"Book Review - Little Green Book of Getting Your Way"

Book Review - Little Green Book of Getting Your Way

Little Green Book of Getting Your Way: How to Speak, Write, Present, Persuade, Influence, and Sell Your Point of View to Others

by Jeffrey Gitomer

Hardcover: 220 pages
Publisher: Pearson Publications (May, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN: 0131576070

One of the questions I get most often is how to "sell" testing to management and developers. What people mean is how do you convey the value of software quality to people who are mainly concerned with other things, such as meeting a deadline. How do you persuade people?

As a tester (and especially a test team leader), you also need to be able to influence and persuade others. Basically this boils down to learning how to get your way in ways that do not immediately become apparent to those we are trying to influence. For example, when you want to send people to a software testing course and need to get management approval, you want to persuade others that building skills has value. Or, when the deadline arrives and you know that the software isn't ready to be delivered, you need to convey the risks so that management fully understands them. My favorite point of persuasion is to very convincingly be able to show the value that you and your team bring to your organization.

This book does not address software quality specifically, but it does give you the tools and ideas for you to build your own case persuasively. You will learn how to prepare in advance what you want to present to others. This is a critical first step that many people miss. You will also learn the words to use and when to employ the right methods.

I find this as well as Jeffrey's other books to be very visual and engaging. If you like one of his books, you will likely buy others. I have bought and read most of them and found them very helpful. I highly recommend this and Jeffrey's other "little books" to anyone.

Readability - 5
Coverage of topics - 5
Depth of coverage - 5
Credibility - 5
Accuracy - 5
Relevance to software quality - 5
Overall - 5

Reviewed by Randy Rice

Rice Consulting Services, Inc.
P.O. Box 892003
Oklahoma City, OK 73189
405-691-8075