Book Recommendation: First, Break All The Rules

As we start talking more and more about building the optimal user experience design team, we’re realizing that many of the best practices we see are echoed in Marcus Buckingham’s First, Break All The Rules.

This book comes from the smart people at the Gallup Management Journal, who researched hundreds of organizations to find out what combination of factors produced the best teams. What they discovered was that the critical linchpin to an excellent team was a good manager. And what separated the mediocre managers from a good manager was in how the manager chose the team they worked with.

I recommend this book to all of our clients as they look to bring new people on board and want to get the most out of everyone in their organization. In building experience design teams, the factors discussed in the book are absolutely required for any success. Having the right people in the right positions is the only way we’ve seen anyone succeed.