Issue #494, 13th May 2022

This Week's Favorite


Models Are for the Obedience of Fools and the Guidance of the Wise
2 minutes read.

Jason Yip with a short yet essential lesson: "Models are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of the wise." -- follow Jason's questions to help you analyze the models and practices you find. Please don't use any loaded terms (e.g. Agile, Scrum, Sprints, Squads) but rather the underlying pains and desired outcomes you'd like to focus on.

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Culture


Printed Some Chairs for the Lil Pizza Tables
1 minutes read.

My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face.

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Do We Still Need Teams?
7 minutes read.

"If employees are expecting to experience strong relationships with their teammates and they do not, they often feel the disappointment and loneliness more acutely." -- It's interesting to consider "Mission Teams" (at least how I call them) that work together for a few weeks, and then individuals shift to other mission teams, as a broader strategy. This article made me think and consider the "co-acting groups" concept further.

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8 Thoughts on the Future of Remote Work
3 minutes read.

George Mack shares his observations on where the world might shift due to COVID. Two insights that I think will be interesting to follow (and build for) are "Cities start competing" (for talent) and "Migrations-as-a-service" (to enable the former). How your company plans to adjust or leverage these shifts?

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Why We’ve Ditched Scrum Sprints (And You Should Too)
5 minutes read.

While some teams are not falling into these traps, the experience shared by Martin Michalik is something I've seen (and mistakes I've made) too many times. Scrum, or any other process, is neither bad nor good if you know what you're aiming to achieve and focus on that. Barrow the good parts and make the process fit your needs.

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Peopleware


Outcome-Focused Decision Making
3 minutes read.

Following Tom Sommer's advice on "Identify outcome drift" is often overlooked, creating a lot of noise even if the team is moving in the right direction.

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Over 25 Years and 1,000s of Employees, I've Learned: Good Bosses Use Some Uncommon Tricks. Here Are the 9 of Them You Should Use (Thread)
3 minutes read.

"Good bosses don’t let chronic underperformers stay in the role. They change the role or help the employee find their next thing. Bad bosses blame struggling employees and hope they improve." -- Michael Girdley shares many gems. Some might feel trivial, but having 20 years in the industry, very few managers follow these insights.

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Anti-Pattern: The Engineering Managers’ Group
4 minutes read.

Shy Alter with a very helpful mindset, questions, and ideas to form a team of managers. I like the "Signals" Shy offers, and the focus on creating inside jokes as a way to bring people together.

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Inspiring Tweets


@SahilBloom: The Persuasion Paradox Have you noticed that argumentative people rarely persuade anyone of anything? Persuasive people don’t argue—they observe, listen, and ask questions. Argue less, persuade more. Persuasion is an art that requires a paintbrush, not a sledgehammer.

@naval: A life spent looking for shortcuts is a long road to nowhere.

- Oren

P.S. Can you share this email? I'd love for more people to experiment and improve their company's culture.

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