“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,…

When you’ve got a team of smart people, it’s easy for everyone to go in different directions. That’s the power of brilliant engineers, but it’s also a challenge for tech leaders. Combine smart people with remote locations, spread across many timezones, collaborating through different systems, and you’ve got a recipe for manager stress. That’s why…