Agile
How Agile Are You and How Agile Do You Want to Be? (via Leading Agile)
There are different styles of work, and how you deal with those needs to change. The practices aren’t enough; you need to consider the ecosystems that make those practices work.
Career
The 40 Best Questions to Ask in an Interview — How to Go Deeper Than “What’s the Culture Like?” (via Software Lead Weekly)
This set of questions is primarily geared toward the candidate so they can ask probing questions about the company they’re interviewing with. On the flip side, if you’re being interviewed, it would behoove you to have answers to these questions.
Communication
Storytelling Can Make or Break Your Leadership (via Harvard Business Review)
“Telling a compelling story is how you build credibility for yourself and your ideas. In this piece, the author draws on his experience as a speaker, publisher, and author to illustrate five characteristics of effective storytelling. He suggests that strong stories must be audience-specific, clearly contextualized, human-centric, action-oriented, and humble.”
Culture
Managing a Team with Conflicting Political Views (via Harvard Business Review)
It’s not that this article has bad advice; I just wonder how likely it is for it to work. Over the last twenty years, political views are more polarized and debates are more about theater than about substance. I don’t think the current system incentivizes curiosity about differing viewpoints.
Leadership
Our book club wrapped up Radical Candor by discussing a bonus chapter on radically candid performance reviews.
Process
Learn When to Say No (via Harvard Business Review)
To help you say no to the wrong things and say yes to the right things, take notes — like a ticketing system — to capture more information to help you make a smarter decision.
Society
Algorithms Are Making Economic Inequality Worse (via Harvard Business Review)
In my opinion, the system is not broken. Algorithms are intensifying the rate and efficiency of optimizing equations where social and cultural good are collateral damage; we’re just now starting to pay attention to the damage that’s being done. The goal — at least in a capitalist system — is to maximize capital; any ancillary benefits such as customer satisfaction are bonuses.
Technology
How to Win with Machine Learning (via Harvard Business Review)
You need good training data and fast feedback loops. Consider whether the training data is stable, or whether you’ll need to retrain. If you’re late to the AI game, find how to get good data and build fast feedback loops for a certain niche you understand.
When Does Predictive Technology Become Unethical? (via Harvard Business Review)
“We’re not talking about mishandling, leaking, or stealing data. Rather, this is the generation of new data — the indirect discovery of unvolunteered truths about people.”