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Author:   Martin Abbott ,  Michael Fisher
Publisher:   Pearson Education (US)
Imprint:   Addison Wesley
Edition:   2nd edition
Dimensions:   Width: 18.10cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 23.00cm
Weight:   0.790kg
ISBN:  

9780134032801

ISBN 10:   0134032802
Pages:   624
Publication Date:   25 June 2015
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Foreword xxiii Acknowledgments xxvii About the Authors xxix Introduction 1   Part I: Staffing a Scalable Organization 7   Chapter 1: The Impact of People and Leadership on Scalability 9 The Case Method 9 Why People? 10 Why Organizations? 11 Why Management and Leadership? 17 Conclusion 19   Chapter 2: Roles for the Scalable Technology Organization 21 The Effects of Failure 21 Defining Roles 23 Executive Responsibilities 25 Individual Contributor Responsibilities 30 A Tool for Defining Responsibilities 35 Conclusion 39   Chapter 3: Designing Organizations 41 Organizational Influences That Affect Scalability 41 Team Size 44 Organizational Structure 51 Conclusion 69   Chapter 4: Leadership 101 71 What Is Leadership? 72 Leadership: A Conceptual Model 74 Taking Stock of Who You Are 76 Leading from the Front 78 Checking Your Ego at the Door 79 Mission First, People Always 80 Making Timely, Sound, and Morally Correct Decisions 81 Empowering Teams and Scalability 82 Alignment with Shareholder Value 83 Transformational Leadership 84 Vision 84 Mission 87 Goals 89 Putting It All Together 90 The Causal Roadmap to Success 94 Conclusion 95   Chapter 5: Management 101 99 What Is Management? 100 Project and Task Management 102 Building Teams: A Sports Analogy 105 Upgrading Teams: A Garden Analogy 107 Measurement, Metrics, and Goal Evaluation 111 The Goal Tree 114 Paving the Path for Success 115 Conclusion 116   Chapter 6: Relationships, Mindset, and the Business Case 119 Understanding the Experiential Chasm 119 Defeating the IT Mindset 122 The Business Case for Scale 124 Conclusion 127   Part II: Building Processes for Scale 129   Chapter 7: Why Processes Are Critical to Scale 131 The Purpose of Process 132 Right Time, Right Process 135 When Good Processes

