The Software Developer's Career Handbook

Preface

For years, any work related to artificial intelligence or machine learning I’ve called work done by robots. For example, if I’m asking, “Is this list generated by humans or robots?” I’m asking whether machine learning was done to generate this list. I’m distilling a complex ecosystem down to the most basic elements by asking, “Is this work done by humans or robots?”

I like labeling things. It makes the world easier to understand.

The title I chose for my first book was Managing Humans. That book arrived long before the AI fever that gripped the mid-2020s when this book was published but is another example of my predilection of finding a descriptive label. It’s a handy way to say more with fewer words.

This book was originally published as Being Geek, which you will notice is no longer the title. At the time of its writing, 2010, the buzz around nerds and geeks was strong. I did a lot of public speaking, where I was describing the nerd and geek mindset. The idea of swerving away from my leadership roots was an exciting detour.

As I wrote the book, I became increasingly frustrated by the title. Much of my writing is focused on leadership, and as I wrote each next chapter, I was forcing “geek”—somehow, anyhow—in the book. By the time I was finishing the book, I’d fully returned to my leadership roots. I was writing another book on leadership.

This dissonance stuck with me long after its publication. Compared to the first book, my impression was that this book was a dud, but ...