Managing the Unmanageable

Over 50 five-star reviews on Amazon.com (U.S.)!“Lichty and Mantle have assembled a guide that will help you hire, motivate, and mentor a software development team that functions at the highest level. Their rules of thumb and coaching advice form a great blueprint for new and experienced software engineering managers alike.”–Tom Conrad, CTO, Pandora“I wish I’d had this material available years ago. I see lots and lots of ‘meat’ in here that I’ll use over and over again as I try to become a better manager. The writing style is right on, and I love the personal anecdotes.” –Steve Johnson, Senior Architect, Inlet Digital“Managing the Unmanageable is a well-written, must-have reference book for anyone serious about building sustainable software teams that consistently deliver high-quality solutions that meet expectations. It is loaded with incredibly useful and practical tips and tricks to deal with real-life situations commonly encountered by software managers anywhere in the world. It tearlessly peels back the onion layers of the process of managing software developers–whether a handful of co-located programmers or thousands dispersed across the world–through a balance of battle-tested approaches and keen understanding of the various personalities and backgrounds of software team members. Finally, a book on software engineering that focuses on the manager’s dilemma of making a team of programmers work efficiently together. Every single software manager should have it on their bookshelf.”–Phac Le Tuan, CTO, Reepeet, and CEO, PaceWorks“Becoming a great engineering leader requires more than technical know-how; Ron and Mickey’s book provides a practical cookbook for the important softer side of engineering leadership, which can be applied to any software development organization.”–Paul Melmon, VP of Engineering, NICE Systems“EXCELLENT. Well-structured, logical, filled with great personal color and many little gems. You guys have done a great job here. Terrific balance between theory and practice, rich with info.”–Joe Kleinschmidt, CEO, Obindo, former CTO, Leverage Software“I started reading the nuggets section and it took fewer than four pages to improve my thinking. What struck me about the nuggets was that I could sense the genesis of this book: two masters of their craft learning from each other. Most books feel like a teacher describing a sterile version of what ‘ought to be done’ that leaves you wondering, ‘Will this work in the “real world”?’ Reading the nuggets felt like the sort of guidance that I would get from a trusted mentora–a mentor who I not only trusted, but one who trusted me to take the wisdom, understand its limits, and apply it correctly. It’s concentrated like a Reader’s Digest for technical management wisdom.”–Mike Fauzy, CTO, FauzyLogic“Managing the Unmanageable is a great collection of sometimes-obvious and sometimes-not-obvious guidance for software managers. I wish that I had had this book when I first started managing teams, and it still is illuminating. For programmers who step into management, the hardest thing is to learn the soft skills. Ron and Mickey do a great job of illustrating not just the why but also the how.”–Bill Hofmann, VP of Engineering, Klamr.to“Unique dialogue around the human aspects of software development that is very much overdue.”–Mart Friedman, CEO and founder, Greenaxle Solutions“The advice provided herein about what to do on a new employee’s first day of work seems unique and very helpful!”–Steven Flannes, PhD, author, People Skills 3.0: Next-Generation Leadership Skills for Project Success“I just wish that I had this book when I started as a first-time manager five years ago!”–Kinnar Vora, VP,...