.NET
You Need to Update Your .NET Solution Files! (via Nick Chapsas)
- Microsoft has fixed some issues with .sln files. There are many GUIDs to link things together, which makes the file long, difficult to read, and difficult to make tooling for. It was definitely only meant for an IDE to consume.
- (This feature is still in preview in Visual Studio, and you have to enable it.) The new format is XML Solution File (.slnx). It’s an XML hierarchy with folder names and project paths.
Business
We Need More Calm Companies (via SWLW)
Although this article enumerates several aspects of a “calm company,” the telling part was what the opposite — a “frenzied company” — looks like. Perpetually in crisis, people have to be always on, threat of “if things don’t turn around, jobs will be lost,” stress dumped on staff which bleeds into home life, pushing harder and working longer are said to lead to success.
Leadership
6 Common Leadership Styles — and How to Decide Which to Use When (via HBR)
- Coercive — demanding immediate compliance; use in crises
- Authoritative — mobilizing people toward a vision; use in times of uncertainty
- Pacesetting — expecting excellence and self-direction; use sparingly where employees are highly motivated and exceedingly competent
- Affiliative — building emotional bonds; use with authoritative style
- Democratic — creating consensus; use to generated ideas when there is no next course of action
- Coaching — developing people for the future; use for 1:1s and real-time feedback
5 Well-Intentioned Behaviors That Can Hurt Your Team (via HBR)
- Seeking constant agreement
- Overprotecting the team
- Getting results without learning
- Being too involved, or not at all
- Being everyone’s friend
4 Reasons Why Managers Fail (via HBR)
- Lack of self-awareness (becoming defensive in response to constructive feedback, preferring not to delegate even when they don’t have the right skills, seeking approval from seniors for decisions they should be able to make independently).
- Lack of empathy for their own manager (believing they can do their boss’ job, unwillingness to adjust to their manager’s working style, believing managers are solely accountable for achieving team goals).
- Unproductive manager-employee relationships (ad hoc interactions rather than regularly scheduled meetings, setting agenda and leading conversations rather than letting employees drive, output-focused rather than behavior-focused, 1:1s in place of team-based interactions).
- Lack of alignment between employees’ work and goals (unambitious or inappropriate for level goals, spending significant time on undocumented goals, goals updated frequently without good communication or explanation).
Software Development
Unit Tests Considered Harmful (via SWLW)
Warning: Clickbait. Here’s the corrected title… “Having Only Unit Tests Considered Harmful.”