Debugging Teams: Better Productivity through Collaboration

In the course of their 20+-year engineering careers, authors Brian Fitzpatrick and Ben Collins-Sussman have picked up a treasure trove of wisdom and anecdotes about how successful teams work together. Their conclusion? Even among people who have spent decades learning the technical side of their jobs, most haven’t really focused on the human component. Learning to collaborate is just as important to success. If you invest in the “soft skills” of your job, you can have a much greater impact for the same amount of effort.

The authors share their insights on how to lead a team effectively, navigate an organization, and build a healthy relationship with the users of your software. This is valuable information from two respected software engineers whose popular series of talks—including “Working with Poisonous People”—has attracted hundreds of thousands of followers.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. The Myth of the Genius Programmer
Chapter 2. Building an Awesome Team Culture
Chapter 3. Every Boat Needs a Captain
Chapter 4. Dealing with Poisonous People
Chapter 5. The Art of Organizational Manipulation
Chapter 6. Users Are People, Too
Appendix A. Epilogue
Appendix B. Further Reading