Dates covered: May 20-26, 2019 (week 21 of 52)
Business
How Executive Recruiters Maintain Secrecy (via Harvard Business Review)
I’ll skip the numbered list, as I doubt any of my readers are being recruited as executives. The amount of covert operations is higher than I expected, as there are many negative consequences if people know there’s an upcoming vacancy.
Career
Senior Developers are Getting Rejected for Jobs (via The Software Mentor)
- Companies are getting too many applications for devs, so they need a quantitative tool (scores on coding tests) to dismiss candidates. This weeds out obviously unqualified people and people that bring real value but not because of some specific skill knowledge.
- The way we hire and apply to jobs is more art than science.
You Don’t Need to Meet Every Qualification to Apply for a Job (via Harvard Business Review)
“If you’re completely qualified for the job you apply for, you aimed too low. … That means that you should look for positions that will stretch you, not ones where you can already tick all the boxes.”
Are You Ready to Go Freelance? (via Harvard Business Review)
These are some of the many reasons I’d prefer to not be part of the gig economy; I’m sure I could do them, but I’d rather not. Proactivity, psychological resilience, and mental agility are key skills.
- Managing security — unpredictability, insecurity, and volatility (feast or famine income)
- Managing administrative activities — you have to do all parts of the business… sales, marketing, finance, etc.
- Managing aloneness
- Managing brand
Communication
When You’ve Reached an Impasse in Your Meeting (via Harvard Business Review)
- Stay with the conversation
- Outline a clear process for working through the issue
- Visually capture the essence of what’s been said
- Step in and suggest a path forward or ask others to
- Encourage the group to assume positive intent
- Remind the group that patient, attentive listening is a must
- Avoid voting
Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style (via Savannah DeFreese)
I love English, and this compendium of structure and style from the copy chief of Random House was entertaining, enlightening, and educational. It affirmed my correct use in many places, and shed some light on other areas where I was weaker. If you want to improve your communication in English, I highly recommend this book. (The audio format worked well.)
Culture
Signs You Might Be a Toxic Colleague (via The Software Mentor)
- You seem cold — people may infer that you’re a threat; instead, make a conscious effort to warmly pay attention to others
- You seem selfish — “it’s my world, and you’re just living in it”; instead, ask questions to learn about others and practice empathy
- People think of you as the “Rule Nazi” — strict adherence implies a focus on prevention; consider whether the rules can be bent (so long as it’s ethical and legal to do so)
Where Measuring Engagement Goes Wrong (via Harvard Business Review)
Engagement surveys won’t necessarily tell you about absenteeism, turnover, or performance. Most of the questions are too broad; instead, ask about specific things you’re concerned about (e.g., fair compensation). These surveys measure perception and may not identify causes. A weak action is to issue the survey and have no change from the results.
The Most Engaged Employee in the World (via Harvard Business Review)
This four-minute video describes the average most-engaged employee — works on a team, works remote most of the time, married, no kids, has a side hustle, and is a woman. The point isn’t to hire people that fit these demographics — it’s to build an environment where people are engaged. For example, focusing on teams, allowing time for side gigs, and putting team experience above location.
Your Company Needs a Process for Offboarding Employees Gracefully (via Harvard Business Review)
It’s not difficult to find articles about onboarding new employees; however, not much thought (other than mandatory checklists) goes into handling someone’s exit. This article offers several suggestions, and I appreciate this quotation: “It can be easy to write off people who are departing, but there are many reasons to instead appreciate and support them.”
The Anti-CEO Playbook (via TED)
- Employees over profit for shareholders
- Businesses helping communities over what tax breaks communities give to companies
- Businesses must take a side in politics and social responsibility
- Accountability… The CEO reports to the consumer, not the board of directors.
Leadership
3 Ways Executives Can Manage Challenging Moments in Their Careers
(via Harvard Business Review)
- Surface questions that drive your day-to-day decisions
- Reframe your questions to make room for new solutions
- Build your capacity to start asking better questions on your own
When Managers Take Their Stress Out on Their Employees (via Harvard Business Review)
If you’re in a high-pressure job where you’re not happy with the performance of those around you, it’s likely you’re the problem.
- Listen with curiosity
- Start small with feedback
- Calibrate your responses
- Set expectations
Engineering Team Management: A Proactive Approach to Retain Developers (via Tamas Torok)
This post describes how one company finds and retains developers. Referrals are the preferred way to find new talent. To keep that talent, give them a clear career path, be transparent with feedback, give them ownership of something, share knowledge, and measure their performance in a meaningful way.
Conscious Leadership (via Software Lead Weekly)
- take radical responsibility
- learn through curiosity
- feeling all the feelings
- speaking candidly
- eliminating gossip
- practicing integrity
- generating appreciation
- living a life of play and rest
- exploring the opposite
Process
Productivity Isn’t About Time Management. It’s About Attention Management. (via Software Lead Weekly)
Focus on the right thing, not how long it takes you to get it done.
- “We live in a culture obsessed with personal productivity. We devour books on getting things done and dream of four-hour workweeks. We worship at the altar of hustle and boast about being busy. The key to getting things done, we’re often told, is time management. If you could just plan your schedule better, you could reach productivity nirvana.”
- “Often our productivity struggles are caused not by a lack of efficiency, but a lack of motivation.”
- “If you’re trying to be more productive, don’t analyze how you spend your time. Pay attention to what consumes your attention.”
Psychology
What Anxiety Does to Us at Work (via Harvard Business Review)
- You misjudge the view others have of you — things may not be as negative as you assume
- You’re defensive about feedback — have canned responses for when feedback spikes your anxiety (e.g., “Those are good points; let me think on them.”)
- You avoid situations then get perceived as difficult — be honest and transparent about your hesitation
- You react negatively when presented with unexpected ideas — pause and come back to the situation when you’ve had time to reflect
Security
The Ethics of Smart Devices That Analyze How We Speak (via Harvard Business Review)
Voice technology will likely become more prevalent, and I’ve posted links to articles here about how machine learning amplifies our human biases. If tech companies aren’t careful, voice tech will do the same — trying to infer gender, sexual orientation, age, accent. The article cites some interesting examples of doctor vs. nurse translated from gender-neutral languages becoming he’s a doctor and she’s a nurse. Unfortunately for the algorithms, humans don’t fit neatly (or mutually exclusively) into categories. Just as we’re wary of what we say in a business setting, we need to do the same with our personal devices.
The Dark Arts of Social Engineering – SANS Security Awareness Summit 2018 (via John O’Keefe-Odom)
Most people will get stressed dealing with a situation where they’re unsure how to respond. These people make decisions that impact security for your organization. This video shows actual social engineering calls and how people respond to them (and how attackers can use seemingly benign information to pivot to other places).
Software development
Code Reviews at Microsoft: How Do Code Reviews Work at one of the Largest Software Companies? (via The Software Mentor)
Saved you a click… Unfortunately this article does not focus on how a company can scale code reviews. If you are new to code reviews, however, there are plenty of solid tips about the benefits; you may also want to read the articles this one links to about pitfalls and best practices. If you’re already doing code reviews fairly frequently, move along.
Technology
.NET Core Adoption Requires an End to Complacent Attitudes (via The Software Mentor)
…for developers and companies. The support cycle for .NET Core is significantly shorter than full framework. The author says that build once and forget for 10 years doesn’t work any more. People will need to stay on top of what’s going on in .NET Core, and companies will need to allocate maintenance time and money to keep things upgraded.