Mar 4, 2019Priorities and TaxesNailing prioritization is the holy grail of effective software teams. To get it right your team needs to understand the difference between implicit and explicit prioritization. To illustrate, let’s discuss a scenario that’s all-too-familiar to many of us. You have a bunch of code in an old JavaScript framework. It’s…Software Development4 min readSoftware Development4 min read
Jul 11, 2017Did you stand in the path of a hero?This post is about the little acts of heroism that show up in our everyday actions. It’s dedicated to those who have displayed big, self-sacrificing heroism in service of a greater cause. Think back to your proudest moments at work over the course of the last year. The big victories…Leadership8 min readLeadership8 min read
Feb 6, 2017Part 3: How to give a great 1:1Situational 1:1s — (This is part 3 of a 3-part series. I’d recommend first reading How to give a great 1:1 and The four types of tough 1:1ees). Despite the simplicity of my favorite outline for regular 1:1s, not all situations call for the same strategy. I’ve found it useful to adjust my…Management5 min readManagement5 min read
Feb 6, 2017Part 2: How to give a great 1:1The four types of tough 1:1ees — (This is part 2 of a 3-part series. I’d recommend first reading How to give a great 1:1). After I’d discovered the power of 1:1s as a new manager, I quickly discovered that all 1:1s are not created alike. Some of my 1:1s always felt smooth and productive, while others…Management4 min readManagement4 min read
Feb 6, 2017How to give a great 1:1When I first became a manager, I hated 1:1 meetings. My company required them for each direct report, but I found the whole concept odd. What were we going to talk about for all that time? What if I was asked a question I couldn’t answer? What if I was…Management9 min readManagement9 min read
Oct 25, 2016When somebody quitsA practical guide to handling a departure — Every manager remembers their first time. A mysterious 15-minute meeting shows up on the calendar for tomorrow morning with the title “Quick Sync.” You sit down across the table with the initiator, and the practiced news is delivered: “I’m leaving.” Until a few decades ago, an employee quitting was a…Startup7 min readStartup7 min read
Aug 26, 2016That one thing you say all the timeThe subtle messages that shape your organization’s culture — “Well, you know, I’m on the bottom of the totem pole here, not just an analyst, but an analyst intern.” “Don’t ever say that. Our analysts are some of the smartest people here, and we’re even more selective with our summer analysts. …Leadership3 min readLeadership3 min read
Aug 19, 2016Stop your never-ending to-do listRecover from backlog fatigue to get more done — I don’t like looking at my to-do list. It’s overwhelming. On occasion, it’s paralyzing. Somehow seeing all my priorities at the same time reinforces the feeling I will never, ever get everything done. It turns out I’m not alone. Over half of all U.S. …Startups6 min readStartups6 min read
May 18, 2016The Myth of Healthy TensionMultiple perspectives tend toward better business decision-making. Technical complexity competes with user impact and business goals, and out of that battle emerges something great. That’s where we got the myth of “healthy tension.” Today, “healthy tension” describes the relationship between product management and software engineering, or perhaps sales and marketing…Startup4 min readStartup4 min read
Apr 13, 2016Mind the gap: smoothing out team project transitionsTwo four-week projects never take eight weeks. Two ten-point Epics are rarely completed in the space of a twenty-point Epic. And two Small projects, ostensibly the size of a Medium, never seem to work out as such. The culprit isn’t your flavor of agile methodology. It is not your team’s…Agile3 min readAgile3 min read
