My Reading Recommendations

Looking for some inspirations for what to read or listen to next?

I’ve come to realise after many years of not picking up a book, that emersing yourself in a good read can be a great way to slow the brain down, and turn on the creativity. In my every day, I often find myself jumping from meeting to meeting, and challenge to challenge but this doesn’t always leave room for thinking and creating outside of your usual patterns.

Below is a (growing!) list of books and audiobooks that I would recommend to anyone in the technology industry, whether you’re an architect, product owner, director or intern. They’ve served me well, and I hope you enjoy them also.

If you’ve not signed up to Audible yet, then you can find out more about the service here: https://amzn.to/3zWkNiH

Reaching Cloud Velocity: A Leader’s Guide to Success in the AWS Cloud

There are few books in my catalogue which get read quite as quickly as this one let alone making it into my top 10 cloud adoption books, so bravo to Jonathan Allen, Thomas Blood and the team for working hard on the content. This book provides the reader with a wealth of knowledge for any organisation either just embarking on their cloud journey, or in the thick of it.

I’m a firm believer that any cloud transformation journey is more about people and culture than it is technology, and that’s where this book excels. Covering DevSecOps concepts, tackling organisational change and introducing some readers to Tenets for the first time are just some of the important areas which are covered.

Part 3 of the book covers Culture and Organisation by looking at defining your principles for your cloud journey, what your leadership team should look like and the fountations for a successful Cloud Centre of Excellence (CCoE).

You can find the book in paperback and e-book format here: https://amzn.to/3Sk3Mp0

The Phoenix Project

This is the first IT-based book that was recommended to me by a colleague, and it’s a book that I’ve gone on to talk about ever since. What I love about this story is that you can closely relate to all of the challenges that poor Bill is having to deal with.

Bill, an IT manager at Parts Unlimited, has been tasked with taking on a project critical to the future of the business, code named Phoenix Project. But the project is massively over budget and behind schedule. The CEO demands Bill must fix the mess in 90 days, or else Bill’s entire department will be outsourced.

Now, some of you may not have been under pressures as bad as this, but it’s fascinating to see a character who has worked in a dead-end job and just accepted the status quo really elevate himself to take on the challenge. Embark on an adventure into the world of DevOps, and whether or not you’re a DevOps black belt or never heard about it before, you’ll take loads away from this book by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr and George Spafford.

You can find the book in paperback and audiobook format here: https://amzn.to/4cR37U2

The Unicorn Project

The long awaited sequel to The Phoenix Project, where we are re-introduced to some familiar characters like Bill as we catch up on events following the team successes at Parts Unlimited.

In the story we follow Maxine, a senior lead developer and architect, as she is exiled to the Phoenix Project, to the horror of her friends and colleagues, as punishment for contributing to a payroll outage. She tries to survive in what feels like a heartless and uncaring bureaucracy and to work within a system where no one can get anything done without endless committees, paperwork, and approvals.

One day, she is approached by a ragtag bunch of misfits who say they want to overthrow the existing order, to liberate developers, to bring joy back to technology work, and to enable the business to win in a time of digital disruption. To her surprise, she finds herself drawn ever further into this movement, eventually becoming one of the leaders of the Rebellion, which puts her in the crosshairs of some familiar and very dangerous enemies.

The Age of Software is here, and another mass extinction event looms – this is a story about rebel developers and business leaders working together, racing against time to innovate, survive, and thrive in a time of unprecedented uncertainty… and opportunity.

You can find the book in paperback and audiobook format here: https://amzn.to/3We7W2M

The Technology Fallacy

Digital technologies are disrupting organisations of every size and shape, leaving managers scrambling to find a technology fix that will help their organisations compete. This book offers managers and business leaders a guide for surviving digital disruptions – but it is not a book about technology. It is about the organisational changes required to harness the power of technology.

The authors argue that digital disruption is primarily about people and that effective digital transformation involves changes to organisational dynamics and how work gets done. A focus only on selecting and implementing the right digital technologies is not likely to lead to success. The best way to respond to digital disruption is by changing the company culture to be more agile, risk tolerant, and experimental.

The authors draw on four years of research, conducted in partnership with MIT Sloan Management Review and Deloitte, surveying more than 16,000 people and conducting interviews with managers at such companies as Walmart, Google, and Salesforce. They introduce the concept of digital maturity – the ability to take advantage of opportunities offered by the new technology – and address the specifics of digital transformation, including cultivating a digital environment, enabling intentional collaboration, and fostering an experimental mindset.

You can find the book in paperback and audiobook format here: https://amzn.to/3yb2O7z

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