What a great hands-on guide to management, particularly in IT. Breaks it down to a great level of granularity to know how to get started and be consistent. I'm sad this book isn't printed anymore, I still find it extremely relevant.

I used to read Johanna Rothman's stuff when she was the contributing editor of Software Development magazine. One day that magazine disappeared from the bookstore and I learned that Byte Magazine had gobbled it up. Johanna Rothman became a stringer for whomever would buy her articles and wrote a couple of books to use up all her suddenly imposed spare time. It seems to me that this is a metaphor for what happens to so many software development teams, products, and managers: the forces of capitalism have their own financial logic and bulldoze all other considerations into the weeds. There is no guarantee that the strategy will work or that things will get better. Often the result is a disaster.

This book is a useful reference for SDMs and represents thinking on best-practice at the time. Published in 2005, it pre-dates Agile, RUP, iPhones, tablets and microISVs. These days a developer can sit at home, develop an app on his PC, and submit it to an appStore for people to buy. Much in the same way that Johanna Rothman can write a book. This book was published just before a decade of enormous change in the software development field, which somewhat dates it.

On a personal note, I have lost patience with all this teamy-weamy, motivational stuff: It is just a way of making the job of a developer harder so that bad men at the top of the corporation can get their huge bonuses, expenses and promotions. As such, hypocritical and dis-empowering. Sigh.

Good overview of what it takes to be a great manager. The story format is nice and makes for an easier read than just a list of rules, and it also provides some concrete examples on how to approach various challenges in the life of a manager. I gave it a medium score because, while interesting, it didn't give me anything I hadn't already read about elsewhere. If you're new to the topic though, you can consider the score one point higher

Short and useful. A fictional narrative is used as backdrop to teach some basic management skills. Sound values and principles underpins the concrete advice and tools presented. Recommended.

So many good things in this short and easy to read book. Wish I had read it sooner, because I was mediocre.

Interesting book on techniques for IT group management. I doubt I work in management again, but I see ways to use techniques to improve my responses when dealing with managers. There are a lot of good suggestions and a wealth of references to other books and materials in the book.

It is the best book about management I've read so far. Doesn't matter whether you are experienced manager or have just stepped on your first management position, you will benefit from reading it.

Easy read, basic and mostly good and great practices, definitely recommended for the middle management in larger and with some caveats smaller organisations.

Behind Closed Doors is one of those books that have a terrible title and great content. I would have never picked it up myself, but a trusted colleague of mine recommended it and it was surely worth it!

The author attempts a Phoenix Project novel type thing but then also adds non fiction to it so the flow feels off. It’s also written in 2005 so it’s very “physical”. Managing by walking around and using flip charts no longer makes much sense in a fully distributed world, but that was the context back then. And that’s about the only bad thing I have to say about the book!
It has so much knowledge about management that I found myself emailing me parts for review and highlighting way too much.
I already lined up a few others from her to carry on reading.
Definitely worthwhile!

Good read. If you are new manager at job-this book will definitely help you.

Fast read packed with information. This book is a mix of a fictional story of a manager and practical tips for implementing ideas. Very good information for a software development manager. Excellent bibliography for further reading.

A really quick read. The agile bias of the authors shows when they limit planning to 3-4 weeks, or put emphasis on people rather than process.

More than two years later, the only thing that really stuck to my mind is that one-on-one meetings with managers should be more about career development than status reporting.