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Reviewer: John J. Hirschfelder

The first edition of Peopleware, published in 1987 [1], quickly became one of the classics of the software development management literature. In it, the authors discussed the sociological aspects of software development, concentrating on team building and the impact of the work environment. The book is a collection of essays and anecdotes, based heavily on the authors' experience. It was a joy to read, and should have been required reading of anyone in software development management. In the current edition, the authors have left the original content intact. They write that after ten years, they “found only one instance of a new work practice that forced [them] to revisit the conclusions of the original edition,” that being voice mail. In addition to the original content, a new group of chapters, collectively called “Son of Peopleware,” has been added. The original material is organized in four parts. Part 1 is a general introduction to the sociology of the work environment, including differences between development and production environments, the effects of workaholism, the relationship of quality to cost, and the applicability of Parkinson's Law. Part 2 discusses the relationship to productivity of such factors as noise, frequency of interruptions, structure of office phone systems (with new observations on voice mail and email), and floor space and work surface per employee. Part 3 treats hiring practices and the cost of employee turnover. Part 4 considers sociological factors that affect the performance of project teams. In the new “Son of Peopleware” section, the authors attack a variety of sacred cows that they hold to be inimical to team building and productivity, including motivational posters, annual salary reviews, management by objectives, competitions, awards, and prizes. They offer a very cautious appraisal of the Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model, warning that advancing to level N+1 can become an end in itself, without benefit to the organization or the customer, and that it discourages creativity and risk-taking. They also discuss the difficulty of implementing change, the importance of investing in people, the consequence of high turnover, and the futility of artificial and impossible deadlines. The light and humorous style of the original is preserved in the new section. Twelve years after the publication of the first edition, the lessons presented remain as valid as at the time of original publication, attesting to the fact that, in general, managers do not read books about management (or at least do not learn from them).