Anne Fisher Cites Tom DeMarco's Slack

Fortune magazine's Anne Fisher cites Tom DeMarco's Slack and discusses the benefits of slack in the workplace:

Indeed, "the notion that busyness is the essence of business can only do us long-term harm," writes consultant Tom DeMarco in a book called Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency.

DeMarco knows the word "slack" has some not-so-hot connotations -- slacking off, slacker, slack-jawed ... but his definition is different: the degree of freedom required to effect change.

To read the full article, visit CNN Money.com

The Rational Edge on System Testing with an Attitude

Laura Rose reviews Nathan Petschenik's new book System Testing with an Attitude in The Rational Edge:

What is refreshing is the acknowledgement that proper and successful system testing requires everyone to understand the various roles throughout the entire development process. The objective of the book is to provide role awareness upfront and throughout the software development lifecycle. . . . I recommend this book to my project teams and will encourage them to conduct the sort of role-awareness seminar Petschenik describes.

Visit The Rational Edge to read more.

developer.* Recommends Weinberg on Writing

Jerry Weinberg's new book Weinberg on Writing was recently reviewed and excerpted on developer.*:

This is not a book about grammar or style, but about "getting things written" -- and cutting yourself some slack in the process. . . . Weinberg's evolutionary, non-linear method is especially welcome.

Read the full developer.* review and excerpt.

Rothman's Hiring the Best ... [StickyMinds.com]

Johanna Rothman's Hiring the Best Knowledge Workers, Techies & Nerds was recently reviewed on StickyMinds.com:

"I could have benefited from this book as a new manager. As I read through the book, I constantly circled ideas and made notes like 'Wonderful phrase,' 'I like this,' 'Exactly,' 'Great stuff,' and 'YES!' Every chapter resonates with my experience. ...
"... Read it as if you were looking for a job. Turn each chapter around. Ask yourself, what does this chapter offer to a person searching for a job, writing a resume, interviewing, and negotiating. You'll find it extremely useful if you do.'
--Lee Copeland

Read the full StickyMinds.com review by Lee Copeland.
Read Johanna Rothman's blog Hiring Technical People.

DeMarco on Software Patents [CFO.com]

Peopleware coauthor Tom DeMarco is quoted in a recent CFO.com article on the anticompetitive misuse of software patents:

The current Blackberry dispute highlights much that is wrong with the current software patent system, says DeMarco. He notes that companies like NTP, which is suing Blackberry maker Research in Motion over the use of several patents, can use court injunctions as a weapon to force successful businesses into paying royalties on technologies that ought to be in the public domain.

Read the entire article, "Software Squeeze: Patently Wrong?" by John Edwards here: http://www.cfo.com/printable/article.cfm/5570346?f=options [may move]