Unlocking potential with scaffolding
As leaders, we need to nurture our team members’ growth and help them develop new skills. Too often we toss them into the deep end and hoping they swim, or micromanage every move they make. Neither works that well. By borrowing a powerful tool from the education field we can enable team members to soar […]
The 6 realities of implementing AI
Behind every “overnight success” is years of work in the shadows—and the same is true for artificial intelligence. AI chat bots may have exploded and captured public attention but scientists, mathematicians, and philosophers have been working on this since before the 1950s according to Harvard. For a long time we’ve used AI/ML for limited applications […]
A new way of thinking about product team roles
Teams need clear roles but people want to be heard and be creative. Teams need to balance collaboration and execution. Some teams have found this balance and others are stuck in debates about ownership and that is stopping them from getting things done. Some of the conflict we’re experiencing is because teams haven’t established roles […]
Who do you want to show up at your new job?
Whenever a friend, mentee or colleague tells me about a new job, after properly congratulating them, I ask them how they want to show up at this job differently. Maybe as someone who is more strategic, a better teammate, or someone who raises standards. A new job offers An environment where you can more easily […]
3 questions that will help you hire the right design leader
Attracting candidates, finding the right fit and helping your chosen design leader them launch successfully is hard and often ends badly. As a former consultant and the first design leader in an organization in more than one organization I’ve seen that companies fail when look for a magical being to solve all their problems. Instead […]
Don’t want to be an order taker? Stop taking orders
When you sit the chair and ask your hair stylist for a certain style of cut or color chances are they listened carefully, considered your face shape, hair type, how much time you spend your hair (not much if you are me) and your skill in doing hair (none if you are me). Hopefully at […]
Helping a CXO let go
I’ve seen CEOs who are deeply involved in color schemes, CTOs who want to control every architecture decision and product leaders who are very particular about agile rituals. I’ve written before about how to manage up. If you want to manage a CXO (CEO, CPO, CTO or one of the random other ones) and get […]
Mysteries of Product-Engineering Disfunction
I’ve seen a similar pattern pop up in three different companies and I’m writing this to see if anyone else has seen it too. Each company is in a different industry. One is small, one is medium and one is massive. The leaders are frustrated with the lack of progress and the amount of friction […]
6 lessons from leading global teams
For years technology leaders have emphasized the importance of their teams working face to face, but the rise of remote and global teams is making that increasingly harder to do. I’ve spent the last eight years working with people all around the world, and I’ve encountered many global teams that work together incredibly well and […]
How to be more convincing in your next big meeting
One of my crew is giving a presentation to the sales team and as we we’re prepping I used a bunch of my go to tips. These may or may not be the best choice depending on the audience, venue, culture or objective. I encourage you to think about them before your next big event. […]