Scott Berkun

Scott Berkun [0] writes amazingly on this topic. Read his articles, read his books. I read "The Art of Project Management" [1] in 2005 and still go back to it. Good luck! 0: http://scottberkun.com/ 1: Now called "MAKING THINGS HAPPEN: MASTERING PROJECT MANAGEMENT" http://scottberkun.com/books/#post-52

Worth reading this gem from 2010 too: https://scottberkun.com/2010/the-cult-of-busy/

http://scottberkun.com/2009/top-ten-reasons-managers-become-great/ Especially #8 "8. Self aware, including weaknesses."

This article was a response to the "Best UI no UI" debate that was sparked by one of Cooper's article I think [1] Personally I think the "Best Interface = No Interface" mantra is too black and white and totally ignores all the shades of grey in between. If you come up with these principles, the language needs to be much clearer. I think what people meant to say was "Sometimes the best UI is no GUI". Best response so far is by Scott Berkun[2] [1] http://www.cooper.com/journal/2012/08/the-best-interface-is-no-interfa… [2] http://scottberkun.com/2013/the-no-ui-debate-is-rubbish/

I am just getting started with writing my first book too. I recommend reading these articles. http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/28/why-every-entrepreneur-should-self-pu… http://scottberkun.com/2007/how-to-write-a-book-the-short-honest-truth… Createspace is a recommended resource, although you should look into similar sources. Other sources: lightning source writersmarket.com bookbaby.com - Bharad (star at bharad dottt net)

Scott Berkun (formerly of Microsoft and author of three bestsellers) did a talk at Ignite about this where he recorded himself writing an essay: http://www.scottberkun.com/blog/2010/video-how-to-write-1000-words/ Really interesting to see how much work even a 1000 essay takes!

Yes, I think it's still relevant. It doesn't adapt all of the project management jargon from the certifications, though. I read this 5 or 6 years ago and I learned a lot. I didn't realize how large the blog has become. https://scottberkun.com/2012/how-to-make-things-happen/ is where to start to see if you want to read the book. Basically it boils down to: make a list, prioritize the list, execute the list. There is a lot more to project management than that. For example, how do you present the list? How do you negotiate the list? What happens if you're working on a project with a lot of tech debt and other half finished work that needs to be brought back on track. I don't know if this book talks about that, and I don't really know of any books that goes beyond the very basics or deal with projects that aren't trivial. Project management is vast. What are you interested in learning more about? Are you interested in agile or waterfall? I'd recommend reading the original "waterfall" paper from Royce from the 70s [1]. I think it's still relevant and helps to dispel "waterfall." For scrum, I'd recommend the HBR article from the 80s [2]. Are you looking for articles on Gantt charts, PERT charts, WBS, critical path. You can look at the PMP book. Are you looking for stories on projects? I haven't read them, but The Phoenix Project is recommended on HN a bit. For podcasts, I listen to the Digital Project Manager and PM Happy Hour. [1]…

See: The myth we love new ideas - people resist change, including progress from https://scottberkun.com/2013/ten-myths-of-innnovation/ > We are a conservative species: try something as simple as standing, rather than sitting, in your next group meeting. How accepting were your peers? Conformity is deep in our biology. While talking about creativity is very popular, actually being creative puts your social status at risk. All great ideas were rejected, often for years or decades, yet we bury this in our history (see Myth #1 & #2). The history of breakthroughs is a tale of persistence against rejection. Much of what makes a successful innovator is their ability to persuade and convince conservative people of the merits of their ideas, a very different skill from creativity itself. Your problem is likely not your ideas, but your skills for pitching ideas to others. Ideas are rarely rejected on their merits; they’re rejected because of how they make people feel. The bigger the idea, the harder the persuasion challenge.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this as the founder of an Internet startup, but I didn't even have a smartphone until a few months ago. I had what my wife referred to as a "dinophone." :-) Eventually, I succumbed to the pressure and curiosity of having a smartphone. Now, as I check my email, tweet, or check HN walking my dog, as I'm eating lunch, etc., I find myself wondering: is this connectedness actually making my life BETTER? I think for me, the answer is somewhat ambiguous. Yes, I appreciate the flexibility of being able to reply to emails in places and at times I was previously unable. However, I think there is a cost. I'm a lot less "present" during the monotonous moments of life. And, I think it's this monotony --- the "down time" --- that often makes space for unexpected creativity in our lives. Perhaps that's why our best ideas often come during mundane tasks like taking a shower (http://www.scottberkun.com/blog/2011/why-you-get-ideas-in-the-shower/)… Anyway, I think the bottom line for me is this: I need to learn a new skill: how to disconnect and, perhaps more importantly, come to value these "boring", unproductive moments so I can withstand the temptation of pulling out my phone. I think that's an even bigger challenge for me.

I'm a PM at a large, well known software company. In fact, I lead a team of PMs and have been in a PM role for several years after running a failed software startup during university and a stint as a sales and marketing guy at a solar start-up. This article does a great job summing it-up: the PM role is about taking the vision, converting it to execution of a strong product, and facilitating a feedback loop that helps drive the vision forward. A lot of times the PM is denigrated as an excess or waste, particularly in start-ups. It's true that a lot of PMs are taxes to their teams. But good PMs will bring a lot of clarity and absolute focus. I'm sure strong founders are also very capable of this but it's likely a matter of time and focus for those founders relative to other competing objectives. Tips on doing PM well: - Live. Eat. Breathe your product. I've spent years working on a product that I secretly detested but used that frustration with the product as a motivation to learn the product space inside-out and established myself into a position to remake the product what it needs to succeed (rebranding, significant technical overhaul, slash/dash legacy feature weights, etc.). Our customers are going from constant complaining to singing praises—that's hugely rewarding personally. - Squash out all forms of inefficiency in the team. Every aspect of development that reduces your ability to deliver the best product is a concern. I'm engaged in everything from the…

i used to run a session at foo camp called “that sucked” back in the day. people would share stories, and i’d try to do a root cause analysis and tally all the problems. often the root cause leaders were “databases”, “unicode” and “that guy” a quick article i wrote at the time: http://joshua.schachter.org/2006/08/that-sucked and here’s someone else’s recollection of one, starring PG. https://scottberkun.com/2006/report-from-foo-camp-06-foocamp06/

