Newsletter
July 2021 - on management domains, Agile (yeah, I know), premortems, and the silent pause
things to do: doing nothing and slacking off
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Newsletter
June 2021 - on handling the return to the office just right, making your team more resilient, working the perfect number of hours, and playing outside!
I hope that Canadian readers had a good Canada Day (July 1st) and that U.S. readers had a happy 4th of July. In most conversations I have with managers these days the topic of returning to the office is on everyone’s mind… and also on their calendars! It’
Ling- English
Reading notes (2021, week 25): On first systems as explicit norms and the moral imperative of what we do
First systems as important as first hires Important, yet often forgotten: “While I definitely agree that people are your most important asset, I’ve noticed that most content doesn't talk as much about the systems. What I don't come across as often is a read about
leadership
Reading notes (2021, week 23): On pluralities of people, mindsets of a leader, and why it pays to notice emotions in the workplace
Pluralities of people come in three kinds I read this on Alan Jacobs' blog: One of the most fundamental ideas that Auden held in the 1950s — the period of his career that I’m working on right now — was that “pluralities” of people come in three kinds. From an
Newsletter
May 2021 - On what it takes for people to perform, invisible transitions, hiring well, and toxic workers
Success without community is meaningless.
Ling- English
Reading notes (2021, week 22): On better metaphors, employers ruling our lives, the math on social security, and efficiency being overrated
Data: we need a better metaphor Metaphors shape the way we think about things. [current] metaphors imagine public data as a huge, passive, untapped resources - lakes of stuff that only has value when it is extracted and processed. But this framing completely removes the individual agency that created the stuff
Ling- English
We all think we're great drivers
1. We all think we're great drivers I have lived and worked in many countries and in some of these countries I have lived and worked in many cities. I travel for work, domestically and internationally, and I often rent cars to get to my destination. In other
Ling- English
Reading notes (2021, week 21 ): On what makes a person do their job effectively, hiring well, invisible leadership transitions, and the power of subtracting
What contributes to a person’s capacity to do their job most effectively In a recent survey of 14,500 U.S. workers, employees report working to their full potential when: * They are clear about what they are expected to do. * They are willing to ask questions and feel safe
Newsletter
April 2021 - on relaunching your team, more distinctions, languishing, and thinking about thinking
Mind your peripheral vision
Ling- English
Thursday sundry links
How Patagonia Learned to Act on Its ValuesPatagonia’s path toward living up to its own commitment to sustainability has involved decades of acknowledging flaws, solving problems, and finding ways to bring along suppliers, employees, and customers. But by highlighting values and using environmental constraints as a source of innovation,
Ling- English
When in doubt, draw a distinction
By far the most substantial piece of content I read recently is from Jay Rosen. He is a press critic who writes about the media and politics. He is a professor at the School of Journalism at New York University. Here is how it starts: https://twitter.com/jayrosen_nyu/
Newsletter
March 2021 - on doing nothing, asking the right questions, being a zoom zombie, and working from anywhere
What makes a great manager isn’t the problems they solve, but the questions they ask