Assess your surroundings from 2,000 feet above
I’ve spent the past two weeks flying my experimental two-seater across the country, landing at small airports, pitching my tent wherever I can, bouncing in the thermals, and mostly observing the world from a couple thousand feet up. From that vantage point, youcan learn what a community values. The same is true, in a figurative sense, with organizations. What can you glean from a literal bird’s-eye view? Consider the impression I got of Canadian, Texas, a small town near the Oklahoma border. When I looked down on the town from the air, it seemed like a family-oriented place,...
Read MoreBuilding a cabin in the field of dreams
Here’s a story from our friend Kyle Shannon, former Creative Director and Founder of Agency.com. It aptly illustrates his experience of the gap between geeks and non-geeks. It’s a fable, and even has a moral. Once upon a time there was an open field of wildflowers with a stream running through it and birds and insects and deer bounding around. And it was decreed that in this field Geeks and Non-geeks would live together. Soon, the Non-geeks are running around catching butterflies and splashing in the water. And the Geeks are rolling their eyes. They realize that...
Read MoreYou might be a part of the avoidance collusion
(This article originally appeared in ComputerWorld USA and ComputerWorld Netherlands.) Sometimes it feels as if our basic assumption about project leadership teams is that they can’t work well together — as if collaboration is out of the question and we’re ready to settle for a cold peace based on limited communication and mutual suspicion. But I refuse to accept that. I think we should be able to examine the dynamics of project teams to unravel the causes of these tense relationships and build productive and even enjoyable connections. The prototypical project leadership...
Read MoreIs it ‘us vs. them’ or ‘all together now’?
(This article originally appeared in Computerworld and at CIO.com.) Over the years, I’ve noticed the power that a few simple words have to determine how project teams relate to their sponsors: “client,” “customer,” “we,” “us,” “them” and “partner.” It’s odd how little attention is paid to these words, given the critical role that the relationships they describe play in the success or failure of projects. As a consultant helping to launch new projects or turn around troubled ones, I listen carefully for these...
Read MoreWhat our boundaries say about us
In my consulting work, I’ve often found that my fascination with borders comes in handy. I suppose that I’m not alone in my amusement that one can stand literally straddling a boundary, with one foot in one country and the other in another. I was reminded of this recently on a cross-country drive here in the U.S. In large swaths of the country, crossing a state border seems like a nonevent. We live up to our name as the United States. Other than a sign announcing your arrival in the new state, nothing much changes visibly. The interstate is still the interstate. The topography...
Read MoreChange, one finger at a time
Some of the most important lessons I’ve learned about transforming organizations came from the struggle to shed an unpleasant habit. During high school and most of college, I was a fingernail biter. It’s one of those nasty nervous habits that no one feels good about. My jagged, raggedy, nibbled, nubbin nails were a constant source of embarrassment. Oh, I tried to quit many times. I tried going cold turkey. I tried fining myself for every transgression. I tried putting foul substances on my fingers. But every attempt ended with the same result: a return to the habit and lower...
Read MoreThink Like an Archaeologist
If you’d like your IT projects and department to run more efficiently and effectively, you probably need to develop a keen appreciation of the work of archaeologists. That’s right, real archeologists. I’m not talking about the Indiana Jones variety of adventurous grave-robbers, but of those men and women who spend their summers patiently digging in the dirt with trowels, dental picks and paint brushes looking for sticks, stones and bones. For us, what’s important about their work isn’t the excavation part, but what they do with the artifacts after...
Read MoreNEW BOOK: The Geek Leader’s Handbook
We are pleased to announce the release of our new book.
The Geek Leader’s Handbook gives you practical, immediately applicable advice tailored to the day-to-day challenges of technical leadership along with a coherent framework to adapt the ideas to your environment.
