The Soul of A New Machine Paperback – June 1, 2000

The Soul of a New Machine is a captivating book that chronicles the creation of Data General's Eclipse MV/8000 computer from the engineers' point of view. Through the narrative, Tracy Kidder adeptly illuminates the engineering psyche: the rush derived from the freedom to create, the sensation of being "lost in the machine", the feeling of power that comes from bringing order to chaos, the personal identity associated with creation. The book elucidates the paradoxical competing motivations that inspire an employee to maintain a daunting schedule that eclipses their personal life. Tracy may understand engineers better than they understand themselves. In fact, as an engineer, I understand myself better after reading this book.Being set in the late 1970s, the book provides the reader with an authentic glimpse into a bygone era when yellow legal pads and pencils were essential engineering tools. What's surprising is the similarities to modern-day. Engineers are still wrestling with the same fundamental questions: can machines think, what are the ethical implications of computing, what's the perfect balance between done and right? Then and now, engineers are attempting to cope with the "long-term tiredness" resulting from the rampant pace of innovation that can render a recent graduate more skilled than an industry veteran. The human component remains the most perplexing. In the end, "people are just reaching out in the dark, touching hands." The book serves as a refreshing reminder that although technology evolves at a breakneck pace, the design process remains much the same.In conclusion, The Soul of a New Machine should be required reading for business and engineering students alike. The enduring lessons are to hire smart people, enable them, and get out of their way. Engineers thrive on agency and the potential to materialize their conceptions. No amount of external motivation can breathe commiserate vitality into a design process. If you are an engineer or a manager, do yourself a favor: read and understand The Soul of a New Machine.

This book is a fascinating recount of Data General's effort to bring a new computer to the market. Through the stories we re-live moments of "drama, comedy, and excitement" as an engineering team works day and night in the goal of developing a computer - project code "Eagle". The author focuses on the natural tension that exists between the engineers and their management. Particularly that of a focus on product vs. the market and the race to develop the next computer.Within this book are numerous lessons on technical leadership, management and organizational dynamics. The lead on the effort (Tom) is a strong believer in grass-root effort and had the ability to build a team, rally them toward a common cause and lead them to success.As mentioned on the cover: "What has changed little, however, is computer culture: the feverish pace of the high-tech industry, the mystique of programmers, the entrepreneurial bravado that has caused so many start-up companies to win big (or crash and burn), and the cult of pursuing mind-bending technological innovations. By tracing computer culture to its roots, by exploring the "soul" of the "machine" that has revolutionized the world, Kidder succeeds as no other writer has done in capturing the essential of the computer age."A fun classic read with numerous applicable lessons!Below are two excerpts that I found particularly relevant:1- "Software compatibility is a marvelous thing. That was the essential lesson West took away from his long talks with his friend in Marketing. You didn't want to make a machine that wasn't compatible, not if you could avoid it. Old customers would feel that since they'd need to buy and create all new software anyways, they might as well look at what other companies had to offer; they'd be likely to undertake the dreaded "market survey"."2- "Adopting a remote, managerial point of view, you could say that the Eagle project was a case where a local system of management worked as it should: competition for resources creating within a team inside a company an entrepreneurial spirit, which was channeled in the right direction by constraints sent down from the tip. But it seems more accurate to say that a group of engineers got excited about building a computer. Whether it arose by corporate bungling or by design, the opportunity had to be grasped. In this sense, the initiative belonged entirely to West and the members of his team. What's more, they did the work, both with uncommon spirit and for reasons that, in a most frankly commercial setting, seemed remarkably pure."

When I started working in information technology, Data General's DG/UX was the first operating system I learned and it was nice to take a peek years later into the workings of company that created it as well as the system that is the focus of this book. The Soul of a New Machine walks the reader through the entire design of a new computer system from conception to completion. It's technical enough that some on in the industry will enjoy the read but it's just as much a story about the engineers who built the machine.

This is a superb book about an old product development — but many lessons which we seem to have forgotten in the intense structuring of modern work.