A long way out of the management and leadership field, but very relevant: how creativity depends on “staying loose”, being open to change, last-minute inspiration and fiddling.  Building technology, particularly software, is a creative act, open to the same dynamics of apparent chaos and sudden change.  Worth reading carefully.

Some opinions on making decisions, delegation and trust.  The basics of running any organization, in other words.

Enjoyed this push back on the “ninja hacking” approach to making a living.  We grow by focussed on craft, on building things…

Some well thought-out techniques here: check how much context-switching you are doing; delegate work without “packaging” it first; learn to say “no”.  Smart post.

We might call this “extreme To-Do Listing”.  Ideas for different ways of structuring, and playing with, your to-do list.

A good reminder to re-assess priorities frequently and carefully.  Well-managed priorities = well-managed time.

A longish read, but great stuff about how to be more direct (in the Radical Candor model, moving from Ruinous Empathy to Radical Candor).  Includes this gem, which I’ve seen first hand frequently in my coaching (we think we’re being rude, when we’re just being clear):

“Many people seen as appropriately assertive by counterparts mistakenly thought they were seen as having been over-assertive, a novel effect we call the line crossing illusion,”

A good apology is really hard.  It’s easy to fluff it, avoid it, cleverly undermine it (“I’m sorry if you got upset” is a classic).  A good post, worth having your back pocket.

Some basic, but still powerful, techniques for getting back control of yourself in a difficult conversation.

Neat graphic.  At 50-60 people, you need to start putting changes in place so you’re ready for the larger disruptions which will occur at about 150 people.  If you’re at, or crossing 50 shortly, take a look.

“Gender diversity is correlated with both profitability and value creation”  “Executive teams of outperforming companies have more women in line roles versus staff roles”

Data and research supporting diversity in the workplace.

Included this because the numbers are so staggering:

978 million people in 20 countries were affected by cybercrime in 2017.

44% of consumers were impacted by cybercrime in the last 12 months.

Incivility is a bummer, and it costs money.  Interesting data and research.  And this great quote (backed up by an academic paper):

“…de-energizing relationships—those that are negative or draining—have a four to seven times stronger negative impact on performance than the positive effects of relationships that are energizing”

This is a longish read, but very good on the effects of rudeness in the workplace - macro and micro.  Really good background, with research.  Worth taking the time.

Caught my because “I don’t have time to show that I care” has come up fairly frequently in recent Radical Candor workshops.

Weird title for this post: it’s more about silence, how to hold it in conversation, how it’s valuable, and when and why to use it.  Short.  Valuable.

Confirms what we know: disagreeing emotionally in anything text-based (yes, that definitely includes Slack) is a short-cut to misunderstanding and worse.  Quick, helpful read.

A few simple tips on when how to coach.  Main point: coaching is not just a corrective, positive coaching works well.

A list of things not to do as managers.  Check it over.  How are you doing?  :-)

A quick, simple set of guidelines for working life from Sarah. Love these first ones (there’s more):

• Speak the unspoken.
• Have difficult conversations.
• Find something remarkable, and remark on it, every day.
• Not everything needs to be said.

The CTO of Basecamp takes issue with “The Hustle”.  Love it.   Intensity, drive, passion - all good!  But there’s a line we can cross into the Grind, pursuit for the sake of pursuit.  A good line to keep in mind (I’ve wandered across it a few times).