Career
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The culture of process
→: The culture of processMy latest in LeadDev… One of the challenges we face as engineering managers is how people react to process differently. Sometimes it’s like we’re talking about entirely different things – we propose something we expect to be lightweight, and people react like we’re instituting TPS reports or time-tracking in six minute intervals (normal for lawyers,…
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The Being and Doing Brainstorm
→: The Being and Doing BrainstormA tool in balance coaching is the being and doing brainstorm. You brainstorm in two lists: How am I being? What am I doing? The combination of the two feeds each other. E.g. you might say I’m “being proactive”, and then in doing you could list some ways to be proactive (e.g. “make a todo…
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On Being “Strategic”
→: On Being “Strategic”Ages ago, a work colleague / friend offered me the following piece of advice: “We need to make sure you’re seen as strategic”. I’ve thought about it a lot ever since. It was the first time I realised I was on the edge of (perhaps in?) the trap of “she’s just not that strategic”. Because,…
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1 Year @ DuckDuckGo
→: 1 Year @ DuckDuckGoA bit over a year ago (14 months ago) I joined DuckDuckGo as an Engineering Director on the Mobile – now Native Apps – team. The biggest thing driving a change was getting back on a positive learning curve. Two big realizations pushed me to start responding to recruiter messages (around a year before I…
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Coachability: the overlooked factor in people development
→: Coachability: the overlooked factor in people developmentMy latest in LeadDev… How do your reports respond to feedback? As managers, it’s our job to grow the people we work with. This is how we build a bench, and scale ourselves and the organization. Of course, this is easy to say and hard to do, and we’ve all encountered a spectrum of people:…
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Co-Active: Balance
→: Co-Active: BalanceBalance is course 2/4 for me this year (I’m hoping to get through the training this year, and then potentially do certification next year). Previous I took Fundamentals (coaching 101), and Fulfillment. Similar to Fulfillment, I opted for the 5 half days (0900-1330), which is exhausting enough – I can’t imagine doing any longer each…
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The Return of the Office
→: The Return of the OfficeThere has been Much Discourse over the past few days on forcing people to return to offices, and judgement of those who may not want to. Has Remote Work… Worked? I always wonder what’s on the other side of these edicts about returning to the office. How do the people writing them think the last…
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As an engineering leader, should you be working with a coach?
→: As an engineering leader, should you be working with a coach?Following on from our recent video, my friend Jean and I did a little AMA on the same topic – coaching. You can read the write up here.
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Co-Active: Fulfillment
→: Co-Active: FulfillmentAfter taking Fundamentals in the fall, this year I registered for the four courses I need to take next, the first one: Fulfillment. Having learned from last time, I gave myself a little more space for it – I opted for the half day sessions (0900-1330), planned a day off afterwards, and as it fell…