This week we discussed sections 4.8 through 5.2.
4.8 — Setting organizational direction
- “If you don’t supply [direction] yourself, you’ll start to feel the pull of irrelevance: Maybe no one really cares what we do? What would happen if I stopped showing up? Maybe I should be doing something different?” Geoff said he’s totally in this space at the moment. His solution was to partner with his manager to get help.
- The instinct is to leave when you’re irrelevant. Jamie said it took a while for this to sink in. He pushed for changes and got no traction on a cloud initiative. He learned that many companies have no incentive to get off old technology because the transition would cost more than the company is worth. It’s hard to do the investment in the long-game, and to be patient and not change jobs.
- Finding where to focus… 1) collect all the ideas, even bad ones, 2) figure out key decisions, 3) write up those decisions and find someone to read the write-up, 4) ask for stories from other leaders, 5) distill into three or four bullet points.
4.9 — Close out, solve, or delegate
- “…it’s an unsettling period when you lose access to what used to make you happy — partnering directly with a team — and haven’t found new sources of self-worth in your work.” Geoff is feeling this right now as he’s transitioning away from a technical/individual contributor role.
- Jameson asked whether others in our group found it difficult to delegate. We all agreed that it was challenging. Geoff said as a manager it’s about the work done through you instead of by you. Jamie wants to have his hands on the tech before asking others to do it. Jameson wondered whether what the author meant applies to a manager of technical people as opposed to a manager of managers.
- Houston hadn’t seen the workflow of close out, solve, delegate explicitly laid out before; it makes sense. Geoff said it reminded him of David Allen’s Getting Things Done.
5.1 — Opportunity and Membership
- Houston is a huge fan of this chapter in general, which is about culture.
- Geoff liked this idea: “When I think about having access to opportunity, I think about ensuring that folks can go home most days feeling fulfilled by challenge and growth.” Maybe we could add that you were able to use your skills successfully so we don’t have to be growing every day? For example flow lives in the zone of high challenge and high skill. Jameson said it’s good to learn, but it’s good to achieve things so you don’t feel drained at the end of the day.
- There are some solid checklists of things to consider here: rubrics, designated leaders, explicit budgets, nudge involvement, education programs, recurring weekly events, employee resource groups, team offsites, coffee chats, team lunches.
- Houston talked about membership and how to feel included with the team. He and Geoff did team lunches every two weeks as well as board games at lunch at a previous job. Feeling part of the team is crucial. Jamie said he worked somewhere where they’d play basketball in the mornings — it gives you time to relax, think through problems, get some movement, and build camaraderie.
- Jameson said that he’s heard the most complaints around company offsites that are work-related. He likes to break from the norm. Houston said the offsite should be self-organizing: “What do we as a team want to do?” Jamie said he’s paid for his team’s offsite before (easier to get company buy-in if money isn’t involved) and made it optional.
- Geoff said this reminded him of the attendee vs. facilitator role. He doesn’t like coming up with the ideas but loves participating in them.
- Jameson liked how these events tie into things that aren’t culture related (retention, referrals). People are happy because the culture is good.
5.2 — Select project leads
- Geoff resonated with the idea of how you announce upcoming projects — allow people to apply in private, make sure people don’t see who else responded, give at least three working days for people to apply.
- Houston liked having a sponsor to lean on when you don’t know what to do. He prefers to ask in person instead of Googling things because the context is richer. Jameson prefers one-on-one conversation as well.
- The act of notifying people that didn’t get accepted with an explanation is important feedback people need to hear. If only employers were 100% transparent about this in interviews as well. It’s unlikely, for liability reasons, that a candidate will find the truth. Plus, much of the interview process is subjective.