My latest for LeadDev… A common area where managers fail to scale is in decision-making. The two extremes are: being responsible means making all decisions and enabling a team means staying out of details and letting them make decisions. Both of these are bad. One is controlling and fails to scale for obvious reasons. The other fails to […]
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.
My friend Jean and I recorded a little video for her Lead Time Chat series on the topic of coaching. Some topics we covered… The difference between an external coach and a manager. Working with an external coach across multiple jobs. Finding a good fit with a coach. Whether an engineering background is what you […]
Last month I put together a panel for the Lead Dev on recognizing and rectifying your mistakes as an engineering leader. I rarely moderate panels, but for this audience and this topic I was in! The big failure of most panels is that they are full of abstract platitudes. To avoid that – especially on […]
I recorded an episode of Contravariance podcast, on the topic of moving into management – the expected, and unexpected, the hard and the extra hard. [Listen] [Download]
My first post for the LeadDev… Many teams have the same fear when it comes to a new manager: they fear the process monster. Process monster (n): a manager for whom the answer is always, always ‘process’. The process monster will add more and more processes to the team until the team collapses under the […]
I recorded an episode of the Supermanagers podcast and it was really fun! We talked about many things including the importance of coachability, why you should get rid of your boring meetings, and the worst manager I ever had. Listen on: [iTunes] [Spotify] [Google Play] [Anchor]
My latest in Quartz… As a manager who has usually taken over teams that have been struggling in some way, there is something that I’ve consistently had to do: fix the hiring process. Hiring well is a huge lever for team transformation. Getting it right doesn’t just mean hiring good people (although that part is crucial), […]
I recorded a podcast recently for DevInterrupted, where we talked about async communication, team experiments, and the post Eli and I wrote about hotfixes for your newly remote team. I’ll also be doing an AMA on Friday 7 am Pacific / 4 pm Central Europe in the DevInterrupted discord.
I did an interview a while ago (all delays my fault) with Yerbo who created the Burnout Index, talking about burnout, kindness, good friends and self care. Read the article