In April I wrote about the No More Feedback book. Ever since it’s been in the back of my mind, and I’ve played with and researched some ideas on this topic. Let me share some of my musings and insights. A brief recap of the core idea of “No More Feedback” (in case you haven’tContinue reading “More Thoughts on Alternatives to Feedback”
Category Archives: Articles
No More Requirements
In a previous company, I had an engineer work on a feature for the better part of three months. The feature was well-specified, all requirements were clear. When the work was done, and the feature delivered, a demo session was organized. As the product manager demoed the feature, describing the scenario in which our customerContinue reading “No More Requirements”
Is this the right problem?
I sometimes joke that one half of my job is approving things, the other half is asking questions. Of course, asking any question isn’t all that hard, asking the right question is a skill. However, there are a few tricks. There are a couple of questions that prove valuable over and over. Let’s do someContinue reading “Is this the right problem?”
A Seat at the Table
Or: How to fight the hierarchy of disappointment Chances are that in your company, once it hits a certain size, the hierarchy of disappointment makes an appearance — and, not to be hyperbolic about it, it is slowly killing your company. “What the hell is the hierarchy of disappointment!?” At the top of this hierarchy is the Business. In the Business we identifyContinue reading “A Seat at the Table”
The Power of the Narrative
One thing I learned to do before giving a talk is to practice it beforehand. I figured this out in high school after blacking out fairly consistently during presentations in front of the class. A harsh start to my career as a speaker. To avoid this from happening again, I would practice presentations before, byContinue reading “The Power of the Narrative”
Writing for Busy People
A few years ago I wrote Reading for Busy People. Last week somebody asked if I cannot write something similar, but about writing. While it may not be visible online, I actually have been writing a lot recently, but most of it is internally focused (we use Facebook’s Workplace, where I have a space IContinue reading “Writing for Busy People”
On Paper
Or: how not to look like a dick in meetings I have terrible handwriting, always have. The moment I left school and managed to get away with either making notes and writing on either laptops, phones, or tablets I was a happy man. No more pens. No more paper. Hello 21st century. But a few monthsContinue reading “On Paper”
The Making Of: My Most Brilliant Ideas
The dump-engage-merge cycle It’s rare, but sometimes I struggle to find a good solution to a problem. However, I found a very simple technique to help me in such situations, and it’s very straightforward to execute. I usually apply it during 1:1s, but if you don’t have direct reports, I suppose you can do itContinue reading “The Making Of: My Most Brilliant Ideas”
