Insights on leadership, technology, and human-centered strategy, originally shared on LinkedIn and expanded for deeper exploration.
I’m skeptical of hard and fast rules intended to foster collegiality - closest I get is starting and ending meetings on time. I like that one. I prefer teams arrive at working agreements specific to them - done with consent in a safe, high-trust environment.
Gratitude to my friend and mentor on his memorial day. He welcomed me into his theater where I found my voice, friendship and my wife. He gave me my first software job and encouraged me to move to New York. He was the most human of world builders and I’m trying to pay it forward.
Dear Business Leaders, let’s recognize our capacity to find joy, balance, and growth in our work is a privilege and is only increased when we accept our responsibility to create that opportunity for everyone else.
An Agile team takes accountability for their delivery. That means team members step up for each other, creating a safe space for their teammates to express what they think, feel, and fear about the work.
The phrase “locally curated” is a bit much but you get the drift… “We believe small, locally curated teams are happier and more fulfilled in their work when working with their peers,” the company says. Stride will be work-from-home friendly once offices in those cities open.
Reminder post-its that I had on my monitor so long, they’ve lost all their stick. 1) don’t disparage yourself 2) watch profanity 3) “we” not “you” 4) advocate for people not in the room.
A lesson learned during my fifteen years as a Director and VP level manager. Teams are the hero of their own story.
A concept I embrace in building a sustainable business that considers its impact for harm or good. “knowledge creation is a synthesizing process through which organizations interact with individuals and the environment to transcend emerging paradoxes” - Takeuchi & Nonaka
Takeaways from Adam Grant’s “Give and Take”: Change people’s behavior and attitudes might follow - the reverse is less likely. Calling people givers lends them permission to give less. Takers can be very successful. But givers can also be very successful. So that’s not an excuse.
After hearing Margaret Seidler discuss Polarity Management for Truth and Reconciliation, I’m seeing its potential smaller ways in our work in software teams: practice excellence | access to opportunity, sustained value | shipping features, architectural coherence | individual autonomy. All about the AND’s not the OR’s.
Some reasons leading change is hard: You will need more time, luck, and help then you think. You’ll have to change as much as anyone else. People won’t understand what you’re doing and will value what exists. They will have a point. Oh - privilege, power, and resources really help.
Way to go Jonah Bailey! I’ve learned so much talking to both you and Jeff Williams. Well deserved for you and your company.