david.doolin
Rating 3 stars to balance the 1 star and 5 star aspects.
Many people will find this monograph hideous with no redeeming value whatsoever, as can be seen by the numerous 1 star reviews it has garnered.
On the other hand, it's regarded as the most influential book on management of the 20th century. For this reason I find it worthwhile to ready it for myself to understand why that might be so.
Having spent years working as a carpenter in residential construction, I do respect that the author started his career as a laborer and worked his way up through the ranks. That was not common then, and not common now.
Nice survey of thinking current to publication date. While the leading edge has moved on, the book provides an easy entry into service construction, and in many cases, that may be all that's needed.
I liked this a lot more than I thought I would. I am curious how his outlook would differ between when the book was published in 2005 and 2022.
Read maybe 30%, skimmed most of the remaining, was not able to finish it in detail.
I suspect people who like this book will really, really like it, and people who don't, really won't.
One of the handiest computer science books I own! Very well written and accessible for what could be exceedingly dry material.
Stories from an era where manners fit between the poles of coarseness and primness found in contemporary discourse. Many of the references and allusions may be lost to current readers. However, I found the book really informative and entertaining, and surprisingly accessible with a year of college chemistry.
This book, and the philosophy driving, resonate well with me as I have already come to similar conclusions independently. One great benefit of the book is it's not longer necessary to attempt to persuade anyone of the efficacy of checklisting, just point them at the book.
My rating of 3 reflects my point of view coming from the engineering side. That is, I did not feel this book was overly helpful when I was working mostly as an individual contributor. I might well find a reread more useful being more on the management side.
Very nice summary of the mindset and philosophy of the zettelkasten system. The target audience appears to be someone who is early in their note taking, has heard of zettelkasten, and wants more inspiration.
Take homes:
- Constrained input metrics
- PR/FAQ, start from the end
- Tenets to help guide decision making
I'm using these concepts in production right now.
Not always easy to follow the advice given in the book, company culture and process matter as well.
Good reference material, especially around feedback, even for “process and control” environments.
Really good, flawed only in the author's insistence that their four models are sufficient for all organizational needs. This may be true, but the presentation precludes discussion.
I've been using parts of the Tiny Habits system since long before the book came out. The book has shown me at least one way to extend my personal habit building system with no effort at all. I can see the potential for deeper results after implementing more of the Tiny Habits system.
This was a NYT bestseller for a reason: it's an excellent account of how a short sequence of intense, bloody battles convinced both sides that they had won the battle, and had the keys to ultimate victory. In 1965.
Easier said than done, but consistently applied over years as an organization grows, psychological safety should grow with it. My impression is that the tech industry is making decent progress overall in this area.
The first 1/4 of the book is a world class rant. The remaining 3/4 is a really good introduction to sane investment strategy, with some good tips on how to play in the stock market in the closing material.
Atomic Habits is the yang to Tiny Habits yin. They complement each other. Tiny Habits to get started, Atomic Habits to develop mastery.
From personal experience, the material on ensuring habits aren't stale and aren't producing outcomes is the most important part of the book. Building habits isn't difficult. Building the right habits requires considerably more effort. Habits which aren't ultimately producing desired outcomes are indistinguishable from “bad” habits, regardless of the moral content of the habit.
Fast read, but very little exploration useful for applying Boyd's concepts. The big take home for me: “Do your homework.”
