I didn’t read The Phoenix Project yet, but I got a sale on its sequel, The Unicorn Project. I got a couple chapters in and found it almost repulsive. At the start a “rockstar” developer gets blamed for something that isn’t her fault, and sent to a shit team. It then gushes about how amazing the rockstar is by highlighting what text editor she uses, and how she can back up a server while it’s on fire, and how she’s the most in-demand consultant in the world, along with a million other clichés. It’s the only book I have ever returned. It’s like a manager dreamt up the “perfect” employee cog and wrote a book about it.

I mostly bought the book because I had heard good things about TPP, but I was turned off after trying to read the sequel. Would you please elaborate on what you found valuable about it? I’d like to read it (I read a lot) if it’s actually useful, but I haven’t heard much about how or what was valuable about it. Just that people seem to enjoy it. I’d love to hear more about why, if you’re so inclined!