(This is part of an open ended series of posts where I write down random things I feel are sharable from the years of mailing lists I’ve not caught up on…)

This is Part 2 (of 2) of Johanna Rothman’s Pragmatic Manger mailing list and gets me current. Part 1 is available for those who are interested.

So here are 18 without context bits I pulled from 2-ish years of monthly newsletters.

  • I need to rewrite my resume. It worked for a decade the way it is, because it was designed to work in ‘warm introduction’ scenarios. Today’s AI powered ATS look at it and immediately bin it because they don’t know what to do with it. She reccomends thinking in terms of these ‘three facets of value’; tangible, intangible, and peripheral. And to ‘remember to include Cost of Delay for tangible value, and collaboration capabilities for intangible value.’
  • Our assumptions have served us well up until now. Don’t let them prevent you from being more effective in the future.
  • “I guess it’s time for me to delegate some decisions, isn’t it?” – Heh. Yup. If you are thinking this, it is already too late. See also ‘should I fire this person’, etc.
  • “The longer things take, the longer they will take.” – If this isnt a Weinberg-esque phrase, I don’t know what is.
  • It doesn’t matter when or how much we start. It matters when we finish.
  • Reframe “failure” [during demos] as “learning early”
  • Make sure to leave work clean when I finish it for now
  • You can’t say yes to more work without saying no to something else
  • What’s the most valuable thing we can do today to make progress?
  • Managers take the responsibility for creating the culture.
  • “Most office team members are not collocated. Instead, they are distributed.” – Again, I’m glad I don’t work at the scale Johanna does, but this happens at my scale too. It is hilarious. Remember, if one person is remote, everyone is remote.
  • The zeroth question: Is this still valuable? Should we do this at all
  • Delegate problems and outcomes, not tasks

  • What creates these more effective teams? Several characteristics:

    They have a clear overarching goal.
    Everyone collaborates to work toward that goal—and only toward that goal.
    The team members have learned how to offer and receive feedback from each other. That feedback helps the team learn and improve.

  • The big thing autonomous teams need from leadership is this: The overarching goal, and the duration of that goal.
  • What are the most valuable outcomes for the customers in this backlog?
  • Insubordination vs Caring About the System – I’m not saying this is me. I’m also not saying its not me.
  • When managers allow pressure to change how they lead, the entire organization suffers.