The problem, for you managers who don't know this yet, is that engineers, software developers, and the like are not creating products. In their minds, they're creating art.

Even the guy drawing a wire diagram for the starter motor on an industrial centrifuge imagines himself a modern day Rembrandt. The idea that such a masterpiece can be accorded a deadline is absurd to the artist at work. But of course, this is a business, and clients are waiting. It's up to the manager to balance the demands of upper management with the egos and eccentricities of the developers.

That's where Cal Evan's ebook can come in so handy for you, the manager unfamiliar with the mind of a developer. He provides five incredibly insightful and pragmatic tips to help you get the best Nerds on your team and to keep them happy and productive. He discusses in great depth his distinctive hiring method, which gets the other Nerds actively involved in the process, he talks about how to invest in and teach your Nerds, and he turns it around and shows how you can learn from your Nerds as well.

Most importantly, however, he describes how to bond with your Nerds. He acknowledges that, "Nerds are by and large anti-social animals outside of their own circles." Evans reveals that this formidable hurtle in the burgeoning relationship between you and your Nerds is nothing an hour-a-week of first-person-shoot-'em-ups can't handle. Bonding with your Nerd Herd, Evans explains, is most easily done on their own turf, the blood-splattered corridors of violent 3-D video games like Quake or Doom. I'd just like to add, however, that if you start seeing enemy characters wearing your digitally scanned face, don't panic. That's just their way of saying they care.

To effectively manage your software development team, you're going to have to learn to meet their specific needs. Cal Evans' Nerd Herding is a free ebook and is well worth having on your Palm device. By following Evans' advice, you'll ensure a mutually beneficial working atmosphere for both yourself and your Nerd team.