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5th out of 74 books
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Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency
by
Tom DeMarco
If your company’s goal is to become fast, responsive, and agile, more efficiency is not the answer--you need more slack.
Why is it that today’s superefficient organizations are ailing? Tom DeMarco, a leading management consultant to both Fortune 500 and up-and-coming companies, reveals a counterintuitive principle that explains why efficiency efforts can slow a company down...more
Why is it that today’s superefficient organizations are ailing? Tom DeMarco, a leading management consultant to both Fortune 500 and up-and-coming companies, reveals a counterintuitive principle that explains why efficiency efforts can slow a company down...more
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
April 9th 2002
by Broadway
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Having read DeMarco's classic on managing software professionals, Peopleware, quite some time ago, it was with eagerness that I dove into Slack.
DeMarco highlights some of the challenges that most software companies face--aggressive schedules, expected overtime, change management, motivating employees, and risk management, among others. He effectively describes the types of scenarios that lead to problems in each area, but does not provide as many solutions as I would have liked....more
DeMarco highlights some of the challenges that most software companies face--aggressive schedules, expected overtime, change management, motivating employees, and risk management, among others. He effectively describes the types of scenarios that lead to problems in each area, but does not provide as many solutions as I would have liked....more
Große Wahrheit abseits der Theorie
Tom DeMarco beschreibt in diesem Buch Erkenntnisse die so kaum den Eingang in die Organisationstheorie finden werden. Umso mehr müssen diese Einsichten in die betriebliche Realität einziehen.
Er beschreibt wie die (Projekt-)Organisation aufgrund des Bestrebens immer effizienter zu werden die Effektivität verliert. Er zeigt Auswege aus dem Schlamassel und fordert mehr Freiräume für die Wissensarbeiter. Immer wieder (selbst bei Beratern) tr...more
Tom DeMarco beschreibt in diesem Buch Erkenntnisse die so kaum den Eingang in die Organisationstheorie finden werden. Umso mehr müssen diese Einsichten in die betriebliche Realität einziehen.
Er beschreibt wie die (Projekt-)Organisation aufgrund des Bestrebens immer effizienter zu werden die Effektivität verliert. Er zeigt Auswege aus dem Schlamassel und fordert mehr Freiräume für die Wissensarbeiter. Immer wieder (selbst bei Beratern) tr...more
This was a very quick read and preached a little to this choir. I'd always had a suspicion that the "everything's got to be faster, more efficient" mentality was at odds with the idea of innovating or producing quality strides, and this book simplly confirmed those suspicions. Though DeMarco tries to quantify the trade-off between efficiency and quality, he can only use his empirical experience as a manager and efficiency consultant. He makes some illustrative charts and graphs, but th...more
A solid manifesto against the "lean", highly trimmed, insanely efficient,constantly running full tilt (or more) company.
As someone who comes from the start up world, I resembled Mr DeMarco's don't look back and "plan for success" mantras that lead to late code, burned out developers and non-agile (risk blind) development. I've also seen how agile is misused - so that "Agile" means 100% engaged, damn the torpedoes and go full steam ahead. I've also seen ...more
As someone who comes from the start up world, I resembled Mr DeMarco's don't look back and "plan for success" mantras that lead to late code, burned out developers and non-agile (risk blind) development. I've also seen how agile is misused - so that "Agile" means 100% engaged, damn the torpedoes and go full steam ahead. I've also seen ...more
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This book goes way beyond its title: Slack is not just about the myth that working at 100% capacity is effective. In fact, I think "Slack" was just an excuse to tie together a raft of ideas. Other key topics are: systems thinking, communication, leadership, fear in organisations, flawed project management accounting, organisational learning, ineffective processes, empowerment, scheduling, trust, change, risk management, and the observation that in the modern world, no organisation c...more
The author of Peopleware has made another masterpiece.
As a sysadmin, do you try to make your server's CPU to run 100% all the time? No. As a traffic designer, do you hope that all the highways are fully utilized? No. As a development manager, do you hope that all your workers are 100% utilized? YES! Now wait a minute.. why a different answer?
Indeed. It's the illusion of total efficiency, that's known to be an illusion on all other areas except people management. Read this if yo...more
As a sysadmin, do you try to make your server's CPU to run 100% all the time? No. As a traffic designer, do you hope that all the highways are fully utilized? No. As a development manager, do you hope that all your workers are 100% utilized? YES! Now wait a minute.. why a different answer?
Indeed. It's the illusion of total efficiency, that's known to be an illusion on all other areas except people management. Read this if yo...more
An excellent read countering popular notions that performing knowledge work correctly equates working at a breakneck pace. Instead, the author suggests it is beneficial to build in "slack" or free time to ensure that knowledge workers do not work at 100% efficiency.
