Books & music

What I read and listen to

Books that sharpened how I work with people and systems. Music that keeps deep-work blocks honest.

Worker & leader

Books

The Phoenix Project taught me to treat work as a flow problem — constraints, WIP, and visible queues — which is how I write process docs and tickets now.

The Goal is the same lesson in a plant: find the bottleneck before you optimize everything else. I use that when mapping gym access, storefront checkout, or KPI definitions.

Crucial Conversations is the stakeholder book. Requirements work fails in the room, not in the schema. I prepare for UAT and status meetings with that in mind.

Storytelling with Data sits next to Power BI and Excel. A KPI is only useful if a non-technical supervisor can act on it.

The Stranger — Albert Camus examines detachment, social expectation, and the absurd through a deliberately spare, unsettling story.

Focus soundtrack

Music

Instrumental and lo-fi playlists for analysis blocks — SQL, Excel recon, and writing specs. Lyrics compete with requirements language; beats do not.