A co-worker lent me his copy of Tom DeMarco's Slack. I'm reading it with high expectations, since DeMarco's Peopleware is one of my bibles when it comes to running software teams. And so far Slack appears to live up to the reputation of its author.

I was especially struck by his observation on the most common qualities of successful leaders:

Managers who inspire extraordinary loyalty from their people tend to be highly charismatic, humourous, good-looking and tall.

At last, an explanation for it all!

It's good to know my resounding string of success after success isn't just dumb luck. I really am better than the rest of you after all.

Actually, the point of the book is perhaps slightly more weighty than just re-affirming my most deeply-held suspicions about my own awesomeness. Implementing them in my current environment is proving challenging, but then so is anything worth doing, right?

Right?

I will update this space in the future as I push further into Mr. DeMarco's slinky-festooned masterpiece, but I will say that at first glance there's not much to suggest I won't agree with every word of it.

Labels: Thinking