A while back I did some work for a company that prided itself on being a “process organization.” One of directors was particularly remarkable. He was receiving an average of 130 pages a month related to problems in the production systems. That was after...
I ran into some of my rules last week… you know…. rules like “I must always be able to think of a solution when someone asks me for help.” Obviously that’s not possible, but rules don’t work that way. Most of our rules were cemented...
Yesterday I came across an article by Stever Robbins on the HBS site that talks about handling strong emotions at work. Progress!I wrote a little piece for stickyminds a while ago, First Things First. My premise was (and is) that believing emotions have no place at...
I came across this post on Brian Marick’s blog: In his second post, Jonathan [Kohl] quotes James Bach: “… testers are critical thinkers — and critical thinkers are disruptive.” I don’t think that need always be true. One can be a...
I’ve talked to a bunch of people lately who tell me they are doing iterative development. When start asking questions, it sound more like they’re doing something between iterative development (as I think of it) and waterfall: All the requirements are done...
From Fast Company, Elizabeth Pagano offers a handful of reasons that managers avoid having conversations with employees about performance:”Eleven Things We Tell Ourselves to Avoid Giving Bad News.”I don’t think she can handle it. I’ll hurt his...
I came across Joyce Wycoff’s site this morning. She’s got a couple of riffs on phrases that shut down thinking. You’ve probably heard most of them… Yes, but….We tried it last year.It’s not in the budget.It won’t work.Management won’t buy...
Back in January, I posted a bit about management behavior that drives people out the door. Managers don’t have a lock on jerk behavior. Just look at this thread on Ask Joel. There’s a lot of energy there.I am particularly struck by a couple of people...
I recently heard two stories involving managers who hired friends. Both had bad endings.In one case, a senior manager, Becca, filled her staff with people she’d known for years and considered friends. Several of her friends floundered in the new jobs. Becca...
Phil Stubbington (a good guy), pithily describes Best Practices on the AYE Conference wiki:Best PracticeA completely fatuous concept based on two dangerous assumptions:- a) someone else knows what’s best for you b) you don’t have to think about your...
