A clear and complete summary of the why and how of feedback from reading Kim Scott, Julie Zhou, Marcus Buckingham, and Camille Fournier. Easy read, informative. complete.

A good introduction to the Non Violent Communication approach to tricky conversations. Good perspective. (A note: Medium have implemented a weirdo pay semi-wall. If you find this, or some other article, behind it, I apologize - I can’t figure out their system).

The contrarian view of feedback continues: we can only have opinions about the effects of others, not their skills. Not sure what I think. Challenging. Good.

A cool, dispassionate account of the steps necessary to get somebody to correct a performance issue. Practical, clear.

Reposting my notes on the Feedback Paradox: we a) know it’s necessary and b) find it very hard to do. And why some cultures force the issue with phrases like “brutal honesty” and “radical transparency”.

“saying yes to everything is a quick road to mediocrity”. Yep. And it’s the slow road to complete overwhelm, particularly as the organization you are responsible for grows. Often made more difficult because saying yes and just taking on the results has been a super-power up to that point.

“In an open office, even if you don’t intend to slack off, the feeling of being constantly observed creates the pressure to always appear visibly busy. That means answering emails, scheduling and attending meetings, making sure to always weigh in on Slack and doing other superficial tasks – none of which help you get real work done”.

Yes. “Performative Busyness” - the scourge of the management role.

Interesting post. A kind of mishmash of: the value of mavericks, the possibility that a frustrated team member may be chafing because they can’t do the brilliant thing they want to do, and the fact that humans are attracted more to difficult (sometimes very difficult) tasks than easy. A good read.

My Notes: I was introduced to a new term the other week: “blast radius”. It made me think about how much we use violent metaphors (“crushing it”, “wartime CEO”), why they work and what else they imply.

Fascinating discussion about the difference in communication styles between technical and manager type people. This is non-theoretical, from people who are living it daily. Great stuff.

“If I go to a PM or manager with questions on a feature I’m supposed to develop I sure hope they have a strong opinion about what I’m supposed to be building! Opinionated is orthogonal to being persuasive though”

“At first, when people disagree with us we assume they are ignorant … that they lack information. So we try to convince them with information. If we show them that information and they still don’t change their mind we just think they’re idiots”

More on the difference between persuading (emotional) vs persuading (rational). Short, helpful.

Roleplaying a conversation before you have it is the best way to prepare, hands down. Yes, it’s uncomfortable the first few times. So practice until the discomfort goes away.

“…it made me much less scared when I had the real conversation, because I had already practiced what it felt like to be punched in the face with these emotions”

Some musing on why teams need “thought diversity” - because otherwise they don’t change and evolve. Too much homogeneity and the team stagnates. Relates to a post from last issue on why teams don’t work. Who breaks the rules on your team? Nobody? Might want to give it a little thought.

Huh. Turns out we use a specific type of language when we’ve managed to convince ourselves that we should do something we know we shouldn’t. This piece breaks down how common it is to not do the right thing, and what we sound like when we’ve gone there.

Yep. Hidden, Unsaid Things in a team are generally not a good idea. Marcus suggests how to get unstuck. Nice.

A quick piece on snark: “If your team has a lot of snark, they are sending a message. They are struggling and need help”

(My personal view is that snark develops in direct proportion to the degree of bullshit a team is subjected to. So if there’s a lot of snark, look for, and reduce the bullshit!).

Love the phrase “Maximal Voluminous Product”. Check the piece for reasons your stripped-down, foundational MVP keeps ballooning.

Nice! A simple, careful, thoughtful piece on what it means to manage well. A short, uplifting read.

“I’ve achieved success when the teams I manage hold themselves accountable”

Well waddya know? Somebody did the research and…

“We’d love to find out if there are good aspects of abusive leadership. There’s been a lot of research. We just can’t find any upside.”

A textbook case of how not to get the team in on the weekends. Shouldn’t really pick on RevolutApp - many people have done it (including myself, back in the day). Worth checking out so you can reflect on your own leadership - what works, what could be better?