Recommendations based on "I Can't Remember If We're Cheap Or Smart"

One of the world's great designers shares his vision of "the fundamental principles of great and meaningful design", that's "even more relevant today than it was when first published" (Tim Brown, CEO, IDEO).Even the smartest among us can feel inept as we fail to figure out which light switch or oven burner to turn on, or whether to push, pull, or slide a door.The fault, argues this ingenious -- even liberating -- book, lies not in ourselves, but in product design that ignores the needs of users and the principles of cognitive psychology. The problems range from ambiguous and hidden controls to arbitrary relationships between controls and functions, coupled with a lack of feedback or other assistance and unreasonable demands on memorization.The Design of Everyday Things shows that good, usable design is possible. The rules are simple: make things visible, exploit natural relationships that couple function and control, and make intelligent use of constraints. The goal: guide the user effortlessly to the right action on the right control at the right time.The Design of Everyday Things is a powerful primer on how -- and why -- some products satisfy customers while others only frustrate them.

Design your networks to successfully manage their growing complexityNetwork professionals have often been told that today’s modern control planes would simplify their networks. The opposite has happened: Technologies like SDN and NFV, although immensely valuable, are exacerbating complexity instead of solving it. Navigating Network Complexity is the first comprehensive guide to managing this complexity in both deployment and day-to-day operations.Russ White and Jeff Tantsura introduce modern complexity theory from the standpoint of the working network engineer, helping you apply it to the practical problems you face every day. Avoiding complex mathematical models, they show how to characterize network complexity, so you can understand it and control it.The authors examine specific techniques and technologies associated with network control planes, including SDNs, fast reroute, segment routing, service chaining, and cloud computing. They reveal how each of these affects network design and complexity and help you anticipate causes of failure in highly complex systems.Next, they turn to modern control planes, examining the fundamental operating principles of SDNs, such as OpenFlow and I2RS, network and other service function virtualization, content distribution networks, Layer 2 fabrics, and service chaining solutions. You’ll learn how each of these might both resolve and increase complexity in network design and operations and what you can do about it.Coverage includes:Defining complexity, understanding its components, and measuring it Mastering a straightforward “state, speed, and surface” model for analyzing complexity Controlling complexity in design, deployment, operations, protocols, and programmable networks Understanding how complex network systems begin to fail and how to prevent failure Recognizing complexity tradeoffs in service virtualization and service chaining Managing new challenges of complexity in virtualized and cloud environments Learning why constructs such as hierarchical design, aggregation, and protocol layering work and when they work best Choosing the right models to contain complexity as your network changesFrom start to finish, Navigating Network Complexity helps you assess the true impact of new network technologies, so they can capture more value with fewer problems.

Rich people know a secret. In this book, former Wall Street investor Codie Sanchez pulls back the curtain.Most people look for wealth in all the wrong places. From dropshipping and startups to grinding for promotions, you might believe you have to trade your life to be one of the few who win. But the truly rich know these paths are paved with delusion and false promises.In Main Street Millionaire, Codie Sanchez teaches you the path the wealthy really walk. Instead of risking it all with little chance of success, she shows you how to acquire cash-flowing businesses that are winning right now.Sanchez, one of the world’s leading small business experts, reveals the dealmaking framework she’s taught to tens of thousands, and that she’s used to build her own 9-figure holding company. Her secret? She acquires overlooked “Main Street” businesses. We’re talking about the unsexy but reliably profitable industries — like plumbing, construction, cleaning, electrical — that white collar workers have overlooked.In this book, you’ll see practical strategies and step by step processes to acquire cash flow and freedom. You’ll meet humans just like you who have changed their life through ownership.You will learn:Why today’s market is ripe for generational wealth creation How to identify and close amazing business deals, without being wealthy How to 10x your growth after acquiring a small business The 7 businesses you should never buy, and why How to own multiple businesses at once (without losing your mind)Main Street Millionaire will reshape the way you think about your wealth and ownership forever. However, it’s not for slackers. It’s for those who want meaning and fulfillment while building their community. Codie's no-BS, out-of-the-box wisdom is the antidote to a complacent life of making other people rich. In summary: Your money, and meaning, is on Main Street.

In this timely manifesto, the authors of the New York Times bestseller Rework broadly reject the prevailing notion that long hours, aggressive hustle, and "whatever it takes" are required to run a successful business today.In Rework, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson introduced a new path to working effectively. Now, they build on their message with a bold, iconoclastic strategy for creating the ideal company culture—what they call "the calm company." Their approach directly attack the chaos, anxiety, and stress that plagues millions of workplaces and hampers billions of workers every day.Long hours, an excessive workload, and a lack of sleep have become a badge of honor for modern professionals. But it should be a mark of stupidity, the authors argue. Sadly, this isn’t just a problem for large organizations—individuals, contractors, and solopreneurs are burning themselves out the same way. The answer to better productivity isn’t more hours—it’s less waste and fewer things that induce distraction and persistent stress.It’s time to stop celebrating Crazy, and start celebrating Calm, Fried and Hansson assert.Fried and Hansson have the proof to back up their argument. "Calm" has been the cornerstone of their company’s culture since Basecamp began twenty years ago. Destined to become the management guide for the next generation, It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work is a practical and inspiring distillation of their insights and experiences. It isn’t a book telling you what to do. It’s a book showing you what they’ve done—and how any manager or executive no matter the industry or size of the company, can do it too.

