Agile
Eliminating Barriers to Business Agility with Governance (via Leading Agile)
Dependencies are how organizational impediments arise. If you have few dependencies between teams, a governance model is too much overhead. However, it may not make sense to break some dependencies or it may not be possible. Here is where governance balances trade-offs and looks ahead to cross-cutting concerns. “Compensating controls” are a way of getting out in front of dependencies to help stabilize the flow of work.
Business
Research: When New IT Systems Shift the Burden onto Employees (via Harvard Business Review)
Investing in efficiency in terms of IT systems may actually shift the burden to the people using it. The article isn’t stating that such moves are always unwarranted, but management should do due diligence to understand the burden employees will have to bear with learning and using these new systems.
Communication
Stop Softening Tough Feedback (via Harvard Business Review)
Avoid the criticism sandwich (complement, criticism, complement). Instead describe the behavior you want to correct, explain the impact of the behavior, then outline what you’d like them to do.
Slow Down and Write Better Emails (via Harvard Business Review)
This article explains why sloppy emails aren’t helpful and gives some tips for writing better ones.
Culture
Research: We’re Losing Touch with Our Networks (via Harvard Business Review)
Because of the pandemic, our networks are becoming more concentrating instead of churning (i.e., replacing relationships we lose naturally). This also seems to be affecting women less than men because men typically network by doing things rather than talking. Make an effort to reach out to others that come to mind instead of dismissing the idea.
Beyond Burned Out (via Harvard Business Review)
The main causes of burnout are unsustainable workload, perceived lack of control, insufficient rewards for effort, lack of supportive community, lack of fairness, mismatched values and skills. The article goes on to say that having everyone shift to WFH only amplified an existing problem. We need a sense of purpose, a manageable workload, to feel that we can discuss our mental health at work, to have an empathetic manager, and to have a strong sense of connection to family and friends.
Software development
A Common-Sense Guide to Data Structures and Algorithms (Part 11)
Our book club finished up the last two chapters on space constraints and techniques for optimizing code.
Technology
When Should You Use AI to Solve Problems? (via Harvard Business Review)
- Association — correlation between two variables; AI
- Intervention — take an action and observe its effects; humans
- Counterfactual — what would change if something didn’t happen; humans