Core Protocols: magic behind making good decisions quick

Mu Qiao
Mu Qiao
Jul 25, 2017 · 2 min read

There are many articles about how to conduct productive meetings, from many authors. Suggestions range from publishing agendas ahead of time, to inviting only relevant participants, to crafting effective follow-up plans. As an engineering manager, I have taken part in a lot of meetings, either as a participant or the organizer, so I’ve seen many different scenarios. Quite a few have employed these tactics. However, I haven’t seen any drastic improvement in the meetings’ effectiveness.

Well, not until recently, when I was called to attend a meeting where the goal was to improve a company’s on-call processes. There were seven engineering managers and eight product managers in attendance, none of whom reported to one other. Meaning, we were all considered equals. It started just like any other meeting…the problem was stated, we gave our opinions one at a time, and participants challenged each others’ proposals. Further in it became clear to me that we were going down the rabbit hole, with no hope of arriving at anything concrete by the end of the hour. To my surprise, our Technical Coach Matthew Carlson proposed a simple rule to move the discussion forward. Ten minutes before the hour ended, the proposal became rules we all stand behind.

I was amazed by the outcome. To me, it was magic, and Matthew had become the master. Actually…it wasn’t magic. It was a set of mechanics known as “Core Protocols” from a book titled “Software for Your Head.” The book is written by jim mccarthy and Michele McCarthy, a married couple of tech experts who helped revolutionize software development during the early stages of Microsoft. The Core is a set of commitments and protocols developed by Jim, described on his official site as: ““best practices” for people, teams of people and organizations that want to get great results — all the time”. The simple rule Matthew proposed was Decider Protocol. One can also read these two links (1 and 2) by Yves Hanoulle on the practice of the Core Protocols in real scenarios. I found these very helpful.

Like, comment, and share. The more people are aware of and practicing the Core Protocols, the more effective our meetings and decision making will be.

Mu Qiao

Written by

Mu Qiao

Engineering Leader, Imaging Scientist, Community Volunteer

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