There are comparatively few books available to help leaders understand and embrace citizen development. "All Hands on Tech" is a welcome addition to the literature.
I've studied citizen development for years. And so much of "All Hands" was familiar to me, starting with the fundamentally sound argument in favor of citizen development. But some of the material in "All Hands" was new and valuable to me as well. For leaders trying to understand the citizen development opportunity, the book has much to offer.
1. Most of the literature about citizen development focuses on business people who build applications. "All Hands" brings a more nuanced perspective to readers. Some but not all citizen developers build apps; many contribute to projects by thinking through new processes, conveying requirements, and in other ways.
2. The three major types of business apps -- data-processing, process automation, and data analysis -- each require different mindsets and skills of citizen developers. "All Hands" addresses the requirements, potential, and challenges of all three app types. For me, citizen data analysis and science has been a blind spot; the book helped advance my thinking about that topic.
3. All Hands contains a ton of evidence that citizen development offers real benefits that enterprise leaders should embrace. With a few exceptions, the authors name names and relate real stories. The research is compelling and easily understood.
I expected much more material about how GenAI either expands or changes low-code/citizen development dynamics. "All Hands" closes with thoughts about how conversational AI eases app development for businesspeople building apps. While useful, I hoped for more.
Caveat about "All Hands": Ian Barkin, a co-author with Thomas Davenport, has long experience in robotic process automation (RPA), which is the foundation of his (and the book's) view of business process automation. RPA-based process automation has been a mixed bag at best. A more successful approach centers on digital process automation platforms, not RPA. In this automation approach, RPA automates human tasks within larger business processes managed by a digital process platform. The reader will not find this point of view about process automation in "All Hands". This is a big gap.
Also, Davenport and Barkin's chapter about low-code and no-code tools and platforms is easy to read, but not comprehensive. Seek other sources as well to understand product choices in this market.
The final chapters contain many tables and checklists summarizing the book's guidance about organizational structures, governance, employee profiles, and the other aspects of a citizen-developer strategy. There are dozens of items, but fear not. A complete presentation of strategy elements does not say you've got to do it all right away. Citizen development is a journey, not a destination. "All Hands" will help you get started.
