Top 8 Software Consulting Books - Updated November 2023
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Top 8 Must Read Books for Software Consultants
There is a wealth of information available to help guide new and experienced software developers. However, for those that really want to make an impact through their consultative skill set, it's a lot tougher. When compiling this list, my focus has been to pull out books that are truly software consulting books, and not those more targeted to towards software development. To that end, a lot of these focus on presentation tactics, problem solving and the oft called "soft skills".
These books aren't in a particular order of priority as they are too loosely coupled in their topics. Choosing one over the other would highly depend on your particular role, experience as a consultant and business skills.
1. Developer Hegemony - Erik Dietrich
This book is equal parts depressing and empowering. If you can get past the early cynicism, there is a tonne of great ideas behind it. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to understand what I really means to be a software consultant. The level at which it's written means that it is tailored to people some way in to their development careers. The core message of the book is, as soon as you consider yourself not an employee but a business owner, the better.
2. Getting Naked - Patrick Lencioni
This, rather obscurely named book is probably one of my favourites. This gets to the crux of what I really think is important and that is techniques and tips to help communication as a consultant. The book is setup as a novel, which helps the message get through without feeling like you are reading a heavy text book.
The book isn't written about a software engineer, but a management consultant, so keep that in mind. It is nevertheless a good book that helps my decision making process when working with clients.
3. The Secrets of Consulting - Gerald M. Weinberg
It would be criminal to not include a book by Gerald Weinberg in this list. The first edition of this book was published in 1985, and yet the advice remains relevant today. Running a consulting business hasn't really changed much in 38 years despite the advances in technology across that time. The advice in this book is timeless and really a very interesting read.
4. The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master
I recommend reading this book despite the fact that it crosses the initial line I set around consulting focus rather than development focus. However, because this is a book around software development in general, for software generalists it has very good lessons that can apply more broadly to interactions with customers. This was actually one of the books I read at the very start of my software consulting career.
5. Back of the Napkin - Dan Roam
In the post covid software development/consulting world sharing ideas and communication are more often done remotely. Gone are the days of co-located software teams with whiteboards all around them. Regrettably the convenience of a whiteboard hasn't been replaced so readily, and more often than not the quickest way to explain something can be a diagram. This book is designed to help the less confident artist do just enough to get their message across clearly, which is half the battle in a consulting business.
6. Good Strategy/Bad Strategy - Richard Rumelt
When working with clients as a software consultant you'll need to differentiate yourself from those people who are just writing good software. In order to do so, you might lean in to helping with new ideas and software design. Or you might design a strategic plan to help guide the key focus of another software team. These higher leverage activities are truly consultative exercises and this book helps ensure they are a success.
7. Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual - John Sonmez
John Sonmez has spent the better part of his career considering the non-technical side of software development. So he's an obvious choice to include. His book covers a huge range of topics, I'd avoid the bizarre tangent on Options trading in chapter 5, but otherwise a lot of what is written is good advice. It talks to treating yourself as a consulting business, including the business development aspects like marketing and branding. I particularly like the chapter on fitness, not that the content is exceptional, but the fact that this topic is covered in a book related to software development is brilliant.
8. Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less - Greg McKeown
This book sits firmly in the "self-help" section of this list, but is still useful. It talks to the mindset of doing the most important things first, and is successful in building a case as to why that is important. It doesn't help in managing an absurd to-do list full of "must-dos", but provides some principles to help you manage what is a priority. In many ways this is a good accompaniment to Good Strategy, Bad Strategy as they both talk to the power of doing one thing well, over many things poorly.
Conclusion
These are some of the best books I've personally read. I will continue to add to this post as I revisit older material that I'm recommend and new resources become available in the future.
While I recommend reading a lot of these books, I don't think in doing so you will suddenly have a top tier consulting business. Rather, reading these books over time will give you knowledge and expertise that you can apply in your day to day work. And then over many years, through practice delivering these ideas you'll find yourself in a very strong position. And then someone will inevitably call you an overnight success.
You might find that these books don't really feel like rocket science, great, for the most part to a good consultant, they shouldn't. However, as you develop these skills in a world far more attuned to technical books, you'll quickly find yourself running pretty fast ahead of your competitors.
FAQs
Do I have to pay for all these books?
You can probably find a lot of them online for free if you really want to. However, as someone who struggles to write a blog post, let alone a book, I encourage you to invest the money and support the authors.
Will reading these books help me in my career?
Not automatically, no. New skills will help anyone in their consulting career, and these great books contain plenty of tools and practices to help you learn them. However, everyone learns in different ways so work on developing a reliable way to turn what you read into action, because unless you bridge that gap these books will just be a diversion.
I've read so many books in my career, do I really need more?
Software consulting is an industry that really benefits those who continue to learn. If you are concerned, just pick three books that you think will most help you in your job. If you can obtain business skills reliably from reading some of this material, I in the same way tech books might help you learn a new technology, you might end up with more clients, which from a business development aspect is just about the best outcome possible.