The first book to deal with the problems of communicating to a skeptical, media-blitzed public, Positioning describes a revolutionary approach to creating a "position" in a prospective customer's mind-one that reflects a company's own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of its competitors. Writing in their trademark witty, fast-paced style, advertising gurus Ries and Trout explain how to: Make and position an industry leader so that its name and message wheedles its way into the collective subconscious of your market-and stays there Position a follower so that it can occupy a niche not claimed by the leader Avoid letting a second product ride on the coattails of an established one.Positioning also shows you how to: Use leading ad agency techniques to capture the biggest market share and become a household name Build your strategy around your competition's weaknesses Reposition a strong competitor and create a weak spot Use your present position to its best advantage Choose the best name for your product Determine when-and why-less is more Analyze recent trends that affect your positioning.Ries and Trout provide many valuable case histories and penetrating analyses of some of the most phenomenal successes and failures in advertising history. Revised to reflect significant developments in the five years since its original publication, Positioning is required reading for anyone in business today.

During his fourteen years as Yale's chief investment officer, David F. Swensen has transformed the management of the university's portfolio. Largely by focusing on nonconventional strategies, including a heavy allocation to private equity, Swensen has achieved an annualized return of 16.2 percent, which has propelled Yale's endowment into the top tier of institutional funds. Now, this acknowledged leader of fund managers draws on his experience and deep knowledge of the financial markets to provide a compendium of powerful investment strategies.Swensen presents an overview of the investment world populated by institutional fund managers, pension fund fiduciaries, investment managers, and trustees of universities, museums, hospitals, and foundations. He offers penetrating insights from his experience managing Yale's endowment, ranging from broad issues of goals and investment philosophy to the strategic and tactical aspects of portfolio management. Swensen's exceptionally readable book addresses critical concepts such as handling risk, selecting investment advisers, and negotiating the opportunities and pitfalls in individual asset classes. Fundamental investment ideas are illustrated by real-world concrete examples, and each chapter contains strategies that any manager can put into action.At a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult to cope with the relentless challenges provided by today's financial markets, Swensen's book is an indispensable roadmap for creating a successful investment program for every institutional fund manager. Any student of markets will benefit from Pioneering Portfolio Management.

True leaders aren't made by business schools. They make themselves Getting a MBA degree has become difficult to justify not just because of the large price tag but also because of the growing impracticality. Even the elites like Harvard and Wharton offer outdated, assembly-line programs that teach you more about PowerPoint presentations than about how business really works. For ten years, Josh Kaufman's The Personal MBA has served as an effective alternative introducing hundreds of thousands of readers to the most powerful business concepts of all time. He shares the essentials of entrepreneurship, marketing, sales, negotiation, operations, productivity, systems design, and much more, in one comprehensive volume. The Personal MBA explains- - The Iron Law of the Market- Why every business is limited by the size and quality of the market it attempts to serve-and how to find large, hungry markets - The 12 Forms of Value- Products and services are only two of the twelve ways you can create value for your customers - Option Fatigue- Why consumers are more likely to buy something when faced with three options rather than thirty - Entropy- Why focusing too heavily on creating new products and systems is a great way to go out of business With The Personal MBA, you will avoid years of pointless group work, unhelpful financial models and daunting student loans. Instead, you will have gained the skills and tools necessary to take your place among today's business leaders.

This book provides programmers with the ability to cost-effectively handle common legacy code problems without having to go through the hugely expensive task of rewriting all existing code. It describes a series of practical strategies that developers can employ to bring their existing software applications under control. The author provides useful guidance about how to use these strategies when refactoring or making functional changes to codebases. One of the book's key points is that it teaches developers to write tests that can be used to ensure they are not unintentionally changing the application as they optimize it. Examples are provided in Java, C++, and C#, and the book assumes that the reader has some knowledge of UML notation. Strategies using UML and code in C++ and Java are emphasized, while language-independent advice is delivered in sidebars and appendices for language-specific users.

Twenty years after the Agile Manifesto was first presented, the legendary Robert C. Martin (Uncle Bob) reintroduces agile values and principles for a new generation of software developers. In this eagerly awaited book, the best-selling author of The Clean Coder shows how to bring unprecedented levels of professionalism and discipline to agile development — and thereby write far more effective, successful software.As with his other books, Martin's Clean Agile: Back to Basics doesn't merely present multiple choices and options, and say "use your best judgment"; it tells you what choices to make and why those choices are critical to your success. Writing in the agile context, Martin offers direct, no-nonsense answers to crucial questions:How and why did agile begin?What are the costs and benefits of agile?What are the most effective practices of agile development?How should an agile team be organized?What roles do programmers, testers, and managers play in an agile team?What is the role of the Agile Coach?What about agile for large projects?What kinds of projects benefit from agile?Clean Agile: Back to Basics is essential reading for students, programmers, managers, testers, project managers, and every software professional called upon to lead or participate in an agile project.

Practical, Step-by-Step Scrum Techniques for Improving Processes, Actions, and OutcomesThe widespread adoption and success of Scrum can be attributed in large part to its perceived intuitiveness and simplicity. But when new Scrum practitioners attempt to apply Scrum theory and high-level approaches in actual projects, they often find it surprisingly difficult. In Scrum Shortcuts without Cutting Corners, Scrum expert Ilan Goldstein helps you translate the Scrum framework into reality to meet the Scrum challenges your formal training never warned you about.Drawing on his extensive agile experience in a wide range of projects and environments, Goldstein presents thirty proven, flexible shortcuts for optimizing Scrum processes, actions, and outcomes. Each shortcut walks you through applying a Scrum approach to achieve a tangible output. These easy-to-digest, actionable patterns address a broad range of topics including getting started, quality and metrics, team members and roles, managing stakeholders, estimation, continuous improvement and much more.Whatever your role, Scrum Shortcuts without Cutting Corners will help you take your Scrum skills to the next level and achieve better results in any project you participate in.