When helping companies rapidly improve their teams, a common issue is understanding why some people are not performing as expected. These are usually great engineers with a solid track record and experience. You and your managers might be trying all sorts of things to motivate them or help them to no avail. And the most […]
I love a good argument. Approaching decisions with a debate-like mindset that allows you to weigh and consider all options and their advantages genuinely is essential for coming up with novel ideas and not just going with your kneejerk reactions. For leaders, it is invaluable to hear from your team where you might be doing […]
I recently talked with a cofounder CTO I have not spoken to in about two years. “What have you been up to?” I asked. Turns out—not much. Same team size, similar challenges, no advancement in the bigger picture challenges he had reached out to me years before. I cringed, imagining how I would have felt […]
One of the most common complaints I hear when coaching and advising tech executives is about Product. Either about the VP Product or individual product managers, it seems that we tend to criticize their professionalism and approaches quite a lot. They don’t know the product well enough. They don’t understand how software development works. They […]
I recently co-hosted a webinar about the intersection of creativity and tech with creativity strategist Natalie Nixon. While “creativity” is not a word used often when describing R&D organizations, “innovation” is. Deciding to put aside semantics and focus on the actual value, I will use creativity, innovation, and novelty interchangeably in this context. When companies […]
A common fallacy for tech executives is not accepting their role in the company, at least not in its entirety. Advising, coaching, and talking with dozens of executives, I’ve seen this issue creep up again and again. I don’t care if you’re the CTO or “just” the VP of Engineering, nor whether you’re a cofounder […]
Lately, it seems like everyone’s cheese has been moving around a lot. From working in the office to working remotely to hybrids. From one strategy that made sense “before” to the new approach adjusted to the “new normal.” Can we say the status quo is being changed if there isn’t one? One of the things […]
Right now, many companies realize that they have an urgent need to act fast. As the saying goes—no one wants to waste a good crisis. Teams with the means for investment and the ability to execute smoothly can take steps to ensure they come out of the current situation better than they came into it. […]
We all have been hearing too much about compounding effects lately. When it comes to pandemics, one would unequivocally want to see the doubling time increase. However, there are those who have been pursuing the magic of compounding for decades, and they are focused on lowering it. My mentor, Alan Weiss, often recites his 1% […]
To create an engineering organization that’s focused on high-impact and that routinely provides innovation, you have to put in place a culture based on curiosity and willingness to fail. Genuine novelty does not always succeed. I can say unequivocally that most teams I worked with started in a default state of risk aversion. No one […]