Managing Humans, 4th Edition

Just in time for Christmas, I’m happy to announce the 4th Edition of Managing Humans. It appears that four years is the sweet spot for new editions of this book.

The process of getting this edition out the door was the least painful of the four unless you factor in, ya’know, the pandemic. Edition notes:

I broke my streak of hating every single first draft of the cover. I was pretty OK with the latest. I will miss the pencil, but it was time for it to go.

There are 33 more pages and 11 new chapters. 33 might not seem like many pages to you, but those 33 pages changed the feel of the book. The 4th edition crossed a pleasing heft threshold that you will only understand when you hold it in your hand. It’s this weight that is my favorite attribute of this edition.

There’s an epilogue.

I nuked two chapters: The Monday Freakout and Avoiding the Fez. They did not stand the test of time.

My favorite new chapter is The Metronome. You can read it here right now.

There was another deep cleansing edit to correct errors, modernize, and acknowledge the multi-year pandemic vastly affecting how we lead. There are also several pandemic-inspired new chapters.

The glossary remains my favorite bit of the book. It, too, has been edited, modernized, and pandemic-enabled.

The promotion website is kind’a janky, but I love it. It’s up to date.

In publishing four editions of this book, I have not met a single human in person who is responsible for its publication. Really.

Covers quotes have returned, and I’m deeply thankful to John Gruber and John Dickerson to the two thoughtful quotes for the cover.

O’Reilly and I are in the process of rebooting Being Geek. That’ll land next year.

Again, thanks to all of you who continue to appreciate Managing Humans. You are the only reason there is the fourth edition.