Hello!
Last year I compiled a list of books I’d read/listened to the audiobook version of and thought I’d do the same again.
So here we go:
Microserfs
One of, if not my favourite book. Warm, nerdy and still incredibly relevant despite its early 90s Microsoft trappings. It’s a beautiful time capsule of people navigating their 20s and early careers. You don’t need to work in technology to understand it, but if you do there are some wonderfully familiar and terrifying touchpoints. The closest thing I can equate it to, is a nerdier version of the US Office or a more grounded version Silicon Valley. Heart, snark, charm and data visualisation.
The Leader’s Guide
Eric Ries’ follow up to The Lean Startup is a barrage of user centred design principles and strategy. There were multiple times whilst listening to this when I audibly agreed with the points and examples Ries used to push for strong user focus in building products and how it shapes product strategy. Could it be because I remember frustrating conversations where I’ve been told ‘what the user research will tell us’ before even starting a methodology? I mean, probably. But to hear practical examples from companies people actually know about and be presented with how user centred design directly benefits longitudinal strategy makes this not only a good book, but a powerful tool to help/throw at leaders.
Forever Employable
For someone who fears the scythe of the grim reaper of unemployment every time I get a notification, this book really helped me understand what kind of skills I have and how I can leverage them. Its core message is to help you understand what differentiates you in the market, what niche you fill, and then how to market and pivot yourself toward it. Whilst this advice seems obvious, the steps laid out make it enjoyable and self reflective without being over indulgent.
Prediction Machines
I currently work on a team full of people far more intelligent than myself, all nerds who live data. This is a perfect introductory guide to the concept of artificial intelligence and how data helps guide decisions. Written in a way that boils down complex topics to understandable chunks and threads them together, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Whilst I still can’t science the heck out of data, I at least have some kind of understanding now on how things get done and why.
Inside: Bo Burnham
Not a book, but a Netflix special. This will likely be seen in the future as a perfect time capsule to the frustrations of millennials in lockdown. Filmed over a year this encapsulates the feeling of growing, arrested development and fitting in in a world that’s locked down. The performative aspects of living online alongside the expectations we’re meant to live up to and embody. Also the soundtrack is brilliance and has been playing whilst I work for weeks. Art for time, place and space.
Gravitas
A book all about how to carry yourself. The core message is growing confidence in what you say and how you present by knowing your subject. Also by slowing down. I’m well aware that when I present I speak quickly barrelling through 80 slides a minute. Embracing energy and repurposing it, building respect and gravitas in a domain is something we can all do if we know what we’re talking about - hopefully shining through and standing up against those who have no depth behind large words.
And there we go, just some wonderful content I’d recommend reading/listening/watching. My goal is to reduce my backlog to less than 100 books by the end of the year, I’ll get there. Or just read Microserfs again.