The Psychology of Software Teams Book Club Guide
Who it's for
Absolutely anyone interested in the psychology of software teams. You don't need to be a developer, leader, IC, or a professional in the devex space to use the guide. It can be used in a group discussion, a team reflection, as an offsite exercise, or simply as individual reflection. I've also used it to lead post-talk discussion groups at conferences!
I wrote a book club guide to accompany The Psychology of Software Teams because I wanted to give people a little more scaffolding to help them think about putting psychology into practice in their communities and workplaces.
So far, I've heard that folks have run book club discussions on small teams, asynchronously as slack threads, and even as a read-along in a discord chat! If you find a creative use for the guide please let me know because these are delightful to hear about.
What's inside
- A section for each of the book's seven chapters, plus facilitation guidance to help you run a book club or enjoy a reflection exercise by yourself as a reader. For each section you will see discussion questions, facilitator notes, and try-it prompts (deliberate practice ideas which I designed based on my experience with brief psychological interventions that help people....as covered in the book!)
- Big-picture discussion questions and further reading, including a topic-matched suggestion of talks, papers, and other artifacts beyond the book to dig into for deeper learning
Running this with your team?
I am glad to visit book clubs and technical communities that are using this guide for a short virtual Q&A when my schedule allows. If your group would like me to join a session, reach out through drcathicks.com.
If your team wants a deeper engagement on the psychology of software teams, such as guided facilitation in an intervention or measurement design that helps you put the ideas in the book into practice at scale, reach out to Catharsis.
Cat Hicks
Member discussion