I’ve been thinking about something Charlie Seashore said when he was in town in December: People are more likely to hear feedback that isn’t about an area where they’ve already done a lot of thinking and formed an opinion.This seems true to me, and...
I ran into a friend the other day who I hadn’t seen for a while. Last time I talked to him, he’d just started a new job. That was about 4 months ago.”How’s it going?” I asked.”It would be great if it was just one job,” my...
From Jerry Weinberg on his SHAPE forum: Don Gause taught me the wonderful substitution algorithm:Whenever you see “should” in a requirement, change it to “probably won’t.” (Don Gause and Jerry are co-authors of Exploring Requirements:...
I recently witnessed a manager in a store upbraiding a salesperson for wearing an outfit that didn’t fit her definition of appropriate. It reminded me of the importance of basic management ettiquette.Management etiquette isn’t about using the right fork...
I came across this story on Roy Osherove’s blog (via Laurent Bossavit on the AYE Wiki).Roy describes his experience solving a technical problem that took longer than expected:After showing this to my team leader and getting a fairly lukewarm response I headed...
This excerpt from Art and Fear showed up on Chris Corrigan’s blog (via Kevin Kelly):”The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on...
One of the local NPR call-in shows featured an advocate for child protection reform this morning. I have some interest in the topic (another story) and I wanted to hear the discussion.I found myself feeling really put off by the guy, not because of the content of what...
…from Jerry Weinberg, in an interview posted on the Borland site:Clay Shannon: Would you recommend a career in programming to young people today?Jerry Weinberg: It depends on what the young person wants to do. I always give the same career recommendation:...
I came across this piece about having tough conversations with your boss at the Fast Company site.The article suggests you ask these three questions before you launch:Have I focused on reality?People often put off having difficult conversations (and not just with the...
Beverly Kaye of Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em fame has a post on Fast Company, Jerks at Work. It’s about bad bosses. Here’s an interesting stat quoted from “Monster Managers” in American Way: 42% of US workers reported incidents of yelling...
Kurt Lewin shaped modern thinking about psychology and groups dynamics and stated (pithily): B = f(P,E) Behavior is a function of the person and the environment. Let’s assume that the Behavior in question is related to work performance. A lot of the focus in...
I came across this example of a request on Ned Batchelder’s weblog (along with some advice on asking for help.)Hey, I’m in a hurry, so this isn’t going to tell too much. I was having problems with your cursors pygame code. See if you can see...
More linguistic viruses that spawn much misery. The good news about linguistic viruses is that we can choose to stop them in their tracks.6. Not Declining RequestsPeople who say “Yes” to every request tend to find themselves overwhelmed, resentful, and...
I’ve been reading You Are What You Say by Budd and Rothstein. Budd is a physician and has a program that helps people look at how they use language and the affects health and well-being.I really like his list of the 10 Linguistic Viruses which can wreak havoc at...
On Tuesday, David Greenfield (a very smart and insightful technical manager I met a couple of years ago) posted this comment: “The most challenging part of managing for me is learning how to deliver (or accept ) bad news to (from) those who report to me.”...
I’m in Boston for a book-writing week with Johanna Rothman.We’re focusing the skills managers *must* have — the skills that form the foundation for effective management:Managing one-to-one Building relationshipsSpeaking the language of the business /...
“But too often in our business, money is used as a substitute for managing. So the idea that if I can pay you a lot of money, [then] I don’t have to engage with you, I don’t have to be direct with you, I don’t have to be honest with you, I...
I spent a couple of days with Charlie and Edie Seashore last week. The were in town through the local Organization Development Network.The Seashores are elders in the arena of change, diversity, and working with groups. They are also co-authors, with Jerry Weinberg,...
Linda Hill’s Becoming a Manager: Mastery of a New Identity came out a decade ago. This summer she published a new edition, Becoming a Manager: How New Managers Master the Challenges of Leadership. There’s an excerpt on HBS Working Knowledge.Linda Hill...
or unhappiness and problems as the case may be.Hal Macomber points to an article by John Brandt in Industry Week.”The sad truth about unhappy companies: They won’t be around much longer,” says Brandt. Unhappy companies share a set of traits that make...
