Leaders and managers often have to introduce change—perhaps they see the need, or perhaps their team members come to them with a problem and solution. But it’s important to check … Continue reading Change for objective reasons
Diagramming an argument about the release process
The other day I was talking to someone about release processes. Specifically, about convincing non-technical stakeholders that frequent releases are more desirable than less frequent ones. My friend said his … Continue reading Diagramming an argument about the release process
Making process reminders a habit
Last week I talked about clear and simple messaging for processes, to avoid confusion and waste. This is particularly important for parts of the process that are used rarely, and … Continue reading Making process reminders a habit
Keep process messages clear
I often encounter teams that are confounded by their processes–perhaps they don’t understand them, or perhaps they there are many that are missing. They can usually handle their day to … Continue reading Keep process messages clear
Questioning our own motivation
A while back I told a story in which a team questioned why I wanted them to show their current work on a whiteboard. They thought it was because I … Continue reading Questioning our own motivation
Empathy from in-person working
A lot of people I meet—particularly very senior people, not so much others—talk about the efficiency and productivity benefits of working together in-person. For example, they talk about the ability … Continue reading Empathy from in-person working
Asking “What does that look like?”
I had a fun time a short while ago talking to Richard Atherton of the Being Human podcast. If you want to explore other people’s thinking on humanity and the … Continue reading Asking “What does that look like?”
Let’s be thankful for hierarchy
Gavin Barwell’s excellent book “Chief of Staff” is about his two years from 2017 in Theresa May’s government, and much of it is dominated by Brexit negotiations. In one chapter … Continue reading Let’s be thankful for hierarchy
There are many things to optimise for
There are a couple of practices I value greatly, and which many engineers struggle with, usually for the same reason. One practice is planning for value in small increments, which … Continue reading There are many things to optimise for
Sharing the stakeholders’ mindset
A few years back I was talking to a team leader about their delivery schedule. Some of her stakeholders were keen on a planning to have two milestones every quarter—that … Continue reading Sharing the stakeholders’ mindset
niksilver.com 