The Manager 161 - The potential can lead astray
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"The Manager" Newsletter
Hi,
I hope you are all doing safe and well and looking forward to the week ahead.
This week I’ve been adding a few final touches to my new studio, like a new desk, lighting and more books in the backdrop. If you missed the video on the shed build here, it's here.
This coming week I will be doing a Keynote and Round table discussion at the HUSTEF conference, which I’m mightily looking forward to.
I’m also going to be pushing hard with my latest book. I’m hoping to have a release soon. The potential is what’s distracting me.
Don't let the potential subvert you
Speaking of which it got me thinking about what drives me to do what I do during the day in my career. At first I thought it was basically management and HR with tech companies, but it’s bigger than that; I hate seeing people wasting time at work. It drives me bonkers. It proper gets me going when I see wasted activity (often driven by managers and leaders). People, wasting their valuable energy and attention on wasteful activities masquerading as work. Busy, for busyness’ sake.
There are many reasons for this wasteful work (and I talk about a lot in these newsletters) but one of the most interesting is when people let the potential of the thing they are creating subvert the ability to bring that project to life.
I’m from an agile startup background. I like to see things shipped and I like to iterate where possible once it’s shipped. It’s not always possible to get things into the hands of the customer and then iterate, sometimes it’s got to be right first time. But when we have the ability to test our ideas, get feedback and iteratively build something out - I think we should do it.
One team I’ve been working with are building metrics and dashboards. 6-9 months later and they still haven’t decided on the platform and the chosen numbers. I built one (well - I organised it getting built) that’s pretty complete in just 1.5 weeks. We launched it and upset a few people. Not just because we did the work but because of how quickly it got built.
Build it. Show it those who will use it. Get feedback. Iterate. Until we show our customers the product it’s often hard to get meaningful feedback. Until we ship we haven’t actually released any value for people.
And this is one of the most insidious destroyers of energy and attention; letting the potential that something has subvert you from even delivering it. The options, the choices, the potential, the capability, the decisions….it’s great you’re working on something that has potential, but don’t let the ideas of the potential stop you from ever creating it.
And with that said - I shall return to writing more chapters of my book. It has potential and I daydream of the people I can reach, but until it’s shipped it’s merely a figment of potential. I'm letting the potential stop me from shipping it.
To realise this potential it must land with the very people it is for.
Interesting things I’ve read
Do all the things you hate on the same day - a “hate day”. I do this. I batch up admin, timesheets, invoices, bills etc onto one day. I didn't realise there was a German phrase for it - a hate day. (short)
Online sales nudges and how people are becoming wise to them. Interesting. I thought it was just me who hates the “Only two rooms left at this price” sales pressure on websites. (long)
We should be resilient right? Well, what if we’re being resilient to systemic problems - and being resilient hides the fact that the pressures need to be removed or changed. And that the system is broken, not us. Great piece. (long)
Here’s an interesting site offering ideas on how to be inclusive, done through shuffled “cards”. What was most interesting though, was that most of the ideas were management 101! (game)
5 ways to manage conflicting work styles. (Short)
Oh yes - workplaces have been getting it wrong for years. I should have been more vocal about this. But I did a talk a few years back where I spoke about getting rid of the nonsense like foosball, nerf guns and ping pong - and instead - give clean air, recreational places and better food. (medium)
Why curiosity is better than being smart. Thankfully, an article that explains why I sometimes appear smart even though academically I suck. (long)
Until next week
Rob..
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Rob..