Leading Geeks: How to Manage and Lead the People Who Deliver Technology: Amazon.ca: Paul Glen: Books

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From Publishers Weekly

Technology has so clearly woven itself into the fabric of business culture that publishing Glen's book on how to manage the people who produce high tech makes perfect sense. The author, founder of a consulting firm specializing in IT organizations, assumes that "geeks" are not everyday people, and draws on his experience to present clear and simple techniques for employers to not just get what they need out of tech workers but to become the kind of managers who will mesh well with this new kind of employee. Glen's insight is to treat high technology as a creative product produced by temperamental people who are a cross between artists and professionals. This view stems from the ambiguity of "geekwork" and the fact that geeks usually know more about what they do than do their managers. Though Glen doesn't advocate turning the factories over to the workers, his aim is to make managers more effective by teaching them about the people they lead, not by giving them tools to bend employees to their will. He does an excellent job of enumerating geek characteristics and the context in which geekwork takes place, providing ample material on what works with geeks and what doesn't, such as "intrinsic" or "extrinsic" motivators, and valuable advice, like "never underestimate the power of free food." Though it doesn't contain much new material, Glen's easily readable book will prove exceptionally useful for managers who feel left behind by the pace of technology or bosses seeking to better understand their information age employees.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Technology has so clearly woven itself into the fabric of business culture that publishing Glen's book on how to manage the people who produce high tech makes perfect sense. The author, founder of a consulting firm specializing in IT organizations, assumes that "geeks" are not everyday people, and draws on his experience to present clear and simple techniques for employers to not just get what they need out of tech workers but to become the kind of managers who will mesh well with this new kind of employee. Glen's insight is to treat high technology as a creative product produced by temperamental people who are a cross between artists and professionals. This view stems from the ambiguity of "geekwork" and the fact that geeks usually know more about what they do than do their managers. Though Glen doesn't advocate turning the factories over to the workers, his aim is to make managers more effective by teaching them about the people they lead, not by giving them tools to bend employees to their will. He does an excellent job of enumerating geek characteristics and the context in which geekwork takes place, providing ample material on what works with geeks and what doesn't, such as "intrinsic" or "extrinsic" motivators, and valuable advice, like "never underestimate the power of free food." Though it doesn't contain much new material, Glen's easily readable book will prove exceptionally useful for managers who feel left behind by the pace of technology or bosses seeking to better understand their information age employees. (Nov.) (Publishers Weekly, October 21, 2002)

"Winner of the 2003 Financial Times Germany and getAbstract Award for best book on business leadership"

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
If your company's product is high tech, you'll find them in product development, research. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

3.9 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Herding cats, Mar 14 2003

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Celia Redmore "Celia Redmore" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Leading Geeks: How to Manage and Lead the People Who Deliver Technology (Hardcover)

The �¿geeks�¿ Paul Glen talks about in �¿Leading Geeks�¿ are those employees involved in the �¿creation, maintenance, or support of high technology�¿ from help desk technician to system designer to CIO.

I can sympathize with technical people who resent the term "geek". I don't like it applied to myself -- but I understand the harsh reality that books need eye-catching titles. If you can get past the title, the contents are sane and sensible.

Glen�¿s point is that the general management techniques enforced by most corporations are nearly always wildly inappropriate and self-defeating when used on technical staff. As obvious as that might sound to most technical workers, companies continue to teach a command and control approach using �¿bribes�¿ to coerce staff into certain behaviors. As Glenn says, what is usually a magnificently effective technique for dealing with salespeople, is nearly always a disaster when applied to the introspective personalities common in IT.

If you�¿ve ever delivered a morale-raising talk to developers and received only sniggers and eye-rolling in return, Paul Glen�¿s book will explain why.

Also recommended:
Peopleware by: Tom DeMarco & Timothy Lister published by Dorset House Publishing ISBN: 0-932633-05-6

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5.0 out of 5 stars Practical and Useful, Sep 6 2006

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Michael Sahota "Agile/Lean Coach and Consultant" (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Leading Geeks: How to Manage and Lead the People Who Deliver Technology (Hardcover)

I have been successfully applying the concepts and practices from this book for the last few years. The book captures the essence of what is needed to lead teams of technical people. Although it does have some bits of practical advice, it is not a cookbook of what to do.

The patterns identified in the book dovetail very well with the progressive software development processes such as Agile (Scrum/XP) that I practice.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Packed With Knowledge!, Jun 16 2004

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Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leading Geeks: How to Manage and Lead the People Who Deliver Technology (Hardcover)

Management consultant Paul Glen's thorough discussion of geeks brings you brain-to-brain and eye-to-eye with high-tech, specialized knowledge workers. Don't blink: you need these people, so you need to know how to fit your management style to them. Glen describes their primary personality traits and attitudes: commitment to logic, interest in problem solving, independence and, to put it politely, occasionally under-developed social skills. The author, who doesn't seem to mind describing an entire subset of the labor force as if each worker in it had the same personality, explains what geeks need from a manager. You need to nurture motivation, provide internal facilitation, furnish external representation, and manage task, structural, and environmental ambiguity. We suggest this organized, authoritative guide to those who manage knowledge workers. If it's all geek to you, here's the codebook.

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Lack of Substance
I feel that I have been a "geek" for the last 8 years. I am in the process of moving into a position of leadership and am striving to gain information on the most... Read more

Published on April 4 2004 by T. Hiltbrand

1.0 out of 5 stars Who would like to read "Leading Geeks"?
I looked through this book and decided not to read it in depth. Who would like this book?
Someone who...
1. Read more

Published on April 4 2004 by Patrick Buckley