management

management, MPD

Build Respect in Organizations, Not Families, Part 2

I wrote about treating each other with respect in Organizations Are Not Families, Part 1. In these respect posts, I’ll address possible ways we can treat each other with respect. These are not the only ways. You might have better ideas than I do. Please do comment if you’ve seen alternatives that work better. I […]

management, MPD

Build Respect in Organizations, Not Families, Part 3

I started this series positing that respect is the cornerstone for how we might treat each other, to manage our interactions with success, especially in light of the #MeToo conversation. The series so far is: Organizations Are Not Families, Part 1. Why the metaphor of family-as-org demeans the people working there. Build Respect in Organizations,

management, MPD

Organizations Are Not Families, Part 1

I read Joe Berkowitz’s story in Fast Company, John Oliver Was Right: It’s Time To Confront The Dustin Hoffmans In Your Life. There’s a link to a video excerpt in which Hoffman discusses the idea that the people felt like a family. Mr. Berkowitz says this: There is no template for how to be a good

management, MPD

Thinking About What to Call Team Members and Managers

Bob Sutton (@work_matters) tweeted this the other day: Perhaps companies ought to stop using “IC” or “Individual Contributor.” It seems to absolve such employees from helping others I retweeted it and we had some back-and-forth about what to call people i organizations. Let’s eliminate these words for people who are not managers: Individual Contributor: There

management, MPD

Connecting with Humans

I just read Zappos is struggling with Holacracy because humans aren’t designed to operate like software. I’m not surprised. That’s because we are humans who work with other human people. I want to talk with people when I want to talk with them, not when some protocol tells me I must. It’s the same problem when

management, MPD

Survey About Technical Managers

Marcus Blankenship and I are conducting a survey of technical managers. If you are or have been a technical manager, please take the survey here: . Oh, and I was so curious about how many female/male managers there were, we had to ask that question. Yes, I said to Marcus, “We have to ask!” He laughed

management, MPD

People: Resilience Creators, Not Resources

I’ve been traveling, teaching, speaking and consulting all over the world. I keep encountering managers who talk about the “resources.” They mean people, and they say “resources.” That makes me nuts. I blogged about that in People Are Not Resources. (I have other posts about this, too, but that’s a good one.) I finally determined what

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