Lead Kindly by Putting it Away

13th edition

Happy Mother’s Day! I hope you were able to spend time appreciating all the wonderful mothers in your life, and I hope you enjoy this weeks newsletter!

📚 Read This Week

DevOps/Platform teams are the hardest to manage by

Anton Zaides

First of all, I super loved the graphic at the start of this article, so at least give that a look ;) Anton writes “Something is always urgent in the DevOps/Platform world” and I cannot agree more! He also says “And use the word ‘urgent’ only when it’s really urgent!” which I have to remind folks of before they talk to my engineers :P. I could actually quote and comment on most of this article, thanks for writing it Anton!

By Design by

Michael Lopp

A hard and valuable story about layoffs I will simply summarize by quoting the last two paragraphs:

Your job as a leader is not to make the hard calls. That’s ego talking. Your job as a leader is to clearly explain how you made the hard call so that your team understands how you think, what strategy you are employing, and what principles you are following.

If you have no strategy, you take the time to define it. If you don’t have principles by which to make this decision, you work quickly with as many humans as possible to clearly define them. A principle is a fundamental truth. It’s a foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning and you bet they’re hard to define, but that’s your job.

🎧 Listened or Watched This Week

Make it Easier to Discuss Hard Things, with Jeff Wetzler from Coaching for Leaders

This was a remarkable episode! I listened to it in the car, and I am going to have to give it another honest listen with some focus. Here are some highlights:

• Meet people on their own turf. Others are more likely to speak up if they are in a setting that’s more comfortable for them.

• Leaders should consider shifting timing and/or medium to one that’s of the preference for the person who doesn’t have power.

• Explain why you’re asking about a topic and your intention for a conversation at the start. Providing context prevents people from having to guess at your agenda.

  • My note: It also forces you to make sure you have a good reason for asking! This helps me realize when I am asking for a status update, and then I can ask if that’s a good use of time (and 99% of time it isn’t).

🧠 Productivity Tip of the Week

This is the new mantra in our home and I love it. My six year old (almost 7!) walked around today saying “don’t put it down, put it away! Don’t put it down, put it away!” over and over again.

I am still finding their dirty clothes and dishes everywhere, but it’s a start!

The philosophy here is to finish with a sub task before you continue on. It might be less efficient! But I find in most cases the trade off is worth it. A simple example is my 2 year old and yogurt. She wants some every morning, and I debate putting away the container once I’ve gotten her some. 50% of the time she asks for more, and if I leave it on the counter then it saves me time. And if I put it away now vs later, it’s the same amount of work. So just leave it out right? No. Because life is hectic. Leaving it on the counter means I am occupying counter space with it. It means there is a chance I forgot. There is a chance someone knocks it off the counter and makes a big miss. There is a chance someone else sees it, doesn’t know why I left it so they put it away, and are annoyed at me. Instead of putting it down, I just put it away. Worse case, 50% of the time, I go back into the fridge and open it up. Costs me 10 seconds, big whoop.

💡 Quote of the Week

Act according to the situation to seize the advantage by adapting ones plans.

Sun Tzu Art of War (paraphrase)

If you’re plans are proceeding without evaluating the situation, you’re going to be at disadvantage. If your quarterly plans lock you into a course of action, no mater how the business needs change, look out! I’m sure Sun Tzu was thinking more war like, but it works everywhere!

I apply this with my kids all the time. My intention may be to take them to the park, but if their is a shift in mood, it might just be a quick walk around the block and then home. Maybe the environment says rain is coming, maybe my kids are saying “we are not going to listen”. If I ignore the signs of change, I’m in trouble.

📖 What I'm reading

The third Zoey Ashe book is SO GOOD. Jason Pargin is my favorite author; and I suck at favorites! I don’t have a favorite food or favorite color or favorite movie or show or book or song or anything. I don’t even have a favorite programming language!

📈 State of the Newsletter

We’re at 67 subscribers as of writing. That’s pretty neat! 3 readers have filled out my survey so far, thank you!