I was initially skeptical about the book - I was a fan of Roy’s Art of Unit Testing book, but wasn’t sure if his writing would translate to soft skills space. I was pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed it!
Where I saw value? I have been doing “development coaching” for a few years. Had I read this book sooner, I would have tackled some of the challenges I have faced in the last few years differently. One aspect that gave great insight was the balance between Command and Control, Coaching & Facilitation Leadership (section on Which leadership style you should choose). Up to now I have fought against Command & Control approaches - I believe now that I have a better idea of when to use this approach.
Another area that I strongly related with was Roy’s explanation of the need to create slack and how to approach this. I have worked with teams where they had no slack. In the past I was unsure of how to help them create slack - I believe Roy’s approach may be a good way to achieve this.
I did find the book had a number of typo’s at the time I read it.
Notes
- p.g. 9 Which leadership style should you choose
- Section 3 Survival mode
- p.g. 18 - 25 Making slack time
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ISBN-13: 978-8299933209
