Resources

Looking for a great book to read, podcast to follow, conference to attend, or website to visit?

“I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

For sustained personal growth, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of continuous learning and experimentation. Make sure you take the time to practice what you’ve learned!

T-Shaped Skills and Experience

I listened to a conversation where a CEO and Head of Product discussed the distinguishing factors between senior leadership and lower leadership. They highlighted two key aspects: the ability to Zoom-in and Zoom-out (which they referred to as a superpower) and the skill of building a network and connecting with others. While this list is not exhaustive, I suggest adding a third factor: the level of continuous learning and one’s T-shaped knowledge and experience.

Learning involves courses, reading and hands-on experience. In the past five years, I have extensively read on various non-fiction topics such as Management, Leadership, Team Design, Software Engineering, and Agile, Lean, and DevOps methodologies. My main focus is on people, innovation, and efficiency. The insights have enhanced my experience in building high-performing teams and efficiently delivering digital products.

This journey has turned me into a versatile generalist, exploring areas I previously had little interest in. In addition to software development, delivery, and leadership, I’ve delved into product management, team dynamics, design, finance, and metrics. I’ve also improved my communication skills to better interact with others. Additionally, I have experience leading cultural shifts, optimizing value streams, implementing automation and feedback systems, managing and empowering leaders, handling mergers and acquisitions, and exploring financing options.

The T-shape metaphor symbolizes an individual’s strengths. The vertical line stands for expertise, discipline, and knowledge in a specific field, while the horizontal line represents cross-discipline competencies and the ability to collaborate with professionals in different industries or roles.

My skills and experience have gradually taken on a more V-shape. Here is a quick representation of my T-shaped skills (not all inclusive):

“Books = Knowledge, Experience = Wisdom” ~ Tracy Bannon

Since 2018, I’ve deepened my expertise by engaging with nearly 200 books and additional online courses, focusing on Agile, Lean, DevOps, Software Engineering, Architecture, Leadership, Management, Communication, Coaching, Culture, Teams, Product Management, Change Management, Goal Setting, and OKRs, Communication, Public Speaking, Finance, and Entrepreneurship and Funding. Engaging with books and courses and applying that knowledge practically has improved my professional skills and ability to lead and innovate within complex organizational systems.

Share what you’ve been learning, reading, or experiencing lately. Feel free to recommend any books, learning, or topics I should explore next by contacting me here.

Here is a small sampling of the books that have influenced my career growth.

• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck
• The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford
• The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement 30th Anniversary Edition by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Jeff Cox
• Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations by Nicole Forsgren PhD, Jez Humble, Gene Kim
• The DevOps Handbook: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, & Security in Technology Organizations by Gene Kim, Jez Humble, Patrick Debois, John Willis, Nichole Forsgren
• Continuous Delivery: Reliable Software Releases through Build, Test, and Deployment Automation by  Jez Humble, David Farley
• The High-Velocity Edge: How Market Leaders Leverage Operational Excellence by Dr. Steven Spear
• The Principles of Product Development Flow Second Generation by Donald G. Reinertsen
• Lean Product Development Donald G. Reinertsen
• Project to Product: How to Survive and Thrive in the Age of Digital Disruption with the Flow Framework by Mik Kersten
• Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink
• Team Topologies: Organizing Business and Technology Teams for Fast Flow by Matthew Skelton, Manuel Paris
• Flow Engineering: From Value Stream Mapping to Effective Action by Steve Pereira and Andrew Davis
• Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World by Stanley McChrystal, Tantum Collins, David Silverman, Chris Fussel
• Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders by L. David Marquet
• Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love, Marty Cagen and Silcon Valley group
• Sooner Safer Happier: Antipatterns and Patterns for Business Agility by Jonathan Smart
• Making Work Visible: Exposing Time Theft to Optimize Work & Flow by Dominica DeGrandis
• The Unicorn Project: A Novel about Developers, Digital Disruption, and Thriving in the Age of Data by Gene Kim
• The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries
• The Art of Business Value by Mark Schwartz
• Leading the Transformation: Applying Agile and DevOps Principles at Scale by Gary Gruver, Tommy Mouser
• Lean Enterprise: How High Performance Organizations Innovate at Scale by Jez Humble, Joanne Molesky, Barry O’Reilly
• Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products (Silicon Valley Product Group) by Chris Jones and Marty and Cagen
• Escaping The Build Trap: How Effective Management Creates Real Value by Melissa Perri
• Unlearn: Let Go of Past Success to Achieve Extraordinary Results by Barry O’Reilly
• Financial Intelligence: A Manager’s guide to Knowing What the Numbers Really Mean by Karen Berman and Joe Knight
• Multipliers, Revised and Updated: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman
• Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs by  John Doerr
• The Heart of Business: Leadership Principles for the Next Era of Capitalism by Hubert Joly
• The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier
• Crossing the Chasm, 3rd Edition: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers by  Geoffrey A. Moore
• Investments Unlimited: A Novel About DevOps, Security, Audit Compliance, and Thriving in the Digital Age by Bill Bensing, Jason Cox, Michael Edenzon, Topo Pal, John Rzezotarski, Helen Beal, Caleb Queern, Andres Vega
• Wiring the Winning Organization: Liberating Our Collective Greatness through Slowification, Simplification, and Amplification by Gene Kim, Steven J. Spear
• Transformed: Moving to the Product Operating Model by Marty Cagan
• Flow Engineering: From Value Stream Mapping to Effective Action by Steve Pereira, Andrew Davis

Would you like to dive into a discussion regarding any of these books or talk about any of the two hundred others? Or what you highly recommend? Let’s talk.