The first section starts by showing how knowledge work is not like manufacturing. First, it is not easy to measure efficiency in knowledge work. This makes it difficult to measure the diminishing returns fro...more
The first section starts by showing how knowledge work is not like manufacturing. First, it is not easy to measure efficiency in knowledge work. This makes it difficult to measure the diminishing returns fro...more
I re-read this book periodically to re-learn some of the many lessons in it. DeMarco says a lot about "the white space" in your organization and Slack was one of the books I quoted from in my presentation earlier this year on Managing in the White Space of your Organization. He writes about being a leader, what this really means and what it doesn't mean. He writes about efficiency and effectiveness and how it is easy to have one or the other and very difficult (but ideal) to have bot...more
Meh.
I'm sure this is full of really useful information for people unfamiliar with it, but after having read Drive by Dan Pink, as well as having witnessed leadership in the military and warzones, this kind of fell flat for me.
Most of the advice and information felt like common sense to me, so maybe it's valuable to another demographic, I don't know. If there are people that look at this and think their entire management style has been wrong, I sure hope they figure it out...more
I'm sure this is full of really useful information for people unfamiliar with it, but after having read Drive by Dan Pink, as well as having witnessed leadership in the military and warzones, this kind of fell flat for me.
Most of the advice and information felt like common sense to me, so maybe it's valuable to another demographic, I don't know. If there are people that look at this and think their entire management style has been wrong, I sure hope they figure it out...more
Eric
marked it as to-read
Eh, I dunno.
I guess the book says the kinds of thing I want to hear: efficiency is good but not everything, squeezing an org for efficiency, trimming the fat etc is a way of shooting yourself in the foot, people need to have room to be creative, look-at-the-bigger-picture, Hurry Up is a stupid message.
The language is easy, it's not particularly dense or hard.
But somehow it failed to make a particular impression on me, didn't really leave me with a sense of a...more
I guess the book says the kinds of thing I want to hear: efficiency is good but not everything, squeezing an org for efficiency, trimming the fat etc is a way of shooting yourself in the foot, people need to have room to be creative, look-at-the-bigger-picture, Hurry Up is a stupid message.
The language is easy, it's not particularly dense or hard.
But somehow it failed to make a particular impression on me, didn't really leave me with a sense of a...more
Great stuff. Easy to read. Fits very well into my view that focusing on everything leaves you focusing on nothing.
http://blog.jackvinson.com/archives/2011...
http://blog.jackvinson.com/archives/2011...
Viele sinnvolle Vorschläge - allerdings hatte ich das Gefühl, dass es reichlich aus anderen Büchern zusammenkopiert wurde, um das Buch zu "vervollständigen".
This was an excellent read, especially after reading Orbiting the Giant Hairball. There were so many great quotes and sections that made me think about my own management style. A must have if you are a worker, manager, middle manager, or above.
Jeff Youngstrom
added it
Read everything Tom DeMarco writes. Everything.
A quick, but powerful read. Tails off a little towards then end - I felt the section on risk management could have been dropped. However, really makes you question the value of some common wisdom around the practice of process improvement, efficiency and quality.
A good antidote to the prevailing management groupthink; we should question the value of this stuff rather than accepting it blindly. This is a book that will make you think a little harder about decisions you make based on acc...more
A good antidote to the prevailing management groupthink; we should question the value of this stuff rather than accepting it blindly. This is a book that will make you think a little harder about decisions you make based on acc...more
I just finished Slack again. What an amazing book. It talks about risk planning and management, and making sure workers have time to solve problems and innovate. I find myself quoting it from time to time without even realizing it until later.
Wendy
rated it
Recommends it for:
managers and would-be managers of knowledge workers
Shelves:
manager-fu
This book collects a bunch of short, bite-sized observations on management in hi-tech companies. It's particularly good at identifying stupid things that well-meaning managers tend to do and how to avoid doing them.
I had to write a book report on this book for work. I didn't love the book. I thought the basic idea was good, but much of the book didn't seem to relate. It was difficult to read.
Good ideas, vaguely described. The number one concept I got from this book was "Organizational Optimization reduces the capacity to change." Find some slack!
"Slack allows for change, encourages creativity, promotes quality, and above all produces growth".
I really agree with the first half... But risk management stuff seems quite old to me.
Daved Shae
is currently reading it
Karina
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Michael Burjack
marked it as to-read
Sam
marked it as to-read
Anna Piranha
marked it as to-read
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