The date is set for my first e-Book “Risk Management Crash Course”
I’ve been working on my first book over the quarantine and I’m giving it away for free.
While the on-and-off quarantine has not exactly been ideal for people’s mental well-being (mine included), I’ve been trying to make productive use of my time recently by attempting to do things that I’ve always wanted to do. Writing a book is one of those things.
Now I’m happy to announce the release date of my first e-book, which I call Risk Management Crash Course, on August 14th. The book talks about uncertainty in the software development business and how we can better deal with it, both as managers and as individual contributors. None of the information is really new and what I share is all founded on fundamental risk concepts. However, I hope telling stories, both fictional and from my own experiences, help structure the theory into practical steps you can try for yourself.
In addition, these are very strange times indeed and I wouldn’t miss the chance to talk about the current situation we’re facing, which I consider one huge case study in risk management. There are sections in the book called Lessons from the Pandemic where I muse on how things are right now and what we can learn from it.
Here are a few excerpts from the book.
On uncertainty and risks:
Planning is something people, managers included, may love or hate doing. But even those who love to plan often fall into a trap — they fall in love with the plan to the point of sometimes being blinded to what could go wrong.
Uncertainty is a fact of life, but it’s something we often don’t pay enough regard to. Most people just don’t want to deal with it and it’s no surprise why. Things would be so much simpler and a lot less stressful if there was one clear path we could take to success. Experienced managers, however, know that this just doesn’t fit the reality of things. No matter how much we plan, we can only hope to come to a close enough guess.
On how risk factors into an agile process model:
It’s easy to fall into this trap of zeroing in on immediate “progress” when working agile. Some might even say it’s an intrinsic pitfall of the model, but the opposite is actually true. I believe an important principle of being agile is the ability to foresee a sufficient level into the future to be able to realistically shape your next steps.
While agile does encourage small wins, it’s also about reducing risks — even those that might be some ways out in the roadmap. It’s so easy to fall in love with progress, even the artificial kind.
On why we take risks:
“Before we actually dive into a project, we’re mostly just guessing how much benefit we can get from it (opportunity) and how much it might cost us in the long run (risks). If the opportunity outweighs the risk, we go for it. It’s not a guaranteed win by any means. If you’re willing to believe in the good things the change can bring, you have to also believe in the potential costs and prepare accordingly.”
I’m super excited to share this book with you and I’m giving it away for free to subscribers in my mailing list. If you’re interested in getting your copy, please follow this link to read more about it and find out how you can subscribe.
Also, I’d love to hear what you think about it as well so do leave me a note if there are certain topics you’d like to hear more about or if certain parts of the book don’t make a lot of sense. Any feedback will help me do better!
