Business
The 7 roles of a CTO (via SWLW)
Granted, the CTO for any given company may look different; however, I liked his approach of talking to other CTOs. A CTO is an executive, a representative, (sometimes) a people manager, (sometimes) a hands-on developer, an owner of security/IT, a salesperson, and a person that does whatever it takes.
Engagement
Why Microsoft Measures Employee Thriving, Not Engagement (via HBR)
Microsoft defines engagement as “to be energized and empowered to do meaningful work”. It was interesting that they also uncoupled thriving from work-life balance, as it’s possible to have one but not the other.
Management
What Leaders Get Wrong About Resilience (via HBR)
“Resilience is important for all employees, but they shouldn’t be left to navigate adversity on their own. Instead, organizations must create an environment for shared responsibility around resilience. First, leaders must understand whether their thinking falls into two traps: maintaining that resilience is a personality trait some workers have and others do not; and stigmatizing the real emotions employees have when they face challenges. Then, leaders should ask themselves three questions: Can the adversity employees are experiencing be reduced or removed? Are all employees experiencing this adversity in the same manner? And, what role can I play in supporting employee resilience?”
Supporting Your Team When the News Is Terrible (via HBR)
- Don’t pretend it’s business as usual. Saying nothing sends a certain message; be human, and provide a path forward.
- Make it safe to talk about identity-based issues before crises happen. Also, you can’t just one-and-done your messaging.
- Create space for different reactions. Not everybody processes things the same way or on the same time scale.
- Intentionally let some things go. Give yourself space. Have your employees list out what’s on their plate, and figure out what can be deferred, delegated, or deleted.
- Help your team channel their energy towards positive change.
Personal development
How to Get the Most out of Peer Support Groups (via HBR)
I’ve been part of (and led) less formal versions of groups the author describes. The article describes several types of support groups, their pros/cons, as well as guidance to help evaluate effectiveness.
Process
Prioritization is a Political Problem as Much as an Analytical Problem (via SWLW)
- Things that aren’t helpful
- Asking execs to prioritize long lists of things
- Lectures about algorithms, development processes, and staffing shortages
- Expecting spreadsheets to prioritize
- Things that are helpful
- Set an explicit top-down allocation of effort across a few broad categories
- Push every stakeholder to provide a very short, fully-ordered list of their group’s needs
- Briefly recap top 3-4 products/projects every week
- Use now/next/later/never to frame upcoming choices
- Define in advance what kinds of work can be realistically outsourced, and actively recruit external partners
Strategy
How to Move from Strategy to Execution (via HBR)
This author is one of my favorites at HBR. I also appreciated his take on how most of the industry is thumbing its nose at hierarchy, yet he outlines places where if you don’t have it, things fall apart.
Stop Losing Sales to Customer Indecision (via HBR)
- Customers, it turns out, are much less worried about missing out than they are about messing up.
- Omission bias is the tendency to favor an act of omission (inaction) over one of commission (action).
- Unlike the customer’s preference for the status quo, indecision has a set of discrete psychological drivers that are fueled by environmental factors beyond our control: valuation problems, lack of information, outcome uncertainty.
- JOLT: judge the level of indecision, offer your recommendation, limit the exploration, take risk off the table
4 Common Reasons Strategies Fail (via HBR)
- Not understanding the real problem
- Not understanding the org’s capabilities
- Not understanding the immovable pressures
- Not understanding the cultural landscape
Technology
Exploring the Metaverse (via HBR)
As with any nascent technology platform, there’s potential to innovate and disrupt invincible corporations. It’s unclear whether the metaverse will be better, different, or worse than what we have now. Personally I’m not excited about it.