Recommendations you can check.
Researcher of developer productivity; co-author of Accelerate and co-creator of the DORA and SPACE frameworks; earlier at Microsoft Research and GitHub.
10 things
How Big Things Get DoneBook Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner
I will say I love how big things get done. I can't pronounce the name. I think one's they're Scandinavian. One is um but it's it kind of dissects really large projects through recentish history and where they failed and why.
Lenny's Podcast, "How to measure AI developer productivity in 2025", lightning round, asked for the books they recommend most; the guest's own spoken answer (YouTube captions).
2025-10-19·youtube.com ↗
The Undoing ProjectBook Michael Lewis
The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis. Uh Matt Velos recommended it to me and it's so good.
Lenny's Podcast, "How to measure AI developer productivity in 2025", lightning round, asked for the books they recommend most; the guest's own spoken answer (YouTube captions).
2025-10-19·youtube.com ↗
Ender's GameBook Orson Scott Card
the last one is probably Ender's Game horses got card um no comment right now on uh some of his political commentary but I used to have extra copies in my office when I was a professor and I would just hand it out to my students it's a fun like just easy nonsense read but I absolutely love it
Lenny's Podcast, "How to measure and improve developer productivity", lightning round, asked for the books they recommend most; the guest's own spoken answer (YouTube captions). Captions spell the author "horses got card".
2023-07-30·youtube.com ↗
Ted LassoOther
Ted lasso is a favorite
Lenny's Podcast, "How to measure and improve developer productivity", lightning round, favourite recent movie or TV show; the guest's own spoken answer (YouTube captions).
2023-07-30·youtube.com ↗
Jura coffee makerHardware Jura
Another one is a Jura coffee maker. I'd love good coffee and I'm not great at making it. So, I can just push the button and it'll give me anything I want, including like lattes, cappuccinos, or anything. So, that's kind of fun.
Lenny's Podcast, "How to measure AI developer productivity in 2025", lightning round, favourite recently discovered product; the guest's own spoken answer (YouTube captions).
2025-10-19·youtube.com ↗
Never Have I EverOther
I just tore through never have I ever which is fun because John Mcenroe narrates it
Lenny's Podcast, "How to measure and improve developer productivity", lightning round, favourite recent movie or TV show; the guest's own spoken answer (YouTube captions).
2023-07-30·youtube.com ↗
OutliveBook Peter Attia
Outlive by uh Peter Aia is fantastic.
Lenny's Podcast, "How to measure AI developer productivity in 2025", lightning round, asked for the books they recommend most; the guest's own spoken answer (YouTube captions). Captions spell the author "Peter Aia".
2025-10-19·youtube.com ↗
Back MechanicBook Stuart McGill
Back mechanic by Stuart McIll is incredible.
Lenny's Podcast, "How to measure AI developer productivity in 2025", lightning round, asked for the books they recommend most; the guest's own spoken answer (YouTube captions). Captions spell the author "Stuart McIll".
2025-10-19·youtube.com ↗
Good Strategy, Bad StrategyBook Richard Rumelt
the book I've recommended absolutely the most is called good strategy bad strategy by Richard rumelt
Lenny's Podcast, "How to measure and improve developer productivity", lightning round, asked for the books they recommend most; the guest's own spoken answer (YouTube captions).
2023-07-30·youtube.com ↗
Designing Your LifeBook Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
another one is designing your life by uh Bill Burnett and Dave Abbott Dave Evans
Lenny's Podcast, "How to measure and improve developer productivity", lightning round, asked for the books they recommend most; the guest's own spoken answer (YouTube captions).
2023-07-30·youtube.com ↗
Every entry is a verbatim quote and a link to the public post it came from. Nothing is paraphrased. If it is not on record somewhere public, it is not here.
The verdict is what they actually said: loved and liked are explicit; recommended means they told others to get it; uses means they only say they use it; read is a book on their public shelf with no verdict; mixed and disliked are kept too.
A dashed affiliate link, sponsored or their own label means the post disclosed a relationship. It is shown, never hidden.
The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is for its kind of thing.
The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is, for its kind of thing. Fully green is recent. It drains a quarter at a time as the post gets older, and is empty once it reads as dated.
What counts as old depends on the thing. A laptop praised four years ago has been replaced twice; a book loved twenty years ago is probably still loved. The shading is gone after about:
Stripes mean the post carries no date and the date shown is an estimate. No date at all, no shading.