Q2 - Johanna Rothman

Q2: Could you tell us a little about each of your books?

• Hiring the Best Knowledge Workers,Techies & Nerds: The Secrets and Science of Hiring Technical People is about how to hire, from developing a hiring strategy to the first day and what to do if you can't find the right person. I wrote it because I've been fortunate enough to hire 100 or so people when I was a manager (and live with them in the organization). I also wrote it because I realized when I did assessments that a lot of the problems I saw in organizations was that nice people were in the wrong jobs.
• Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management I pair-wrote with Esther Derby. We saw managers failing at their jobs--not even completely failing, but missing significant portions of their jobs. If managers don't develop personal and trusting relationships with their staff (and their peers), they can't effectively manage. What a waste. So, we wrote the book.
• Manage It! Your Guide to Modern, Pragmatic Project Management is the book I've been writing for 10 or so years :-) I started writing articles about project management in 1997, and had been teaching project management since the late 80's, so it made sense to finally write the book. It's funny--some people have said, "It's a big book" but I couldn't write it any smaller. I'm very proud of this book, because I didn't include anything I haven't actually done on a project.

My next book is about managing the project portfolio. It turns out that a number of schedule games (I named 15 in Manage It!) arise from not managing the project portfolio, so I decided it was time to tackle that subject. I've been managing the portfolio in organizations and helping managers determine what they need to do as a consultant since the late 80's, so I have a lot of knowledge here too :-)