5 Books to Spark Fresh Ideas in Software
A significant part of remaining relevant in the software industry is keeping up with development and testing trends. But organizations don’t always have a big training budget, so sometimes it falls to us to manage our own continuing education.
Luckily, that can be as easy as discovering fresh ideas in a new book. Here are five books you should check out to expand your software mindset.
1. Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon
Creativity is not all about genius but also about getting seen. New York Times bestselling author Kleon explains how to be open, generous, brave, and productive in using your network to explore, implement, and promote your creativity. You don’t have to be a lone genius when there are other artists, writers, makers, and creative entrepreneurs who are willing to join you.
2. Creative Trespassing by Tania Katan
Katan spent more than a decade disrupting the business world with her creativity. Here, she illustrates how you can turn any task or job—yes, even one in a cubicle—into a creative one. A world-class rebel, Katan outlines a set of rules just so you can break them. This book is all about defying conformity and imagining new ways to let your creativity run wild.
3. Humans Are Underrated by Geoff Colvin
Artificial intelligence continues to seep into our everyday lives, so much so that some of us don’t even realize it. But will AI eventually take over the world as we know it? Colvin explains that as AI becomes more and more ingrained in our society, skills like empathy, creativity, social sensitivity, humor, and relationship-building will become more and more essential. And, unlike AI, humans are wired to be good at those exact skills.
4. What to Do When Machines Do Everything by Malcolm Frank, Paul Roehrig, and Ben Pring
We live in a digital world, and every day the technology we use gets better, faster, and stronger. This book explains how today’s business leaders will either need to embrace the imminent technological evolution or be eaten alive by it. To help jump-start your action plan, the authors provide a strategic guide for how to move forward in today’s technologically driven world.
5. Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller
Every company has a story, and how you tell that story helps drive your brand—and, ultimately, the bottom line. Miller argues that customers don’t care about your story, but rather their own. As a business, your job is to help them tell their story, not yours. Miller drafts a seven-step framework to help you craft messages that make your brand inviting to your customers.
I plan on sharing some of my thoughts about these books on Slack once I finish reading them. In the meantime, do you have any books I should add to my reading list?
