Six books you should read when working with DevOps

Summer is a great time to catch up on reading, whether you’re at the beach, in a summer house, or cozy at home. If your book backlog is on the short side, don’t worry! We compiled a list of great books for summer reading.

After summer holidays you ought to be relaxed, recharged and full of great ideas. While we wish you a great holiday, we can only really help with the latter. Whether you want light novels or technical tomes, we’ve got you covered with this list of excellent tech books.

The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win

by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford

The Phoenix Project is uncannily familiar to anyone who has worked on an IT project. It’s an entertaining DevOps story that compels us to challenge our circumstances, and let’s us know we are not alone when the struggle is real. It’s a light read, but can be followed up by The DevOps Handbook, a more technical addition to The Phoenix Project.

Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations

by Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble, and Gene Kim

The team behind the State of DevOps report compiled their findings into Accelerate, an essential read for anyone keen on driving change in their tech organization. It details the driving forces behind software delivery performance in a comprehensive way, with the research to back it up.

Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit

by Mary and Tom Poppendieck

Contrary to popular belief, DevOps isn’t something new and shiny. It stems forth from the tried and true practices of the manufacturing industry. Mary and Tom take the practices of Lean and place them in the context of software. They help us dispel the magic and get us back to thinking about our processes and value streams.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable

by Patrick Lencioni

If we are not part of a well-functioning team, no fancy new tool or process can save us. This fable tells the tale of how team dynamics work, and gives us some tools to build stronger teams through trust.

Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions

by John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber

Improving our software development process requires change, and change is hard. Tradition can easily trump competence, even in dire situations. This book outlines a strategy for change management and should be read by anyone hoping to introduce change in an organization.

The Pragmatic Programmer, 20th anniversary edition

by David Thomas and Andrew Hunt

An all time classic book on software, The Pragmatic Programmer launched the idea of craft into the everyday developers identity. Now 20 years on, the book has been revised and updated to include the authors latest advice and anecdotes on how to effectively make software. This book is essential reading for anyone in our profession!