Posts by Marcus Blankenship

“No one can see their own back.” Some of you wanted to know how to get more feedback from your team, so you don’t feel like you’re driving blind. So, I whipped up thirteen questions which will give you more insights into how your team perceives you: “What would you do in my situation?” “How…

Last week Dan asked, “What advice do you have for addressing the insecurity I feel that my team can’t see the value I’m adding?” You sent in some answers, which I want to share. I also want to share my thoughts. But first, I’ll identify the two meanings of the question: How do I reduce…

In response to yesterday’s email, Dan asked, “What advice do you have for addressing the insecurity I feel that my team can’t see the value I’m adding?” Dan, I understand exactly how you feel. I often worried that my team would think I wasn’t adding value. That since I wasn’t coding, I was just a…

I’m putting in a small apple orchard near my house. Not large, just 24 trees. But I’m new to farming, and so it’s got me thinking a lot about conditions for growth and change. In my orchard, I’m noticing many different conditions which I think will impact growth. These include: How much water is available?…

PRE-S: Early bird pricing for the 4th cohort of Software Leader Seminar ends tomorrow. Apply today to lock in the early-bird price. One of my favorite snacks is a bowl of mixed nuts. It reminds me of software teams. The bowl is a container, holding them all together. All the nuts are in the bowl…

The phrase “live workshop” contains two concepts. Most of us focus on the “workshop” part – reading the topics and activities to ensure it teaches what we want to learn. This engages our analytical brain which asks “what will I get out of this?” But it’s easy to overlook the importance of the “live” part,…

“Today you’re going to learn lessons about delegation, communication, observation, and team alignment. More importantly, you’ll learn about yourself and the impact you have on those around you. You’ll receive the instructions once you’re in your learning groups.” The small learning groups move to their zoom videoconference rooms, where they receive their instructions. “It is…

I’ve got a few updates for you, my fellow ruckus makers in tech. First, I’m excited to announce a 100% complete revamp of Software Leader Seminar into a hands-on, on-line workshop. No videos, no forums, no BS. This is unlike anything I’ve seen or done and is similar to my in-person workshops. It’s five weeks…

When you’re heading into a new situation, it’s easy to overpack. The first time I went to Europe I packed my favorite heavy, long-sleeved flannel shirt, even though the trip was in the middle of summer. When I started a new coding project, I’d download a whole bunch of libraries just in case. When I…

Manager, leaders, and consultants all suffer from the same blind spot. We may recommend others do things which we’ve not done ourselves. This may make us blind to how difficult something actually is. For example, in the past, I’ve recommended that new people keep an ‘onboarding journal’ for the first month at the company. Now…

When it comes to building high-performing teams, your relationship with your developers is more important than their technical skills. While technical skills are important, strong developer–manager relationships are the keys to everything you want. Healthy relationships among employees and leaders produce high levels of engagement, motivation, trust, and transparency. These relational attributes are the foundation…

[SPONSOR] – Effortlessly manage your engineering team with Humble Dot. I crave certainty. I want certainty about project outcomes, spending decisions, and even travel plans. Somewhere I learned that idea that if I make right decisions, and try hard enough, then I’ll get good outcomes. Oh, I’ve had some failures. A project didn’t come in…

The people on your team are motivated. But they are not motivated by the same thing. One programmer might be motivated by “cutting-edge technology.” Another by “software quality”, and a third by “system scalability.” These fall under the motivational factor Fredrick Herzberg termed, “the work itself.” Your motivation You are also motivated, but maybe not by…

I find myself subtly drawn to binary questions, though I wish I weren’t. Binary questions have yes/no answers. They ask people to line up on one side or another. They polarize, draw lines, and take sides. They create stability around an issue, which works against agility. The split us into groups of believers and non-believers…

“Wholeness is what is real, and that fragmentation is the response of this whole to man’s action, guided by illusory perception, which is shaped by fragmentary thought.” – David Bohm, Wholeness and the Implicit order Renowned Quantum Physicist David Bohm wrote of the interconnectedness of everything.  That fragments are not part of the natural order,…