Management has a set of power words that it’s appropriated as a means of giving it a sense of identity. This list is endless and entertaining. When these words are spoken, they are said in such a way that you are meant to wonder in awe, “What does that mean?” but you don’t ask for… more
Much has been written about employee motivation and retention. It’s written by folks who actively use words like motivation and retention and generally don’t have a clue about the daily necessity of keeping your team professionally content because they’ve either never done the work or have forgotten how it’s done. These are the people who… more
Flat. It’s an organizational meme in rapidly growing teams in the Valley and it contains a couple of noble ideas. Simply put: a flat organization is one with as little hierarchy as possible to encourage the individual voice. What’s not to love? The first challenge to the flat organizational mantra is the inevitable arrival of… more
Early on in your mastery of a complex thing you are going to catastrophically overestimate your ability. Your confidence is going to be artificially high. This new job, hobby, or sport is going to appear magically easy. You’re going to feel gifted. Those watching your miraculous aptitude keep saying, “beginner’s luck”, but that’s neither what… more
Phil’s team is adrift. Phil is smart and meeting-friendly, but he’s a crap people manager and that crappiness is slowly poisoning his team. You know how bad it is because the star of Phil’s team finds ways to schedule meetings with you where the story is always the same: “He’s smart, but he is genetically… more
Ten years ago, the world was collectively freaked out by the Y2K bug. The idea was that when innumerable software-driven clocks flipped at midnight from 1999 to 2000 that the digital shit was going to hit the fan. I blame the origin of the world-wide freak-out on the nerds. Y2K collectively freaked out the nerds… more
Business is noisy. Business is full of people worrying loudly about projects, processes, and other people. These people have opinions, and they share them all over the place — all the time. This collective chatter is part of the daily regimen of a healthy business, but this chatter will bury the individual voice unless someone… more
I bag on meetings. I bag on meetings because like any nerd I expect the universe to be efficient and orderly and there is no more vile a violation of this sense of orderliness than a room full of people randomly bumping into shit and calling it a meeting. There are solid meetings out there.… more
Weather permitting, the Netscape pick-up roller hockey game has been played every Saturday since 1996. 14 years. This hockey game has outlasted all but one of my former employers. This is pick-up hockey. If you were to arrive with skates, stick and protective gear, you would discover a chill game where the expectation is that… more
You know this meeting. It’s the meeting where, when anyone hears the attendee list, they instantly know, “Oh, it’s that meeting.” Something is up: a product is at risk, a strategy is being redefined, or a decision of magnitude is being considered. Slide reviews are conducted via email, rehearsals are performed, and demos are fine-tuned.… more