Foreign propaganda should be exposed, documented, and contextualized instead of given more power by banning and removing it. https://scottberkun.com/2013/banning-things-makes-them-powerful

> The thing about biases are that the mind that nurtures them can easily justify them, thus making the very biases appear rational and logical. https://scottberkun.com/essays/40-why-smart-people-defend-bad-ideas/

Few technologies will ever stand up to the will of adolescents trying to do things they’re told they’re not allowed to do -- Scott Berkun [1] [1] https://scottberkun.com/essays/37-how-to-build-a-better-web-browser/

Many developers try to keep track of everything in their head. That won't work as a PM. Your time will usually be much more fractured than it was a dev, as you track multiple ongoing projects at various levels of detail. If you try to keep everything in your head, you will most likely start dropping balls, and if there's anyone who shouldn't drop balls, it's a PM. So, my advice: make lists and track the status of everything you can. "A large percentage of my time as a PM (project manager) was spent making ordered lists." - Scott Berkun [1] [1] http://scottberkun.com/2012/how-to-make-things-happen/

Like many others I agree with this. My company is completely distributed (we prefer "distributed" over "remote" because we aren't remote from anything) and has employees in 50+ countries. There was a pretty good book written a few years ago by a former employee of ours about how distributed work and culture go together: http://scottberkun.com/yearwithoutpants/

Sadly, in Seattle, most drivers drive as though there is a stop sign at the end of every Interstate on-ramp. Not sure what causes this behavior. For a bit of humor: http://scottberkun.com/2011/help-me-teach-seattle-how-to-drive/

I guess the every family is different. The key is to being present, either physically, or virtually via one of the many social networks. Just being able to reach out is important. I just finish Scott Berkun's frank novel [1] about his relationship with his father. It pains me to see how Scott's attempts to reach out his father goes unanswered. Unfortunately, he was not successful is forming a close bond with his father. One takeaway I got from Scott's book is to create access for you and your family to connect. Without this access, communication is not possible even if you want to. Obvious but easy to forget. [1] - http://scottberkun.com/the-ghost-of-my-father/

Here's a handy guide I wrote for how to learn from your mistakes: http://scottberkun.com/essays/44-how-to-learn-from-your-mistakes/

Wish more companies are like that. Scott Berkun maintains a list of companies with distributed teams, if anyone looks for a new job :-) http://scottberkun.com/2013/how-many-companies-are-100-distributed/

I do like this post and think it is well written, but I think that people are sort of misrepresenting this "no-ui" thing. Is there really anyone that holds the extreme viewpoint of either end of the debate? Is there really anyone that does not agree with the sentiment of the last 2 sentences here? I don't think so. Anyway, I really like Scott Berkun's post on the matter: http://scottberkun.com/2013/the-no-ui-debate-is-rubbish/

Scott Berkun rails against Jonah Lehrer here. http://www.scottberkun.com/blog/2012/in-defense-of-brainstorming-2/

I think there's a similar mechanism by which geeks end up "too geeky". http://www.scottberkun.com/essays/40-why-smart-people-defend-bad-ideas… http://amzn.com/0300090331

I presented time-lapsed video of myself writing an essay and presented it at an event, with audio commentary. I didn't know about Etherpad at the time, but there are some things captured here it wouldn't get, as they happen outside the browser. It also might be more educational, as I explain in voice-over what's going on: http://www.scottberkun.com/blog/2010/video-how-to-write-1000-words/

Scott Berkun extracted some notes. http://www.scottberkun.com/blog/2010/inside-pixars-leadership/

This seems related: http://www.scottberkun.com/blog/2009/how-to-keep-your-mouth-shut "No matter how right you are, if you care about effecting change, you should never open your mouth without some sense of who will agree with you and who won’t."

i was going to originally post this: http://www.scottberkun.com/blog/2009/calling-bullshit-on-social-media/ I found that the retort on oreilly was a better argument and more positive.

in my humble opinion, everyone is creative in their own area of expertise. its just much more difficult and less obvious when expressing creativity in fields like engineering. and it is difficult to express creativity when jumping fields. as an engineer-type, i can't really do creative graphic design. i've tried, and i just can't seem to cough anything up. but i can definitely come up with creative solutions to a problem. and if that fails, this essay is kind of interesting http://www.scottberkun.com/essays/56-creative-thinking-hacks/

Link to article: http://www.scottberkun.com/essays/38-how-to-pitch-an-idea/

Hi, in addition to checking out if any of the suggested resources work extremely well for you, I'd like to suggest this book. It answered a lot of the questions about design process I had some ten years ago. (I am now involved in UX and product design) http://scottberkun.com/making-things-happen/ If you go briefly through it, you'll certainly find some sections useful for clearing things up with information design, capturing design goals, singling out tasks etc. It sparked my own interest in user experience and service design back then. To my opinion, after much thought and practice, UI design is very much a shell to everything that's preceeding it on the timeline. Try to cover UX as well as UI, capturing requirements, etc. It is also important to find a book, a blog or a course that is mesmerizing particularly to you, and easy to grasp with your specific background. Good luck! Alice