Reviews

Praise for The Art of Scalability, Second Edition A how-to manual for building a world-class engineering organization with step-by-step instructions on everything including leadership, architecture, operations, and processes. A driver's manual for going from 0 to 60, scaling your business. With this book published, there's no excuse for mistakes-in other words, RTFM. -Lon F. Binder, vice president, technology, Warby Parker I've worked with AKF for years on tough technical challenges. Many books address how to correct failing product architectures or problematic processes, both of which are symptoms of an unspoken problem. This book not only covers those symptoms, but also addresses their underlying cause-the way in which we manage, lead, organize, and staff our teams. -Jeremy King, chief technology officer and senior vice president, global ecommerce, Walmart.com I love this book because it teaches an important lesson most technology-focused books don't: how to build highly scalable and successful technology organizations that build highly scalable technology solutions. There's plenty of great technology coaching in this book, but there are also excellent examples of how to build scalable culture, principles, processes, and decision trees. This book remains one of my few constant go-to reference guides. -Chris Schremser, chief technology officer, ZirMed Praise for the First Edition This book is much more than you may think it is. Scale is not just about designing Web sites that don't crash when lots of users show up. It is about designing your company so that it doesn't crash when your business needs to grow. These guys have been there on the front lines of some of the most successful Internet companies of our time, and they share the good, the bad, and the ugly about how to not just survive, but thrive. -Marty Cagan, founder, Silicon Valley Product Group A must read for anyone building a Web service for the mass market. -Dana Stalder, general partner, Matrix Partners Abbott and Fisher have deep experiences with scale in both large and small enterprises. What's unique about their approach to scalability is they start by focusing on the true foundation: people and process, without which true scalability cannot be built. Abbott and Fisher leverage their years of experience in a very accessible and practical approach to scalability that has been proven over time with their significant success. -Geoffrey Weber, vice president of internet operations/IT, Shutterfly If I wanted the best diagnoses for my health I would go to the Mayo Clinic. If I wanted the best diagnoses for my portfolio companies' performance and scalability I would call Martin and Michael. They have recommended solutions to performance and scalability issues that have saved some of my companies from a total rewrite of the system. -Warren M. Weiss, general partner, Foundation Capital As a manager who worked under Michael Fisher and Marty Abbott during my time at PayPal/eBay, the opportunity to directly absorb the lessons and experiences presented in this book are invaluable to me now working at Facebook. -Yishan Wong, former CEO, Reddit, and former director of engineering, Facebook The Art of Scalability is by far the best book on scalability on the market today. The authors tackle the issues of scalability from processes, to people, to performance, to the highly technical. Whether your organization is just starting out and is defining processes as you go, or you are a mature organization, this is the ideal book to help you deal with scalability issues before, during, or after an incident. Having built several projects, programs, and companies from small to significant scale, I can honestly say I wish I had this book one, five, and ten years ago. -Jeremy Wright, chief executive officer, b5media, Inc. Only a handful of people in the world have experienced the kind of growth-related challenges that Fisher and Abbott have seen at eBay, PayPal, and the other companies they've helped to build. Fewer still have successfully overcome such challenges. The Art of Scalability provides a great summary of lessons learned while scaling two of the largest internet companies in the history of the space, and it's a must-read for any executive at a hyper-growth company. What's more, it's well-written and highly entertaining. I couldn't put it down. -Kevin Fortuna, partner, AKF Consulting Marty and Mike's book covers all the bases, from understanding how to build a scalable organization to the processes and technology necessary to run a highly scalable architecture. They have packed in a ton of great practical solutions from real world experiences. This book is a must-read for anyone having difficulty managing the scale of a hyper-growth company or a startup hoping to achieve hyper growth. -Tom Keeven, partner, AKF Consulting The Art of Scalability is remarkable in its wealth of information and clarity; the authors provide novel, practical, and demystifying approaches to identify, predict, and resolve scalability problems before they surface. Marty Abbott and Michael Fisher use their rich experience and vision, providing unique and groundbreaking tools to assist small and hyper-growth organizations as they maneuver in today's demanding technological environments. -Joseph M. Potenza, attorney, Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.

