I’ve just read a classic. Mark my words - we will mention, refer to and hear a lot about Mark Schwartz great book “A seat at the table”.
It’s an amazing book - you have to read it.
This book is written in a laid-back, funny and content-packed format and contains useful information for any leader in a modern IT-organisation. I have throughout the book been screaming out loud “YES!”, “Exactly that!” or “Where were you when I was in the meeting last week?!” from the well explained and laid our arguments that Mark presents.
The book talks a lot about how the CIO role changes as lean and agile practices are adopted. Practices like DevOps, autonomous squads or automated testing all comes with a change in mindset and culture and this of course needs to be adjusted for in how IT leaders lead their organsiations. I particulary liked the part that made analogies with the open source culture and that of a modern, agile IT organisation.
What I think would be most useful for anyone that tries to change their organisation is that the book is written in a language so that other in the senior leadership (already seated at the table, as it were) easily can understand it. This is a book I can give away as an introduction. I have already recommended the book to more than 15 people, the leadership at my current client will start a book cirlce on the book next week.
When I read books I underline noteworthy quotes, things I want to look up again etc. If it’s very good I also fold the corner of the book, so that I can pull the book out and point to it in a single motion. I’ve attached a picture how my book look now, after reading it for the first (!) time. This should be proof enough for how much I enjoyed the book.
Thank you Mark! This was a great book. Looking forward to read your other things too.