Customer Reviews

Working Among Programmers: A Field Guide to the Software World

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In the 35 years since the original publication of Gerald Weinberg's "The Psychology of Computer Programming," much of the civilized world seems to have forgotten that programming is a human activity, and that the amazing software products and services we rely on are created by PEOPLE, who have their own likes and dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, quirks, and idiosyncrasies. Interestingly, IT professionals (programmers, software engineers, and people with a variety of other technical titles) are often advised to spend more time understanding and empathizing with the non-technical people for whom they build systems; but it's rare that you hear non-technical people being advised to spend more time understanding and emphathizing the geeky techno-nerds who actually do the work of building such systems.

If this topic has come up in your organization, or among your peers, then Bruce Taylor's new book, "Working for Programmers," is a must-read. It's also a quick read, a mere 150 pages of straightforward, non-technical language; and each chapter has a summary section entitled "For Those In a Hurry," with half a dozen bullet points capturing the salient points discussed in the chapter.

For technical people, the discussion will seem obvious and familiar; but non-technical people have probably never stopped to ask how programmers think, what their self-image is like, how they feel about career advancement, about managers (which, of course, should be obvious to anyone who reads "Dilbert" cartoons), and about end-user "civilians" (no, it's not as bad as the attitude expressed by the "computer guy" skit that used to run on last year's episodes of "Saturday Night Live"). And all of these topics are contained in just one chapter of Taylor's book, entitled "About Programmers."

There are other chapters about organizational culture; the cast of characters in the IT field (application programmers are not like system programmers, and neither of those two categories are similar to database designers, testers, network architects, and others); the nature of a programmer's work; the nature of software engineering; and the trials and tribulations of programmers.

If your own career doesn't depend on successful relationships with the programmers who work with you (or for you), or if you only give simple assignments and projects to your programmers, then maybe you don't need this book. But in most of the organizations that I visit, the relationship between programmers and the rest of the world is strained at best, and totally dysfunctional at worst; and the projects being given to the programmers are becoming increasingly complex and challenging. It certainly can't hurt to have a better understanding of what makes these people tick; indeed, it may be the difference between success and failure.

Many professional coaches are wary of working with computer programmers, or doing executive coaching in high-tech organizations, because they feel uneasy with programmers, and intimidated by the strange language and business processes. And yet, the software field is virtually virgin territory for professional coaches. Bruce Taylor has produced a slim little volume that provides the extra knowlege you need to work effectively in the high-tech and slightly bizarre world of professional programmers. It's virtually required reading if you're going to be coaching programmers, their managers, or their executives.

Taylor relies on his long experience in the software world and introduces the concepts with humor and an absolute minimum of technical jargon. I found the book informative and entertaining and very easy to read, and I expect to apply the knowlege any time I need to work with software professionals. I especially like his practice of making each chapter stand alone, so that you can acquire just the information you need without having to read the book end-to-end. The summaries called "For Those In A Hurry" make it even easier to pick up the important concepts quickly.

Taylor writes in a straightforward, engaging style; and uses examples liberally to illustrate his information. The simulated conversations between coaches and clients are especially effective. The early chapters describe programmers themselves, the middle chapters describe the world in which they work, the later chapters describe the triumphs and tribulations that they face every day. And the final chapters provide specific advice for coaching or counseling in the world of high-tech software.

As the founder of MentorCoach, a coach training school, I have helped train thousands of helping professionals to become coaches. Based on these years of experience, I can tell you I will recommend this book to every coach in our training school. It is an essential guide for anyone hoping to coach, understand,or work with computer programmers-a relatively unserved niche. More to the point, I earnestly recommend this book to you if you are a helping professional who wants to coach or counsel computer programmers or managers, either in your own office or on the job. It's an easy, pleasant read and the knowlege you will gain is priceless.

Bruce Taylor has written an intentionally-compact, easily readable "field guide" into the world of programmers.

Drawing inspiration from the classic The Psychology of Computer Programming: Silver Anniversary Edition, and his many years employed as a programmer, the author has managed to capture quite accurately the very important points that make working with and managing programmers so different from other types of professionals.

Of particular utility are the "For People in a Hurry" summaries of each chapter.

Taylor's book should be especially useful to programmer managers, who need to understand how the programmer mentality makes a programmer's motivations and responses differently than other workers.