First, break all the rules
First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman is a management book that challenges traditional workplace practices. It reveals how the world’s best managers break conventional rules by focusing on employees’ strengths, setting clear outcomes, and fostering engagement. Instead of trying to fix weaknesses, great managers create environments where individuals thrive based on their unique talents. The book offers actionable strategies to build high-performing teams by emphasizing strengths over traditional methods of management.
Stats for nerds
27recommend
58mentions
34people
2007–2025years
72% recommend28% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- It is. I've been trying to offer tips on how it works in my comments in this discussion.
If you want some personal books for yourself, try Meditations (by Marcus Aurelius), The Gentle Art of Not Giving a F_ck, and Atomic Habits. If you want some management books to help with your team, try Peopleware (a classic), First, Break All The Rules (much better than the title suggests), and Tribal Leadership.
- I like the book “first break all the rules.” It gives triage advice for new managers — what to get right first, what to do after that’s been done etc.
- I like books that are actionable. Lots of books are inspirational but not that useful (e.g. crossing the chasm). I run a curriculum in my company which uses a few books I have read over the years.
emyth revisited (how to think about and structure an org)
getting to yes (negotiation)
influence the psychology of persuasion (negotiation)
spin selling (enterprise sales, supplanted by sandler)
You cant teach a kid to ride a bike at a seminar (sandler sales)
5 dysfunctions of a team (one of the best leadership books)
first break all the rules (management)
accounting for dummies
purple cow (differentiation)
blue ocean strategy (differentiation)
traction (strategy/operations)
rocketfuel (strategy/operations)
for professional services:
managing the professional services firm
getting naked
- There is a leadership book called "First Break all the Rules - What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently". It's data driven by a large meta-survey and research project.
One of the conclusions was that, essentially, the normal instinct with Performance Management to focus on improving weaknesses is wrong and leads to sub-optimal outcomes. The best managers actually doubled down on each individuals strengths, and simply accepted weaknesses as something to be smoothed out to the minimally acceptable level. (e.g. someone may not be "good with people", but they can't be openly hostile with co-workers.) Instead the manager would look for another employee which had that weakness as a strength, and manage responsibilities appropriately.
It speaks exactly to what was wrong in OP's experience.
- I have asked my HR and team not to use the family analogy. We are team and support each other as team mates. We do help people when they are sick etc. Ultimately we are trying to achieve a shared goal and I want to company to help people to achieve their personal goals at the same time.
I manage using the book first break all the rules and 5 dysfunctions of a team.
First break all the rules uses these 12 employee sat questions
I know what is expected of me at work.
I have the materials and equipment to do my work right.
At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
There is someone at work who encourages my development.
At work, my opinions seem to count.
The mission/purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.
My associates (fellow employees) are committed to doing quality work.
I have a best friend at work.
In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
In the last year, I have had opportunities to learn and grow.
- "Becoming better" points to the question of what is a good tech leader and how you can evaluate yourself as you make progress on this path. In my experience and according to Google's research in this area (https://rework.withgoogle.com/guides/managers-identify-what-...), there are specific traits to cultivate:
1. Is a good coach / Supports career discussions and discusses performance
"Leader As Coach: Strategies for Coaching & Developing Others" by Mary Dee Hicks and David Peterson. An in-depth, very practical manual on how to coach your reports according to their specific needs and personalities.
"Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High" by Kerry Patterson et al. Helps you prepare and approach difficult conversations with empathy. Especially useful for performance conversations.
2. Creates an inclusive team environment, showing concern for success and well-being
"The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable" by Patrick Lencioni. If there is one book to read about team dynamics, this is the one.
"First, Break All the Rules" by Marcus Buckingham. Slightly more general than the 5 dysfunctions, but with a lot of good content about psychological safety and what makes team work.
3. Has a clear vision & strategy / is a good communicator
"High output management" by Andy Grove. Probably the most famous book on this list. It gives you a good introduction to setting goals, communicating about your team's work inwards and outwards. It also features more "system thinking" than the other books - how everything fits together as organizations scale, which is useful for developing vision and strategy.
I'd also recommend reading biographies and memoirs of famous leaders (e.g. Churchill, Marcus Aurelius). Strategic thinking can be easier to learn through examples and pattern recognition than through abstract / self-help books.
4. Is productive and results-oriented / has key technical skills to advise the team
A lot of new managers over-index on the people management side of the job and forget about the key responsibility of a technical leader: choosing a direction, leading others in this direction and delivering results.
"Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations" by Nicole Forsgren et al. One of the most recent, well-researched books into how to measure the productivity and quality of software teams.
"The Art of Scalability: Scalable Web Architecture, Processes, and Organizations for the Modern Enterprise" by Martin Abbott et al. This book uniquely blends the technical, organizational and people management aspects of technical leadership.
