Technical people and their managers get caught in this myth all the time. And there’s a good reason for it. For the first few years of a technical person’s career — in fact until the person moves into management — each technical person is evaluated on their technical skills. When a star technical person moves
The full title of this management myth is: “If I just do a great job, the organization will run like a well-oiled machine.” Nothing like setting yourself up for failure, eh? Let’s unpack this myth. First, organizations are made up of people. And, let’s assume that they all come to work wanting to do a
I remember when I became a manager, I wished that I could be injected with everything I needed to know. For the first few years, when I thought I should be omnipotent, I’d come home and whine (sorry, but that’s what I was doing) to Mark. I finally realized that I needed training — even
Too many technical managers think that if they assign people to good work and leave them alone, people will be happy. It’s true that people need challenging and interesting work. And it’s true that micromanagement or other interference is not helpful. But people, even the most introverted people, need a relationship with their manager
This one hooks me all the time. I certainly try to be my best at all times. And, when I’ve worked for companies, I want to make them the best, too. But here’s the sad truth: you don’t have to be the best. You just need to be better than your competition. That said,
I’m crazy-busy with the finishing of Behind Closed Doors, so I’m starting another series of blog posts, this time about management myths. (When I’m in a series of posts, it’s easier for me to stay focused on writing a post every or every other day.) I’ve worked with many managers and teams who think
Esther and I have finally integrated all of our reviewer comments for Behind Closed Doors. We’re looking forward to final publisher (that’s Andy and Dave) comments, and copyediting, and then yippee, the book is ready for printing. We think the printing is about 6 weeks away — very fast for a book. Some of
I need some help with my blog template. Now that I’ve moved to each-entry-is-its-own-page, the individual entries are vertically centered on a page. That means you need to page down to see the entry. I’d prefer to have the entry at the top. I thought I had a “valign” somewhere, but I can’t see it.
I taught a project management workshop earlier this week. I include a small project as part of the workshop, so participants can practice planning, organizing, and a little steering of a project in a safe setting. One of the project teams thought they were going to implement their project (a mobile), with an assembly
I’m catching up on my blog reading, and Udi Dahan’s Programmers don’t make projects fail is a keeper. Make sure you read to this part: My philosophy is followed with an operative task: If you ever have to do more than 2 hours of overtime in a week, let me know. I understand the 2