My Job Went to India (52 meditations for the 21st century programmer)

Last night I finished reading Chad Fowler's My Job Went to India (And All I Got Was This Lousy Book).

It's a gold mine of savvy advice on how to increase your value to the business and your marketability in the software industry in the midst of increased offshoring. Sprinkled throughout are shiny little jeweled anecdotes relating Chad's experiences setting up a team of software developers in Bangalore, India for a large corporation.

His main premise is one worth taking to heart: simply "coding don't cut it anymore. " You have to invest in and guide your career, wear many hats, always be looking for ways to understand your business better while bringing more value to it, actively promote yourself at work and within the software community, and never stand still. I guess you could say if we want to make it to the next stage of evolution, we have to learn to swim like sharks but play together like dolphins.

This is a timely read for me personally because the company I work for add value to is being purchased by GE, that very same company that Chad worked for in India.

I especially liked the format of the book. Each chapter is a quick read (a perfect addition to your bathroom reading :) ) and ends with a list of action items (Act on it!) to help you put his advice into practice.