我非常喜歡 Richard Whitehead 的這本《Leading a Software Development Team》，書中教導如何有效地管理一個軟體團隊，內容相當地有趣及易懂。在軟體業界，許多人往往是因為優異的技術能力被提升為主管，完全沒有管理經驗的人往往會適應不良，便萌生“還是單純地搞技術比較輕鬆 ”這種想法，而這本書就是這些菜鳥主管的救星啦。整本書以一問一答的方式來組織，瞧瞧下列的這幾個是不是一直困擾你很久的問題：

    1. I’ve just been made team leader of a new project. Where do I start?
    1. I have to interview a job applicant. How do I go about it?
    1. How do I earn the respect of my team?
    1. How can I get a good job done when our procedures are so bad?
    1. When should I let someone do a thing their own way, and when should I make them do it my way?
    1. The customer keeps asking for changes and improvements. Can I really say “no”?
    1. My boss is useless. How can I put up with this?
    1. I have to take a decision, and it involves taking a significant risk. How can I decide whether to take the risk?
    1. Is “analysis” really necessary, or can I go straight into design?
    1. The design of my project is in a mess. The architecture needs restructuring, but there no time to do it. What should I do?

一開始我還懷疑 Richard 對於這些問題是否能提出『實用』而『具體』的建議，看了之後便覺得他真的有兩把刷子。有人把 programmer 形容為高傲的貓 - 孤僻而不善群，要帶領一群脾氣古怪的貓的確需要一些技巧。如果你覺得 Steve McConnell 的 《Rapid Development》太沉重，那就試試看這本書吧。