Google ran an experiment to prove that managers are unhelpful. What they found was the opposite – that managers are helpful. Google established the 10 Oxygen behaviours of Google’s best managers (behaviours 3 and 6 have been updated and behaviours 9 and 10 are new): Is a good coach Empowers team and does not micromanage […]
Author Archives: Max
July
20
Leadership hack 022 – it’s OK, teams change
posted by Max
I have found it helpful to use Tuckman’s (1965) stages of team development (expanded by Edison) to show how teams change over time, and it is normal for teams to dip and rise in performance.
July
20
Leadership hack 022 – teams change over time
posted by Max
High performing teams are very rare and take a huge amount of investment. As a leader, it is very difficult to understand how your team (or teams) are performing. While you can use metrics and OKRs these are relative (to other teams or to the post) and do not give you an indication of the […]
July
19
What you could learn from ‘Drive’ By Daniel Pink (2009, 202 pages)
posted by Max
Few books lead to new organisational paradigms. Daniel’s book ‘Drive’ and his theories on motivation have catapulted Netflix and Spotify to global success. Drive suggest that there is a gap between what research has shown increases motivation, and what business do. Daniel indicates that the current motivation model (carrot and stick) is no longer suitable […]
July
16
What you could learn from ‘Thinking fast and slow’ by Daniel Kahneman (2012, xxx pages)
posted by Max
What is intuition? How do humans think? Are humans rational or irrational and can we predict them? Historically economist built models that assumed that human beings are perfectly rational (joking called ‘homo economus’). Daniel Kahneman showed that humans are highly irrational, but often the irrationality is predictable. Daniel proposes that there are two decision-making systems […]
July
13
Leadership hack 021 – getting out of the comfort zone
posted by Max
Encouraging your team to adopt a ‘growth mindset‘ will benefit you, your team and your bottom line (see HBR article here). When Satya Nadella took over as Microsoft’s CEO spent considerable time and energy encouraging those around him to adopt a growth mindset (see this HBR article), and while he has also made some great strategic decisions (e.g., Azure, reducing Windows’ […]
July
12
Leadership hack 021 – getting out of the comfort zone
posted by Max
Encouraging your team to adopt a ‘growth mindset‘ will benefit you, your team and your bottom line (see HBR article here). When Satya Nadella took over as Microsoft’s CEO spent considerable time and energy encouraging those around him to adopt a growth mindset (see this HBR article), and while he has also made some great strategic decisions (e.g., Azure, reducing Windows’ […]
July
12
What you could learn from ‘The CEO next door’ by Botelho and Powell (2018, 250 pages)
posted by Max
What makes a successful CEO? By studying 2600 CEOs, the Botelho and Powell suggest that there are four defining behaviours that separate successful CEOs from the rest.
July
12
What you could learn from ‘The CEO next door’ by Botelho and Powell (2018, 250 pages)
posted by Max
What makes a successful CEO? By studying 2600 CEOs, the Botelho and Powell suggest that there are four defining behaviours that separate successful CEOs from the rest.
July
06
Leadership hack 020 – how to help new team members hit the ground running
posted by Max
Much has been written about how to build and maintain high-performing teams (see here and here). What is less well covered is how to bring on new members into a high-performing team. When someone new joins the team, you are probably thinking about the following: Getting them up to speed as quickly as possible Making the experience great so […]
July
06
What you could learn from ‘Only the paranoid survive’ by Andrew Gove (1997, 184 pages)
posted by Max
What happens when the fundamentals that underpin your industry change? How do you see change coming? How do you separate the signal from the noise? How do you lead your organisation through the change?
June
29
What you could learn from ‘Code Complete’ by Steve McConnell (2004, 853 pages)
posted by Max
In an age where Netflix and Spotify are held up as paragons of software development, what can a fourteen-year-old Microsoft book tell you about building software? Actually, quite a lot. The Agile framework (manifesto and principles) and Agile practices (Scrum, XP) are useful precisely because they are lightweight and easy to remember. Where should you […]
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