Upgrading My OS For 2019
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on LinkedIn on January 2nd, 2019
In the fast paced world we live in where the only constant you can count on is change, one thing is true, we have to consistently be looking forward, improving our knowledge, and upgrading our skills to the next level.
Although the focus of my career is clearly within the technology and software development space, I'd be doing myself a disservice if all I followed were highly technical software articles, individuals, and advice. While those are definitely heavy in my rotation, I've found that a good understanding of business, design, and even current events and politics is highly advantageous and puts you multiple steps ahead of those that may only look to their technical knowledge and background.
With that in mind, I wanted share some of the top resources, books, newsletters, and podcasts that I've relied on over the past year to make sure my personal OS was in a solid state throughout the year and ready to absorb even more and grow going into 2019.
Newsletters
As many changes as have come to the dissemination of information with the proliferation of Twitter, LinkedIn, etc, the trusty newsletter is still my go-to source when it comes to staying on top of news, technology, and quick hits of information. I follow a healthy amount of newsletters and typically use Pocket to triage stories and links to avoid information overload and to be able to go back and reference information at a later date. Below were some of my favorite go-to newsletters in 2018:
General Technology
MIT Technology Review - The Download
Billed as "What's up in emerging technology", I've found this newsletter from MIT Technology Review to be indispensable when it comes to staying on the pulse of stories across the technology landscape. Everything from NASA missions, to innovative health care technologies, Facebook's issues, and self-driving cars are covered. If it happens in the technology space, this newsletter is where you'll hear about it first.
A weekly newsletter "with all the weird and wonderful" tech news, BizarroDevs focuses on the creations and experiments across the web that are outside the norm. If you're looking for outside-the-box thinking when it comes to interesting web experiments this is the newsletter that will point you to numerous examples and help get your creative thoughts flowing.
Harvard Business Review - Managing Data Science
A limited 8-part series from HBR covering everything from Getting Started with Data Science, Managing Teams, and Building Great Data Products to Setting Up an AI Lab and Curiosity-Driven Data Science. As usual, HBR does a great job showcasing various voices across the industry and this newsletter serves as a great primer for those wanting to get up to speed with Data Science, Machine Learning, and AI.
Management
A weekly email curated by Oren Ellenbogen, VP Engineering at Forter, for "busy people who care about people, culture and leadership", Software Lead Weekly is highly recommended for anyone in a management/leadership role in Software Development and for those that aspire to be.
The Looking Glass - Julie Zhuo
While this newsletter has somewhat taken a backseat while Julie goes about writing and publishing a book it is still one of my favorite resources when it comes to advice on managing design teams.
Harvard Business Review - Management Tip of the Day
You can think of this newsletter from HBR as a curated daily best-of-list of management advice. Pulling from HBR articles past and present it's a good resource for quick hits that often lead to forgotten or previously unread articles.
General Interest & Business
Morning Brew is a newsletter that I didn't subscribe to until about mid-year, but it has been an awesome resource in that short time. The most generalist of all the newsletters I subscribe to, it covers a broad range of topics related to business, Wall Street, politics, and beyond.
A weekly newsletter "at the intersection of tech, design, and culture", Dense Discovery is another newsletter that I started following later in the year but has been great ever since. It is well worth your time.
Farnam Street - Brain Food
The newsletter from the eponymous blog, Farnam Street addresses "such topics as mental models, decision making, learning, reading, and the art of living" and includes very high quality articles from one of the most well-read individuals on the internet, Shane Parrish.
Podcasts
Podcasts have never really been something I've totally been sold on. My 8-minute commute just isn't long enough to warrant the ongoing listening required. But I have dove into a couple this year that I've enjoyed while traveling and on flights.
Crazy / Genius is a podcast from The Atlantic that covers "Big questions and provocative conclusions about technology and culture". Favorite episodes from the first two seasons include: Can Artificial Intelligence Be Smarter Than a Human Being?, Should We Go To Mars?, and Should We Break Up Amazon?, but all of the episodes are interesting and definitely worth a listen.
One I've listened to on-and-off throughout the year, from Guy Raz, host of the TED Radio Hour, How I Built This interviews founders of some of the world's best known companies and "weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built". If you've ever been interesting on the backstory of how various companies got started, this podcast is for you.
Books
While newsletters and podcasts are indispensable for perspective, thought generation, and staying on top of current events inside and outside of my industry, there's obviously no beating books when it comes to in depth coverage of a topic or subject area. The books i've read this year fell into some fairly consistent categories, as I typically look to read multiple sources on a given topic as a deep dive and a way to create a more rounded understanding. Although far from an exhaustive list, here are the top books I read (or re-read in some cases) in 2018 in the areas of AI/Automation, Biographies/Memoirs, Leadership, Innovation, and Design:
Artificial Intelligence & Automation
Prediction Machines: The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence
The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies
Raising the Floor: How a Universal Basic Income Can Renew Our Economy and Rebuild the American Dream
Biographies & Memoirs
Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
Life In Code: A Personal History of Technology
Leadership, Management, & Business
Imagine It Forward: Courage, Creativity, and the Power of Change
Principles: Life and Work
Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager
Innovation
The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
Crossing The Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers
Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation
Design
The Best Interface Is No Interface: The Simple Path to Brilliant Technology
Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days (Re-read)
Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech
Into 2019 and Beyond
While this is just a sliver of the total information absorbed in 2018, it's the basis of what's formed my mindset going into 2019 and has hopefully set up a successful foundation for my OS going into the new year. Here's to more learning, growth, and mindfulness going forward.
