| ". . . Reading the book felt like attending a good
conference. It includes a lot of interesting material, some confirming what you
already know, some of which areless relevant for you, but some that are very useful.
The net result is some discoveries that help think about your work, discuss it,
and improve it."
—Ben Linders, IEEE
Software "Brilliantly insightful. At one moment you'll think
'Darn, I do that . . . we're toast' followed quickly by the reassurance of 'I'm
not the only one. There's hope!'"
—Howard Look, VP, Software,
Pixar Animation Studios "Another masterpiece from the folks who brought
you Peopleware. Anyone who has survived a software project or two will
surely recognize many of these patterns and will be able to learn from most of
them. Adrenaline Junkies and Template Zombies is a real joy."
—Joel Spolsky, author of Joel on Software "A remarkably
compelling book that captures with vignette, anecdote and history, both the anthropology
and sociology of software project dysfunction. There is the knowing and weary
but not-yet-cynical voice of experience that will make project leaders, managers
and participants flinch and wince with recognition."
—Michael
Schrage, MIT Media Lab "Who else but these particular authors
could mine 150 years of software team experience to capture memorable names for
oft-encountered situations? I suspect you will start using these phrases in your
work—I already have."
—Alistair Cockburn, author of
Agile Software Development "The 86 project patterns are grimly
familiar to anyone who has worked in project-related organizations. Fortunately,
some of the patterns are good ones, and should be encouraged. Sadly, though, many
of the others are not only depressingly familiar, but astonishingly destructive
to productivity, quality, and the morale of the project team."
—Ed
Yourdon, author of Death March "Written with a combined
sense of humor and deep insight. The book clearly conveys why projects fail and
what can be done about it. It is all doable practical advice delivered in a very
friendly and acceptable way."
—Warren McFarlan, Professor,
Harvard Business School "This is an absolutely must-read book for
everyone running an IT organization. Actually, the lessons in this wonderful book
are applicable to anyone running any kind of project-based organization—just
about every organization. The metaphors are funny in that kind of tragic-funny
you've been there kind of way. You will recognize the common pathologies of projects
everywhere. With a dose of courage and this book in hand, you will be able to
create a healthy project environment where people can thrive and still deliver
consistent results."
—Lynne Ellyn, Sr. Vice President and
CIO, DTE Energy "People have always tried to understand themselves
and each other. Our survival has depended on such understanding, as has the quality
of that survival, from bare subsistence to deeply fulfilling livelihood. What
people do individually, interpersonally, and within their institutional matrices,
forms distinct frameworks of attitude and behavior. Perceiving the dynamics of
these complexes (let's call them) confers both insight and power. Three attempts
at such understanding leap to mind. The Chinese had the I Ching, or Book
of Changes. Architects have had A Pattern Language. And medical psychology
has had its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Brilliantly
blending elements of all three (not least from that last one), Adrenaline Junkies
and Template Zombies maps the patterns people create and follow—to their
detriment and advantage—in the projects they engage within organizational
contexts. Sharp, funny and dead-on-target, the book deserves a wide reading."
—Christopher Locke, coauthor of The Cluetrain Manifesto "I
love this book. It is as though the authors were spying on my office for the past
20 years. . . . Flip through this book. Find a pattern -- either good or bad --
that fits your current project, bring the book to work and show people that your
workplace is not unique, that others have done the same before, and what the result
will probably be if you don't change."
—Dwayne Phillips,
author of Working Up to
Project Management, http://dwaynephillips.net/
". . . Unless you have been blessed to a level that no one to my knowledge
has ever been or you have never worked, then there will be patterns in this book
that will cause your head to nod in agreement. Using colorful language on occasion
and consistent blunt talk, the authors tell it straight, providing advice that
pulls the facade off of some of the common notions of what makes a project work.
. . . a bit of chaos, animated discussion with disagreement and respectful truth
telling are all signs of an efficient and productive team.
