Business
A New Approach to Contracts (via Harvard Business Review)
Most contracts are used as protections against the possibility that one party will abuse its power against the other, which starts the relationship in an adversarial or at best, defensive, tone. This article talks about how to create a relational contract that outlines intent instead of black-and-white details. (Side note: The table comparing traditional to relational contracts didn’t seem to paint relational contracts as the favorable option.)
Why Skills Training Can’t Replace Higher Education (via Harvard Business Review)
Focusing solely on vocational skills is short-sighted, as it only solves the immediate problems. The author argues that the skills students gain in 2- and 4-year programs — writing well, knowledge of other cultures, critical thinking, analytical reasoning, altruism — will be needed for the jobs that have yet to be invented.
Career
Will a Bachelor’s Degree Matter as Much for Gen Z? (via Harvard Business Review)
The high cost of tuition combined with rising rates of underemployment for recent graduates doesn’t make a compelling case for a degree in its current form. Perhaps something like apprenticeships and just-in-time learning are more appropriate than four-year degrees.
To Prepare for Automation, Stay Curious and Don’t Stop Learning (via Harvard Business Review)
Human-centered skills (e.g., empathy, thoughtfulness) will be much harder to automate. Our education system and the role employers play in skill growth will need to evolve. Apprenticeships have been a successful play for other countries. Curiosity and adaptability will help you navigate the future.
Communication
Back Channels in the Boardroom (via Harvard Business Review)
Side and private conversations outside of the entire board do happen and can be productive. However, they open up opportunities for bias, missed information, and broken trust. There are ways to allow these conversations to happen — better onboarding, clear rules of engagement, taking notes, checking to ensure side conversations are still working — to keep problems at bay.
Are You Sugarcoating Your Feedback Without Realizing It? (via Harvard Business Review)
The illusion of transparency is the tendency for us to think people understand our mental state, meaning when managers give feedback, they make assumptions that the recipient has the same mental state (or knows the manager’s). To address this, (1) be aware of this bias, (2) give feedback more frequently, and (3) be more specific in your language.
Culture
Book Club: “Remote: Office Not Required”, Part 5
This week we talked about how to hire and keep the best remote employees.
Research: People Want Their Employers to Talk About Mental Health (via Harvard Business Review)
Mental health is becoming the next big area in diversity and inclusion. Companies can…
- Start at the top — transform leaders into allies
- Invest in education — managers need to know how to help (but not be therapists)
- Provide support — not just tick the EAP box
Why You Should Write Down Your Company’s Unwritten Rules (via Harvard Business Review)
This boils down to managing expectations. One example listed was Elon Musk publicly smoking marijuana on a podcast; is this acceptable for others in his organizations? Writing down those rules gets everyone on the same page; also challenge norms every so often, and let people know when those norms change.
Economics
GDP Is Not a Measure of Human Well-Being (via Harvard Business Review)
I’ve heard on Freakonomics Radio before that we need to give gross domestic product a much lesser seat at the table. It was creating during WWII and doesn’t apply well to peacetime society. For example, it measures cars produced but not the effect of their emissions; the number of cans of soda produced, but not the negative impacts of health issues caused by increased sugar intake.
Leadership
How Engaged Is Your Team, Really? (via Harvard Business Review)
Three signs to look out for:
- Being on a team but not helping those on your team
- Gaming the numbers to benefit the individual instead of the team
- Only doing things to look good to their managers
Process
Why Some Rules Are More Likely to Be Broken (via Harvard Business Review)
Simple answer: The more complex the rule, the harder it is to comply.
How to Deal with Constantly Feeling Overwhelmed (via Harvard Business Review)
It takes a great deal of cognitive energy to keep up with increasingly complex work. Our default response is to work longer hours which paradoxically makes us less effective.
- Ask what one or two things, if taken off your plate, would free up the most stress.
- Set boundaries on your time and workload.
- Check if you have perfectionistic tendencies.
- Outsource or delegate.
- Ask whether your assumptions are true (e.g., If I don’t do X, the project will fail).
Err on the side of action, to test theories (via Software Lead Weekly)
If you’ve been wondering whether to do something, sometimes the answer is to try it instead of more deliberation. (I’d argue this works for some scale of problems, but most may not have the luxury of time, energy, logistics, etc.)
Psychology
Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions (via the author’s TED talk)
For most people depression and anxiety are a social and power imbalance, not a chemical one. We’re more digitally connected yet paradoxically more lonely. We’re disconnected… from meaningful work, other people, meaningful values, the natural world, and from a hopeful/secure future. At least in the United States, there will have to be fundamental changes for depression to be reduced. But our society today (e.g., gay marriage, women CEOs) would seem like science fiction to people 100 years ago. So maybe there’s hope…