It’s a bunch of blog article length chapters on how to run a small, nimble organization.

Basically, you’re better off that you’re little. Use all the advantages being small gives you. Don’t slit your throat trying to “grow up.”

It was good, but not terrific.

great book. it would change your mind

Great book. It's almost a "light" version of Linchpin, but by no means is it a lesser book. It's much more conversational. Sometimes it's useful to get much the same information in a different format. The way it is written makes it a breeze to read, creating the feeling that you're listening to the authors over a long dinner and just soaking in what they have to say about business and entrepreneurship.

The illustrations by Mike Rhode really made the book engaging, although the inconsistency of which side of the spread the illustrations fell confused me a little.

Later on this week on my blog I will post highlights of the parts that really stood out for me as an artist.

Loved this book. It's all about how the old way of starting, running, managing, etc. a business needs to be reworked. Each section is about two pages long, gets right to the point, and makes sense. The authors use their success and examples from other successful entrepreneurs to point out what the reworks are. I highly recommend this book.

This book surprised me, in a good way. The style is blog-like, such that there are maybe 40 2-page "ideas". Often I prefer books that have fewer ideas that are examined in greater depth.

But by the time I finished (it's a short read), it was easily worth it for the maybe 5 of those ideas that I found intriguing and useful. Since I'm no stranger to this genre at this point, some of it I had heard before, but that is no reason not to recommend this. A quick, well-written book with useful ideas, especially for those corporate types.

Author is whining a lot. The book would be good, if it was 2 times shorter. At least.

Very short and easy to digest. Isn't going to cause a radical shift in your thinking or your work, but will provide you with a healthy dose of inspiration and fresh perspective.

Listened to in on Audiobook

I'm not really one for business books, but I was really drawn to this one by some of the claims on the back.

The author's aren't really claiming anything revolutionary, but in the fine tradition of David Allen, Fred Brooks, and Strunk/White it succinctly lists principles to strive for and the rationale behind them. It also does it in a very straightforward (and slightly abrasive) manner.

I don't think the book is a bible, and I suspect that a successful company would find that a dogmatic adherence would eventually be counter-productive. I imagine that this book lays out a great mindset for someone starting out their own business, though.

As an engineer, this book's appeal is that it both lays out some insight into the _business_ of software development and why I should invest some care into that aspect of my employment. It also provides some business rationale for arguments I mostly just thought about in terms of maximizing productivity, which I suspect provides for better effective ammo when it is the business types I need to convince.