Thinking about other people’s point of view is an incredibly useful skill. User research takes this a bit further, because it requires (shock!) actually speaking to other people. But even … Continue reading There’s no “best” way to present information
Last week I was privileged to speak at CTO Craft Con with Hung Lee. The theme of that first day was hiring, and Hung—who is a long-time recruiter and host … Continue reading A hiring mistake to remember
There are many times when I’ve been involved in introducing an internal system to an organisation, and one of the user representatives has pushed for changes to the default setup … Continue reading Everyone thinks they’re special (and they’re usually wrong)
When I first became a hiring manager I had to learn to say No about people. Because we tended to use recruitment agencies I didn’t have to No directly to … Continue reading Learning to be specific
I was once in a discussion about one of those topics that might, if we were over-dramatising it, be considered part of so-called “culture wars”. That is, on the one … Continue reading When there are questions about inclusivity
Last week the British Prime Minister stood in the United Nations building, in front of an audience of other world leaders, and talked about climate change. As part of the … Continue reading Focus your message
I’ve written before about having difficult conversations, and when working with a team it’s often just a matter of time before we all face a choice between ignoring a people-problem … Continue reading Tips for difficult conversations
The other day I was listening to an interview with Christophe Beck, who composes film and television music—the scores to Ant Man and Wanda Vision are among his works. It … Continue reading Focusing on the outcome (in composition)
Most teams I’ve ever worked with are full of individuals who are intelligent and dedicated. But sometimes there is a concern from (often senior) people outside the team that there … Continue reading Motivation through user appreciation
My wife occasionally talks about a manager she once had. Once in a while she would approach him with a problem—a paper needed to be written, a process needed to … Continue reading Having solutions ready to go
niksilver.com 