Praise for The Art of Scalability, Second Edition A how-to manual for building a world-class engineering organization with step-by-step instructions on everything including leadership, architecture, operations, and processes. A driver's manual for going from 0 to 60, scaling your business. With this book published, there's no excuse for mistakes-in other words, RTFM. -Lon F. Binder, vice president, technology, Warby Parker I've worked with AKF for years on tough technical challenges. Many books address how to correct failing product architectures or problematic processes, both of which are symptoms of an unspoken problem. This book not only covers those symptoms, but also addresses their underlying cause-the way in which we manage, lead, organize, and staff our teams. -Jeremy King, chief technology officer and senior vice president, global ecommerce, Walmart.com I love this book because it teaches an important lesson most technology-focused books don't: how to build highly scalable and successful technology organizations that build highly scalable technology solutions. There's plenty of great technology coaching in this book, but there are also excellent examples of how to build scalable culture, principles, processes, and decision trees. This book remains one of my few constant go-to reference guides. -Chris Schremser, chief technology officer, ZirMed Praise for the First Edition This book is much more than you may think it is. Scale is not just about designing Web sites that don't crash when lots of users show up. It is about designing your company so that it doesn't crash when your business needs to grow. These guys have been there on the front lines of some of the most successful Internet companies of our time, and they share the good, the bad, and the ugly about how to not just survive, but thrive. -Marty Cagan, founder, Silicon Valley Product Group A must read for anyone building a Web service for the mass market. -Dana Stalder, general partner, Matrix Partners Abbott and Fisher have deep experiences with scale in both large and small enterprises. What's unique about their approach to scalability is they start by focusing on the true foundation: people and process, without which true scalability cannot be built. Abbott and Fisher leverage their years of experience in a very accessible and practical approach to scalability that has been proven over time with their significant success. -Geoffrey Weber, vice president of internet operations/IT, Shutterfly If I wanted the best diagnoses for my health I would go to the Mayo Clinic. If I wanted the best diagnoses for my portfolio companies' performance and scalability I would call Martin and Michael. They have recommended solutions to performance and scalability issues that have saved some of my companies from a total rewrite of the system. -Warren M. Weiss, general partner, Foundation Capital As a manager who worked under Michael Fisher and Marty Abbott during my time at PayPal/eBay, the opportunity to directly absorb the lessons and experiences presented in this book are invaluable to me now working at Facebook. -Yishan Wong, former CEO, Reddit, and former director of engineering, Facebook The Art of Scalability is by far the best book on scalability on the market today. The authors tackle the issues of scalability from processes, to people, to performance, to the highly technical. Whether your organization is just starting out and is defining processes as you go, or you are a mature organization, this is the ideal book to help you deal with scalability issues before, during, or after an incident. Having built several projects, programs, and companies from small to significant scale, I can honestly say I wish I had this book one, five, and ten years ago. -Jeremy Wright, chief executive officer, b5media, Inc. Only a handful of people in the world have experienced the kind of growth-related challenges that Fisher and Abbott have seen at eBay, PayPal, and the other companies they've helped to build. Fewer still have successfully overcome such challenges. The Art of Scalability provides a great summary of lessons learned while scaling two of the largest internet companies in the history of the space, and it's a must-read for any executive at a hyper-growth company. What's more, it's well-written and highly entertaining. I couldn't put it down. -Kevin Fortuna, partner, AKF Consulting Marty and Mike's book covers all the bases, from understanding how to build a scalable organization to the processes and technology necessary to run a highly scalable architecture. They have packed in a ton of great practical solutions from real world experiences. This book is a must-read for anyone having difficulty managing the scale of a hyper-growth company or a startup hoping to achieve hyper growth. -Tom Keeven, partner, AKF Consulting The Art of Scalability is remarkable in its wealth of information and clarity; the authors provide novel, practical, and demystifying approaches to identify, predict, and resolve scalability problems before they surface. Marty Abbott and Michael Fisher use their rich experience and vision, providing unique and groundbreaking tools to assist small and hyper-growth organizations as they maneuver in today's demanding technological environments. -Joseph M. Potenza, attorney, Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.

Author Information

Martin L. Abbott is a founding partner at the growth and scalability advisory firm AKF Partners. He was formerly chief operations officer at Quigo, an advertising technology startup sold to AOL, where he was responsible for product strategy, product management, technology development, and client services. Marty spent nearly six years at eBay, most recently as senior vice president of technology, chief technology officer, and member of the executive staff. Prior to his time at eBay, Marty held domestic and international engineering, management, and executive positions at Gateway and Motorola. He has served on the boards of directors of several private and public companies. Marty has a B.S. in computer science from the United States Military Academy, has an M.S. in computer engineering from the University of Florida, is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Executive Education Program, and has a Doctor of Management from Case Western Reserve University.   Michael T. Fisher is a founding partner at the growth and scalability advisory firm AKF Partners. Prior to cofounding AKF Partners, Michael was the chief technology officer at Quigo, a startup Internet advertising company that was acquired by AOL in 2007. Before his time at Quigo, Michael served as vice president, engineering and architecture, for PayPal, Inc., an eBay company. Prior to joining PayPal, he spent seven years at General Electric helping to develop the company’s technology strategy and was a Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Michael served six years as a Captain and pilot in the U.S. Army. He received a Ph.D. and an MBA from Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management, an M.S. in information systems from Hawaii-Pacific University, and a B.S. in computer science from the United States Military Academy (West Point). Michael is an adjunct professor in the design and innovation department at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management.

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