The Soul Of A New Machine

Date

2019/01/27

Description

Amazon Link

Computers have changed since 1981, when The Soul of a New Machine first examined the culture of the computer revolution. What has not changed is the feverish pace of the high-tech industry, the go-for-broke approach to business that has caused so many computer companies to win big (or go belly up), and the cult of pursuing mind-bending technological innovations. The Soul of a New Machine is an essential chapter in the history of the machine that revolutionized the world in the twentieth century.

Takeaways

• Burnout has been in thing in tech since the beginning
• Management seem to have a handbook for creating a sense of urgency
  • Making certain resources scarce
  • Creating scenarios where people compete with each other
  • Setting unrealistic deadlines
• Some of the best engineers end up in management, and sometimes management looks like the role “architect”
  • West appears to have created the high level blueprint and let other engieners fill in the details
  • Engineers filling in the fine grain details feels like “ownership” and “freedom”