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Thursday, April 09, 2015

Review: The Leader's Guide to Radical Management: Reinventing the Workplace for the 21st Century

The Leader's Guide to Radical Management: Reinventing the Workplace for the 21st Century
The Leader's Guide to Radical Management: Reinventing the Workplace for the 21st Century by Stephen Denning

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The author took the Agile principles from software development and packaged them into what he calls a radical management. The ideas themselves are very righteous and I cannot agree more with them. I especially liked the chapters on Delighting Clients (you need to have your clients in mind above anything else) and on Radical Transparency (honesty, authenticity, accepting failures).

However, the book itself provides relatively little novelty compared to any other publication on Agile principles - and I felt that the narrative was being chewed and re-chewed again and again). The whole chapter about open narratives felt like promotion for author's previous books. Overall, it is quite a stereotypical American-style self-help book: "I did it once, I've heard others having done it too, I call it "The New Big Thing" and now I preach it to everyone else".

It can be interesting for people from outside software development who have never heard of Agile principles of (project) management though.

Friday, April 03, 2015

Review: Maailma otsas. Pildikesi heade inimeste elust

Maailma otsas. Pildikesi heade inimeste elust
Maailma otsas. Pildikesi heade inimeste elust by Andrus Kivirähk

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Minu meelest on see väga ainulaadne raamat: ei suudagi kohe meenutada teist selliset raamatut, kus absoluutselt kõik tegelased (ja neid on raamatus päris mitmeid!) on positiivsed. Raamatu puhul meeldiski kõige rohkem see, et see on üdini positiivne. See on heaks tõestuseks, et saab kirjutada põnevalt ka siis kui raamatus on vähe otsest dramaatikat. Lihtsuses peitub ilu... ja võlu.

Opening bicycle season soon...