Emma

I write about technology @ love coding and interested in the intersection of management and code. she/her

[Emma @eWattWhere]

Bad managers think leadership is about power, good managers think leadership is about competently serving their team

#Management #Development #Leadership #DevManagers #DevLeaders

https://t.co/0tlnlvgeaV

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@allenholub Need more info: Was the Scrum Master provided out of an enterprise sales process that involved really nice dinners for Directors and above?

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@allenholub If you join a meeting and the first slide is "Welcome to the <Insert Company Name Here> Way™ Agile Process"

Run.

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@mattbarcomb I swear almost every time I see a cry for help in this area it is the exact same root cause you outlined. It's almost like nobody gets good training on how to do the work of management!

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@scotthannen @Nextdoor That's pretty much exactly how Facebook does it, and I'm convinced FB A/B tested into that to reduce meaningful dialog and increase scrolling past more adverts.

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@allenholub BuT mY sCrUm MaStEr NeEdS a LiSt Of WhAt We DiD!

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@tottinge >* Curiosity over Judgment

This. And by default most human cultures I've been exposed to are heavy on judgement. In my experience safety where curiosity can flourish has to be intentionally curated

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@tottinge >Recipe:
>1) Pit departments and teams against each other
>2) Pit teammates against each other
>3) Give each person a full load of assignments
>4) Tell them to cooperate better and more often
>5) Try to fix their "soft-skills" problem

Don't forget:
6) Hold ICs "accountable"

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@allenholub Step 1: Infect organization with top-down OKR/MBO anti-pattern.
Step 2: A SAFe sales process that both plugs into OKR/MBO anti-pattern AND, more importantly, rewards managers for buying (free dinners, NFL tickets, etc).

Step 3: ...
Step 4: Profit, clearly.

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@tottinge I'm ready to go back to that fresh milk! I miss the good old days!

https://t.co/UJgzKxjQzR

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@johncutlefish If only OKRs worked that well! In the picture I see nobody scheming to craft OKRs that fit neatly into the boss's confirmation bias!

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@johncutlefish People who suck down a paycheck to poorly do the PO role full time find the idea of devs owning more than the timely completion of Jira tickets incredibly threatening.

Yes. Some devs want to stick to their Jira ticket flow, and there *is* a place for them. No, not all devs.

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@allenholub >Using an Agile tool does not make you Agile any more than using a saw makes you a cabinet maker.

I do feel like wielding a chainsaw in some of the standups I've attended would have helped people demonstrate their agility though!

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@allenholub Every time I open Jira I think to myself "If there was just a couple more fields that nobody uses, it would be perfect!"

#jirasucks

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@allenholub These days if you want to know if a Fortune 1000 company is running this anti-pattern, look no further than their BoD and C-suite. If it isn't packed with technologists, then top-down one-size-fits-all processes enforced via authority is the anti-pattern du jour.

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@tottinge At its core it is waste. Wasted time, wasted opportunities, wasted life.

Self inflicted, pull request driven, waste

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@johncutlefish >Uncertainty as a signal of opportunity / valuable problem

This is a fundamental truth. This also explains why the corporate culture of playing it safe and focusing on pleasing the boss results in repeated, tractionless attempts to copy the already successful competition

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@tottinge @TheGoodKnowmad >the only alternative is that code is never reviewed.

That is a clear sign of an organization that is just cargo culting instead of hiring smart people and inspiring them with juicy problems.

Meanwhile, at Apple's innovative peak

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@ldavidmarquet >Improvement happens in batches, in increments, after studying a stabilized process.

This.

To the average MBA trained Lord Business type who is addicted to "causing" progress by "directing" people, studying a stabilized process sounds "slow"

Hence: Go fast to go bad

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@allenholub Agile lets smart people continuously evaluate risk and constraints. "agilefail" lets project and product management "manage" lots of extra risk due to the team's vision being obscured from seeing and mitigating risks and constraints.

#FireBadManagement

[Emma @eWattWhere]

@johncutlefish OKRs are a form of cargo culting where people can just point to other, established companies and say "See, we should do that too!"

Meanwhile, at Google, OKRs were bi-directional. Most legacy companies consider smart people telling management what to do to be disloyal.