Leadership — all 37 essays
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№ 01AI × Business
BELIEVE THE CHECKBOOK
AI companies talk as if engineering is over. Their acquisitions say the opposite.
2 min -
№ 02AI × Business
THE MOST EXPENSIVE WALL IN SOFTWARE
What happens when you stop protecting engineers from customers?
5 min -
№ 03AI
MISE EN PLACE FOR AI TEAMS
Small tools, sharp edges, fast teams.
3 min -
№ 04AI
THE HUMAN SIDE OF AI: GIVING PEOPLE BACK THEIR TIME
In 1927, Henry Ford made a revolutionary decision to transition his workforce to a five-day workweek. The reason wasn't just altruism - he discovered that...
3 min -
№ 05Leadership
DON'T WAIT FOR JANUARY
The Myth of the Perfect Starting Line
1 min -
№ 06Technology Strategy
NAVIGATING THE UPSIDE DOWN AS A TECHNOLOGY LEADER
Ideas for leading technology organizations with confidence and creativity.
3 min -
№ 07Career Growth
CALL TO ADVENTURE
My career's next chapter.
3 min -
№ 08Leadership
ORGANIZATIONAL KINTSUGI: TURNING BROKENNESS INTO RESILIENCE
The following post is something I really haven't shared before. But, it was on my mind during a recent 20 hour road-trip with my family and I had some...
9 min -
№ 09Leadership
ENCOURAGE YOUR TEAM TO TAKE TIME OFF THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
Next year is shaping up to be just as uncertain and stressful as the post-COVID years. Use December as an opportunity to encourage your team to take some...
2 min -
№ 10Leadership
LEADING THROUGH CRISIS
Earlier on in my career I was working alongside a team of really smart developers building an application that you have probably used at a company you...
8 min -
№ 11Leadership
NINE LIES ABOUT WORK: PODCAST SERIES OVERVIEW
Today the Wanna Grab Coffee? crew started a new series diving deep into The Nine Lies About Work - A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World by...
3 min -
№ 12Leadership
INTERVIEW: THE ONE BROKEN COG PODCAST
Pull up a comfortable chair and a calming drink and come spend a few minutes with Robert Greiner and me. I had the privilege of joining John and Brian on...
1 min -
№ 13Leadership
PERMA-V: POSITIVE EMOTIONS AND SAVORING THE BEST PARTS OF LIFE
In today's episode Robert, Igor, and Charles dive deeper into the PERMA-V model of well-being by exploring "P" for Positive Emotions. We've talked about...
1 min -
№ 14Leadership
PERMA-V: HOW TO FLOURISH IN WORK AND LIFE
We're back with another podcast episode. Today, we talk about positive psychology and the effects it can have on our ability to Flourish.
1 min -
№ 15Strategy
DESIGN THINKING FOR NON-DESIGNERS
Today we discuss the core concepts behind Design Thinking and how you can apply them in a non-designer career.Components of Design ThinkingHuman Centered...
1 min -
№ 16Leadership
TAKE A BREAK!
In our first ever episode recorded as a group, Charles, Igor, and I discuss the importance of taking a break. We talk about the tricks our brain plays on...
1 min -
№ 17Leadership
TAKE A BREAK! THE TRIP REPORT
In today's episode, Charles, Igor, and I continue the discussion on taking intentional downtime to increase our physical, mental, and relationship...
1 min -
№ 18Leadership
LEADING IN A CRISIS: MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
Super excited to talk to Charles Knight about leading in times of uncertainty. We discuss Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, how the framework applies to...
7 min -
№ 19Leadership
FOCUS ON YOUR CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE
Score 100 on the things you can controlIn life, and especially in uncertain times, there are endless sources of "news" telling you what you should be...
1 min -
№ 20Career Growth
HUMBLE. HUNGRY. SMART.
Exceptional teams change the world. Dysfunctional teams don’t.One of my favorite movie scenes is from Apollo 13 after the crew realized they didn’t...
2 min -
№ 21Leadership
HUMAN AND GOLF COURSE ARCHITECTURE
"Narrow fairways bordered by long grass make for bad golfers. They do so by destroying the harmony and continuity of the game, and in causing a stilted...
1 min -
№ 22Career
WOODEN BLOCKS
I was listening to a Manager Tools podcast over the weekend and they shared a great Civil War era poem by Stephen Vincent Benet that applies very broadly...
1 min -
№ 23Leadership
LEADERSHIP WORST PRACTICES
I've been re-watching The Office with my wife over the past several months, starting from the beginning and working through all of the episodes. One thing...
3 min -
№ 24Leadership
EIGHT STEPS TO TRANSFORM YOUR ORGANIZATION
Change is hard, really hard. Most days, I can barely muster the willpower to floss my teeth - even after deliberately placing the floss right next to my...
5 min -
№ 25Leadership
CHESS, NOT CHECKERS
The first few years of my career were relatively straightforward. I came to work every day, grabbed my new user stories or defects and started working....
2 min -
№ 26Leadership
FIVE QUALITIES OF PEOPLE-FOCUSED LEADERS
When you’re in a relationship, if you are aware of a problem, it’s your responsibility to make a concerted effort to make a positive change. - John...
2 min -
№ 27Leadership
EXECUTIVE PRESENCE
I had an opportunity to read a few books over the holiday break, and the best one by far, was Executive Presence: The Missing Link Between Merit and...
4 min -
№ 28Leadership
THE PLATINUM RULE
A few months prior to being married, my then-future-wife and I spent some quality time together looking for a new apartment. We had already discussed the...
4 min -
№ 29Leadership
DEADLINES
Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion - Parkinson's LawI remember watching an episode of The Simpsons years ago, where the...
1 min -
№ 30Leadership
GRIT
Every summer before going off to college, I worked with my dad at his Powder Coating business. For those who aren't familiar with the trade, a typical day...
3 min -
№ 31Leadership
LEADER-LEADER
Traditional leadership logic (leader-follower) says that organizations need a strong leader to take command and control over the organization in order for...
2 min -
№ 32Leadership
THE TRUST EQUATION
You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you....
1 min -
№ 33Leadership
HELP YOUR TEAM SUCCEED BY PROVIDING CONTEXT, TOOLS, AND OPPORTUNITIES
In order for your team to succeed, they must be provided with the proper context, tools, and opportunities. Neglecting any one of these three items will...
1 min -
№ 34Leadership
AGREE NOW TO DISAGREE LATER
When you find yourself disagreeing with someone, you might find you get what you want more often if you focus on what you can agree on first and save what...
1 min -
№ 35Leadership
THE FIRST THING YOU SHOULD DO AFTER A MISSED DEADLINE
There are several different project management levers you can pull when a team member misses a deadline, but there is one that you should always do before...
1 min -
№ 36Leadership
PEOPLE
When I was in college, I lived in this old eight-unit apartment complex (for $400/month including electricity) with my roommate who I'd known since high...
2 min -
№ 37Leadership
WORK YOURSELF OUT OF A JOB
Some of the best advice that I've received in my career is that whatever job position you find yourself in, you should always be trying to work yourself...
1 min














