When you work with people, especially if you’re leading them, situations change and you have to adapt. The most useful thing to know is where we stand in relation to those we're working with. This is positioning. Instead of putting on different hats to represent different roles and responsibilities, thinking in terms of positioning allows … Continue reading Professionals Don’t Change Hats, They Change Positions
Tag: management
Podcast Of The Week: Strategic Stratechery
Every now and then Ben Thompson lets an article/podcast out from behind his paywall, and if you’re interested in strategy, you’ll want to take note.* There’s a lot of technical and jargony stuff going on here, but listen (or read) "Cloudflare's Disruption" and focus on this core concept: A small company (Cloudflare) is figuring out … Continue reading Podcast Of The Week: Strategic Stratechery
For Feedback To Work, It Must…
For Feedback to work it has to be specific and concrete. That means for feedback to fail, all you have to do is make it overly general and ambiguous. "I love when you send me these instructions in the exact order I need to enter them" is infinitely better than "I hate the way you … Continue reading For Feedback To Work, It Must…
Help (I Need Some Continuum)
There's a continuum to helping. If you want to be helpful, it helps to know where you're coming from. On one end is the bad samaritan. They see and don't help. We'll assume that's not what you're looking to do, but we have to acknowledge it exists. Next is the non-judging-but-passively-listening friend. This is good … Continue reading Help (I Need Some Continuum)
Leadership: The Art Of Getting People To Want To Do What Needs To Be Done
“Leadership is the art of getting people to want to do what needs to be done.” - Jim Collins You know it. But do they know it? If they don't, somebody better tell them. It might as well be you. Tell them what it is. Tell them why it matters. Tell them how you’re all … Continue reading Leadership: The Art Of Getting People To Want To Do What Needs To Be Done
Be A Clock Builder, Not A Time Teller
Jim Collins calls that micromanaging Satanist of a boss you once had a "time teller." All they know how to do is read off of and angrily point at a clock/dashboard/metric. You, meanwhile, are left running around trying to finish your work as close to their definition of "just so" as you can (even though … Continue reading Be A Clock Builder, Not A Time Teller
Be The Fixer (Not The Finder)
A little career advice from Patty McCord: Be the fixer, not the finder. Don't just say, "This is screwed up." Or, "Why does this suck?" Or, "Do we have to?" Fix it. Don't just come with a problem, come with a problem and a solution. "That IS screwed up, but let's try this." "We can … Continue reading Be The Fixer (Not The Finder)
The Drama Triangle (What It Is And How to Use It)
The Karpman drama triangle is one of those mental models that is so intuitive and yet so useful to understand you’ll immediately start seeing it everywhere. In any conflict, there are three roles to be filled, with each role also playing a part in creating the others (a subtle but critical point). I’ll list the … Continue reading The Drama Triangle (What It Is And How to Use It)
The Seven Questions Great Coaches Ask
Michael Bungay Stanier’s book, The Coaching Habit, focuses on asking these seven Jedi/MBA level coaching questions. If you lead or manage others, pay close attention. This is how you get yourself out of the way like a pro. I’ll present and answer them in a (weird?) one-sided dialogue for sake of this post, but seriously, … Continue reading The Seven Questions Great Coaches Ask
Three Types Of Terrible Meetings (And How To Fix Them)
Oh my god, this meeting sucks. Why? Here are three big candidates/clinical descriptions of why this is a waste of time: The small talk tango (where we verbally dance around nothingness), The ossified agenda (where we have an agenda, but it’s a fossil record of topics that were only previously presumed to be alive), The … Continue reading Three Types Of Terrible Meetings (And How To Fix Them)