". . . This
past year, I authored a new major and minor program in Management Information
Systems (MIS) for the college where I teach. Two of the upper-level classes in
the program involve the study of the proper ways to manage IT projects. This book
will be used as a supplementary text when I teach those courses."
—Charles
Ashbacher, Journal
of Object Technology ". . . a compelling read;
you sit and read one essay, muse on it, and promptly read another. . . . The pleasure
comes from recognising the wicked portraits of some especially clueless roles
on projects. Who hasn't met the project manager in Management by Mood Ring who
always talks in optimistic, eternal-present tones with nary a mention of progress
towards targets or deadlines? And what about the Film Critics who perpetually
lob tomatoes into a project, with no feeling of responsibility to help make it
work any better? . . . "Few other groups in the world
today could have assembled such a wealth of expertise in project management, and
none, perhaps, could have written about it so engagingly. I think you'll enjoy
reading it. If you're in a position of power, I hope you'll take it to heart."
—Ian Alexander, posted on Amazon.com "How
can you keep from getting sick by infection? You need to build up immunity. There
are two ways to do this. One is by surviving an earlier bout with the disease,
and the other is by getting vaccinated. "Reading this
book will "vaccinate" you against the negative project behaviors it describes,
so that they can be recognized and dealt with before they cause project failures.
Learning from the failures of others is a lot faster and cheaper than learning
"the hard way" (by taking part in failed projects yourself). Get everyone on your
team a copy, so that the cries of alarm cannot fail to be heard."
—Mark
Wallace, posted on Amazon.com
"I highly recommend this book. Many books that relate
to technical or managerial subjects are difficult to read -- a lot of stuff you
don't care about, and the occasional nugget. Adrenaline Junkies is a book
of nuggets. Each chapter is a nugget or 'pattern,' including a phrase, a picture,
a sentence and a couple of pages of descriptive text. . . . Not everyone will
care about every pattern, but the book is organized in such a way that the reader
has control over what to miss. Some patterns validated my own experiences. Some
provided new insights. A couple I didn't get. My recommendation: read through
the book. . ."
—Robert Newbold, posted on Amazon.com "God,
what a great read! Serious topics, but plenty of humor to take the edge off. As
usual, this team of folks have got it right. For everyone in the software development
arena, this is a must read!"
—Erlo Banfield, posted on Amazon.com
". . . this is one of my 'must keep' books which I'll
refer to over and over again in the years to come. This book describes both behavioral
patterns, good things to do, and behavioral anti-patterns, bad things to do. .
. . Most of the patterns are in fact positive strategies, such as Eye Contact
which stresses the important of distributed workers meeting together physically
on occasion to build trust and communication channels. . . . "
At times the behaviors described seem fairly common -- they are, which is why
they're captured as (anti-)patterns. This is good, because as Mark Twain pointed
out common sense isn't very common, so pointing common behaviors out to people
can be quite valuable. Also, what you may think is common may be an eye-opening
revelation to someone else, and vice versa. . . . Anyone serious about their IT
career will find this book to be a valuable investment."
—Scott
Ambler, Dr.
Dobb's Journal "What makes a project successful or
doomed -- loved or hated? Those are the questions Adrenaline Junkies and Template
Zombies: Understanding Patterns of Project Behavior hopes to answer, looking
critically at the archetypes of people and engineers that people constantly fall
into. . . a comprehensive guide that offers an example of what is a good and bad
behavior coming from team members in management of a project. . . . highly recommended
to anyone in charge of a group project and for community library business collections."
—Jim Cox, Internet
Bookwatch ". . . contains a list of behaviors found
in projects, some of which will make them a joy and others that will make them
a terror. . . . In [my favorite], the authors point out that if the social structure
of the organization is such that every item of work must always be commented on
with a 'Good job' then the result is mediocrity. To be successful, people must
be able to give and receive constructive criticism. . . ."
—Charles
Ashbacher, The Journal of Object Technology ".
. . very useful, a real eye-opener for any business, a must-read for any manager—well
done!"
—Gennaro Pastore, Quality Control Manager for Dunhill
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