Have you initiated a PIP on one of your reports? Did they improve and maintain their enhanced performance? So far, in close to 20 years of working in tech, I have not witnessed the first individual that survives a PIP. Imagine a world where most PIP sections are there, but we remove the “if you […]
Use your team’s expertise. Recently I stopped the micromanager in me and rephrased my ask in the form of questions to be answered. Let me tell you what happened. I needed, in my mind, particular reports. Reports that I hoped would give me some much-needed answers around specific projects. I was in the middle of […]
Today I had to deal with customer service for a major airline, and it was such a negative experience that I feel compelled to write about it. If your product offers customer service, there are some suitable lessons here. Training Our problem was the interpretation of essential guidance by the CDC needed to travel into […]
Today I paid someone to clean my house. Since I am on my own with the kids this week, I just went outside for a while and returned once the cleaning person told me they were ready. I paid them, they left, and I began checking their work. To my surprise, the laundry room and […]
I had a car accident a few years ago. I was in New Jersey, and I went to get tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich at my favorite Italian restaurant. After enjoying my meal, I got into my rental vehicle and drove towards McGuire Air Force Base. On my way there, I was driving […]
I began swimming at the age of three, and ever since I started, it looked pretty bland. Every day, I would swim early in the morning, the afternoon, and even on weekends. I also started going to the gym on top of swimming, and I did this every day until I became an adult. Your […]
Start by understanding that you are your most prominent advocate. Take notes What this means in practice is that you need to keep detailed notes of everything you do, consider themes such as significant projects, initiatives, recruiting, coaching, mentoring, and thinking strategically. Furthermore, your company probably uses a growth plan or matrix. Make sure you […]
Today I had the great honor of interviewing my possibly future boss. During the interview, I was looking not only for this person to be the right fit for the company, but I was looking for this person to be the right fit for me. Here’s what I mean by that. micromanagement I dislike micromanagement, […]
Stay up to date on what is happening around you Thinking strategically means having a more comprehensive view of what is happening within your company and industry. Not only do you need to understand the vision and direction for your area, but you need to go above and beyond what you’re required to understand and […]
We’re currently considering bringing contractors to help us with a backlog of work and, in theory, unblock our engineering team to work on more valuable initiatives. We began by thinking aloud about what it would look like for external contractors to work with us. For context, we rarely work with external contractors since we have […]