I had a wonderful time with Nigel Rawlins on his Wisepreneur podcast: Johanna Rothman Independent Consulting: Principles That Outlast Every Trend. We had a wide-ranging conversation about many aspects of consulting. But I seemed to intrigue him the most with the ideas in the image above. (Yes, that’s in Successful Independent Consulting and I offered […]
Have you ever negotiated a consulting proposal or a new job? If so, you might have heard the (untrue) problem that there is not enough money for your proposal or what you want for salary. There is almost always enough money. (Self-funded startups might not have enough money, but those companies rarely want to hire
Maybe you’ve had this conversation with a manager: You want to do something that costs some money. Maybe go to a conference, bring in some training, or something a little out of the ordinary. The manager says, “No, that costs too much.” Or, as a consultant, a manager says, “Your proposal is too much for
Public Speaking Myth Five: Shy People Cannot Be Effective Speakers Anyone can be shy. Shy people tend to be more reserved and more reluctant to share their ideas in public. Yet, those reasons are why shy people can be effective public speakers. That’s often because shy people purposefully curate their ideas. They clarify their thoughts.
There is another pernicious myth about public speaking: that exposure is enough compensation. That myth ignores the value the speaker offers. Imagine this scenario: a large, multinational company or a famous conference asks you to speak. You feel flattered and warm all over. You have exactly the right presentation for their audience. Then you ask:
This is Johanna Rothman’s September 2025 Pragmatic Manager newsletter. The Unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. Humans excel at seeing problem signals—the signs that we have a problem. However, we often have blind spots about the root causes of those problems. Our beliefs and/or insufficient or irrelevant data reinforce those blind spots.
Does your team have an overarching goal for its work—a product vision? Too many teams do not. The whole point of a project is to deliver a useful product that satisfies its customers. I like to think about projects as a container of some product value. That means that a given release does not need
I’ve been quieter than usual on all the socials and in my writing because I’m deep into finishing the Effective Public Speaking book. (I’m proofing that book today.) That’s because I’m stuck between the tension of finishing this project and starting a new project. I love starting projects. Once I decide to start a project
Is your team ever surprised by how long things take? Do you hear things such as: Team members say, “I’ve been waiting for code review for more than 2 days.” (See Measure Cycle Time, Not Velocity to see the various durations for solo, cooperative, and collaborative work. Cycle time is a team-based measure of feedback
This is Johanna Rothman’s July 2025 Pragmatic Manager newsletter. The Unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. Mike, a new senior leader, wants to know when Engineering will deliver specific projects. He would prefer more accurate estimates, but he’s okay with relative sizing, such as: Small projects: Not more than a quarter (12