Recommended Reading

As a product manager, The Mole often needs to make decisions. Sometimes the evidence is unambiguous and the conclusion undebatable. Far more often, the evidence is dodgy and the risk of cognitive biases degrading the quality of the decision is very real. The literature on cognitive biases is rich — The Mole heartily recommends hanging… Continue reading Psychology of Intelligence Analysis

After many years in the academy, on both sides of the blackboard, the Mole made the leap into the so-called real world, i.e., for-profit corporate employment. Many of the Mole’s cherished preconceptions were quickly tossed aside; some were more easily replaced than others. This article helped to explain the massive gulf between everything the Mole… Continue reading Big Ball of Mud

This is an essay that the Mole rereads fairly regularly. The experience is always unnerving: some parts are obviously right, some are obviously wrong, but which category any particular part falls into is seldom the same from one reading to the next. Regardless of which side of the debate you choose (or, if you are… Continue reading Worse is Better

If you have anything at all to do with software development projects and haven’t read this one you should be very, very embarassed.

Before there was Peopleware, there was The Psychology of Computer Programming. Nothing ages perfectly, but only the small-minded will focus on the thoughts that betray their age and miss the overall insightfulness of this book.

This is clearly where you have to start if you have anything to do with software development management. A great many people who know a lot more than the Mole and have a lot more “cred” have given this book ringing endorsements. After you have read it, find out if you manager has read it.… Continue reading Peopleware