Ron Lichty: "Fixing a Hole"
This Week's Guest: Ron Lichty
About this episode
Ron Lichty is a farm boy from Iowa who came to Silicon Valley and made a seismic impact on the tech world. In this episode, he relates his first programming experience when young, and his time with Apple, where he helped direct development of the game-changing Apple Macintosh computer.
Ron talks about his experiences within the software community and how he came to focus on the importance of good team management. His long career as a team and product manager fueled his views on software team dynamics and community development. We discuss the evolution of software development processes—from his early experiences with waterfall methodology to his current role as an Agile thought leader.
You will feel Ron’s natural curiosity and drive throughout our visit, which he sums up with the adage: “Be a lifelong learner. Be curious!”
Show Notes
ARTICLES AND BOOKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Ron’s book: Managing the Unmanageable: Rules, Tools, and Insights for Managing Software People and Teams, published by Addison Wesley
132 Ways to Earn a Living Without Working (For Someone Else), by Ed Rosenthal and Ron Lichty
The periodic Study of Product Team Performance, an endeavor that continuously improves our understanding of why some product teams excel while others struggle.
"Joy, Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love" by Richard Sheridan (Amazon)
About Google’s Project Aristotle: From The New York Times Magazine “What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team” Feb. 25, 2016
More About Ron Lichty
Consulting VP Engineering, Ron Lichty Consulting, Inc.
Ron Lichty has been managing and consulting in managing software development and product organizations for 30 years at companies of all sizes. The primary focus of his consulting practice, the last six years, has mirrored what he did as a manager: making software development hum. Ron’s book, Managing the Unmanageable: Rules, Tools, and Insights for Managing Software People and Teams, published by Addison Wesley, has been compared by many readers to programming classics The Mythical Man-Month and Peopleware. His Live Lessons: Managing Software People and Teams video training is available via O’Reilly’s Safari Bookshelf. Ron also co-authors the periodic Study of Product Team Performance.
