Book Image

The Successful Software Manager

By : Herman Fung
Book Image

The Successful Software Manager

By: Herman Fung

Overview of this book

The Successful Software Manager is a comprehensive and practical guide to managing software developers, software customers, and the process of deciding what software needs to be built. It explains in detail how to develop a management mindset, lead a high-performing developer team, and meet all the expectations of a good manager. The book will help you whether you’ve chosen to pursue a career in management or have been asked to "act up" as a manager. Whether you’re a Development Manager, Product Manager, Team Leader, Solution Architect, or IT Director, this is your indispensable guide to all aspects of running your team and working within an organization and dealing with colleagues, customers, potential customers, and technologists, to ensure you build the product your organization needs. This book is the must-have authoritative guide to managing projects, managing people, and preparing yourself to be an effective manager. The intuitive real-life examples will act as a desk companion for any day-to-day challenge, and beyond that, Herman will show you how to prepare for the next stages and how to achieve career success.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
Title Page

Not all motivation is born equal

Research shows that when a task is simple, meaning it doesn't require imagination or complex problem-solving, we can give monetary incentives to increase performance – that is, to increase the quantity of the output. For example, a worker in an assembly line can be paid by the number of parts they assemble instead of per hour of work. As a result, they will feel motivated to increase the number of parts assembled. This type of motivation is what we call extrinsic – coming from the outside – and is the most widely used type of motivation (for example, in the form of bonuses or disciplinary punishment).

Problematically, when a task is about quality instead of only quantity, and when it requires imagination or figuring out complex stuff, simple monetary incentives don't work very well. In fact, several controlled experiments...