The full title of this book is 'Antipatterns: Managing Software Organizations and People'. The subtitle (Managing Software Organizations and People) is important, because this book has nothing to do with design patterns but rather with patterns in management or the environment that tend to appear in a software house. More specifically, typical situations that develop in the office that are detrimental to productivity or morale either at individual or organizational level.
This book has been designed as a guide. It includes tables that allow to easily recognize and identify antipatterns in one's environment based on the characteristics they exhibit. Each antipattern is then described alongside with examples and ways to cope with the problematic situation both in the short and long term.
It introduces the Myer-Briggs personality model as a tool to know how to deal with different people in the office according to their personality type. Alas, it appears that the scientific validity of this model is, at best, a matter of contention.
The work of Robert Bramson in 'Coping with Difficult People' is also described. At first glance, his taxonomy of difficult people seems to miss some of the unsavory types that one could find in an office, such as the plainly malicious who plays games for their own amusement, those looking for an audience and some others that can easily come to mind for anyone with just a few years of experience. Perhaps these are a product of a more "relaxed" era in the workplace (for some definitions of that word). In any case, I, personally, did not find Bramson's taxonomy particularly insightful.
An interesting book nonetheless from with managers can benefit and, to a lesser extent, those in programmer positions.