Far Reach Core Value #6 (#FRCV6) is “Learn and Grow,” which means we’re always reading and listening to
sources that help improve our skills, our processes, or ourselves. There are endless resources out there about software development, scrum, company culture, and leadership, so we compiled our favorites to share with you.
Blogs
With fresh content every day, week, or month, blogs keep us in the loop on what’s happening with the companies, industries, and people we care about. Here are some of our favorites:
Seth’s Blog – Several Far Reach team members read Seth Godin’s daily blog for short but powerful posts that provide inspiration,
motivation, and revelations.
Keywords: Leadership, Innovation, Strategy, Marketing
Mountain Goat Software Blog – Scrum and agile resources, tips, and tricks from Mike Cohn, an experienced agile
implementer and trainer.
Keywords: Scrum, Agile, Software
Heleo – Heleo strips away the clutter to focus on insights and stories from minds like Simon Sinek, Dr. Mark Hyman, and Daniel Pink.
Keywords: Leadership, Culture, Happiness
Far Reach Blog – We’d be remiss if we didn’t include our own blog on our list of favorites. If you’re
not already subscribed, you can do so here.
Keywords: Software, Leadership, Culture, Scrum
Books & Audiobooks
We love books. We love them so much we have a book club: Far Reads. Call us nerds, but we have made some of the biggest positive changes in the way we work as a result of reading these books.
Far Reads Book Club Books – Read summaries and reviews of
the books we’ve read since starting our team book club in 2015.
Patrick Lencioni Books – We’ve read two Lencioni books for Far Reads;
we recommend those and other books of his:
- Getting Naked: One of our first Far Reads books, Getting Naked uses storytelling to show how important transparency and vulnerability are to a team.
- The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: The five core things teams need to overcome to be most successful.
- Death by Meeting: A framework for making often-dreaded work meetings engaging and productive.
- The Advantage: Lencioni combines insights from his previous books into one high-impact read that can benefit any business leader.
Seth Godin Books – Tribes was one of our early Far Reads picks, but you can’t go wrong with any of Godin’s
books, including:
Simon Sinek Books – Since hearing his 2009 TED Talk on the golden circle, we’ve been big fans of
Simon Sinek. You can’t go wrong with any of his books, but our favorites include:
- Leaders Eat Last: A guide for leaders who aspire to inspire their teams.
- Start with Why: The most successful organizations, with the most engaged team members, know why they exist.
Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck – Pardon the language, but this book is all about figuring out what really matters to you, going all-in on those things,
and not letting the unimportant stuff in life bring you down.
Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality – Go beyond the traditional connotation of integrity to learn how working toward full, unadulterated
authenticity makes you a better leader and person.
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us – The traditional corporate structure uses fiduciary and other extrinsic rewards for motivation.
However, the intrinsic motivators have proven to be more powerful.
The War of Art – What stops us from unleashing our inner creativity? And how do we overcome fear of failure and work toward becoming our best selves?
Steven Pressfield gives some tough love in this short, powerful read.
Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity – In this book, Kim Scott takes “honesty is the best policy” to a whole
new level and discusses how an open and honest (#FRCV3) environment fosters success.
The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere – Stop. Unplug. Think. Pico Iyer reveals the benefits of turning off your phone, email, and social
media, and just being still.
The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work – Winner of “longest title ever,”
this book flips the script: Happiness isn’t the outcome, but the input. Being happy leads to success, not the other way around.
Value Proposition Design – If you know us, you’ll know we’re big fans of the Value Proposition Canvas. This book walks through the process of using the canvas for idea validation for businesses and organizations of all sizes and at all stages.
Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship – Robert C. Martin walks through how to avoid technical debt by building software using clean
code.
Podcasts
Podcasts are a convenient, on-demand method of learning and hearing stories. Far Reach team members like to listen while we’re working out, walking, and driving. Here are a few of our favorites.
TED Radio Hour – A joint effort between NPR and TED, this podcast combines TED talks into themed episodes with interviews, snippets
from TED Talks, and additional commentary.
On Being – This weekly podcast looks at the big questions on life, love, happiness, and more.
Masters of Scale – Company founders—including the host, Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder—talk about how and why companies grow and
scale.
Hidden Brain – If you’re curious, like we are, about why people do what they do, this podcast is for you.
Accidental Creative – Either you’re creative or you’re not, right? This podcast says that’s wrong. Contrary
to the name, this podcast dives into purposeful practices to build creativity at work and in life.
Newsletters
What better way is there to get information than right to your inbox? We all subscribe to WAY too many e-newsletters, but these are the ones that cut through the clutter and consistently deliver new and relevant information.
Far Reach Newsletter – Each month we share client successes, what we’ve been working on, new blog posts, and upcoming events.
Versioning – A useful newsletter from Sitepoint with the latest and greatest development and design news.
O’Reilly Newsletter – Pick your poison with 9 newsletter options ranging from data and security to design and
AI.
We love finding new sources to read and listen to. What are your favorite resources for leadership, culture, scrum, and development?
Tell us on Twitter.