Robert Block

A classic! This book should be required reading for every new engineer, programmer, project manager, or corporate employee. If read and understood early enough in one's career or better yet, during one's education, it may be enough to scare one from entering the corporate work force altogether. :-)

Assuming the book does not scare you into pursuing other careers, you might just come away with some effective tools for understanding, dealing with, and overcoming the real and artificial show more barriers to success that your Next Big Project might be facing. show less

Unbiased, revealing, and detailed view of the failure of governmental agencies in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Other books deal more extensively with the human aspects of the tragedy, but this view of the bureaucratic morass and its consequences is every bit as engrossing and disturbing. A good read.

excellent insight into bureaucracy and federalism (how to get state & national government agencies to work together)