw around to make informed decisions and not be bamboozled.
So that may be a good book, but I don't think that it does what he wants.
Cheers,
Ben
I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
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Post #252,604
4/19/06 11:47:19 AM
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Understood.
It does tell one how to do various tasks with various tools. I'm not a programmer either. I recommended it because it gives a quick overview of how things can be done efficiently - common tasks in working with various kinds of (mainly text) data. Presumably an IT manager would want to have some familiarity with the various tricks of the trade to be able to understand what his/her people were trying to do and the various issues; at least s/he should know the jargon. It's nice having those tricks together in one place, rather than having to skim through a dozen more-detailed books.
There are probably other books out there that address things more appropriately for a manager, but I can't think of any and I thought it was worth mentioning. You, and he, know his needs/wants better than me. :-)
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #252,558
4/19/06 6:30:58 AM
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Don't forget Mythical Man Month and Death March
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Post #252,593
4/19/06 11:02:06 AM
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He's already read the Mythical Man-Month
It was in an earlier list of recommends that I gave him. Well, not exactly recommends, actually it was about 10 years of Christmas presents rolled up in one, I gave him a big old pile of books.
I don't think that he's read Death March, but I'll think about it. However my recollection is that the useful stuff in there (from a manager's perspective) is already pretty well covered in Mythical Man-Month and Peopleware (which he has also read).
Cheers,
Ben
I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
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Post #252,652
4/19/06 6:45:13 PM
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Death March is SPECIAL
It give the viewpoint of absolute no win situatuations. Even if the basic premises are covered in the other books, it needs reinforcement.
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Post #252,777
4/20/06 12:39:29 PM
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I'll mention it then...
but I still don't know how useful it will be for him.
Cheers,
Ben
I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
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Post #252,661
4/19/06 8:10:40 PM
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That's a hard one.
Perhaps one of those Chris Date database books, or Meyer's Object Oriented Software Construction. But these don't really fits the bill either.
Probably what you really need to do is visit a college bookstore and find one of those textbooks used for courses in MIS.
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Post #252,778
4/20/06 12:40:36 PM
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I thought of that but...
I doubt that an MIS textbook would be cynical enough to set him straight.
I'll probably try to find out in more detail what he needs.
Cheers,
Ben
I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
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Post #252,832
4/20/06 9:18:52 PM
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Here's one.
[link|http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0932633420/103-4099692-2631055?v=glance&n=283155|The Psychology of Computer Programming], Gerald M. Weinberg.
It's a classic. I read the original and found it to be very insightful.
Alex
When fascism comes to America, it'll be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross. -- Sinclair Lewis
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Post #252,839
4/20/06 10:04:38 PM
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That one *is* good
I just don't know whether I gave it to him already. Probably not, but I'm not entirely sure.
Cheers,
Ben
I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
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