Professional Development – 2018 – Week 44

Image Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/54585499@N04/

Dates covered: October 29-November 4, 2018 (week 44 of 52)

Business

Higher Wages Aren’t Enough to Turn Mediocre Jobs into Good Ones (via Harvard Business Review)

1) It’s not about the hourly wage, but take-home pay (not everyone is full-time); 2) predictable schedules help people plan expenses and schedule other activities like child care; 3) you’ll retain people longer if you give them a career path — it’s not just about today’s work, but tomorrow’s.

Myths of the Gig Economy, Corrected (via Harvard Business Review)

1) Millennials love to gig — only about 24%, and most want a career path and PTO; 2) we’ll all have gig jobs — only about 10% rely on it for full-time work; 3) gigs are better — it’s just raw labor, which lacks the benefits of of employees — loyalty, retained knowledge, institutional memory, stealing top talent from the competition

4 Analytics Concepts Every Manager Should Understand (via Harvard Business Review)

1) Randomized controlled experiments; 2) A/B testing; 3) regression analysis; 4) statistical significance.

Career

Research: When Getting Fired Is Good for Your Career (via Harvard Business Review)

Experienced hiring managers know that setbacks are inevitable and want to see how individuals have handled failure in the past. 1) Look at the facts without shame, 2) lean on your professional network (former bosses, colleagues, customers, peers) to get the next job; 3) rely on industry experience to land the next job.

Developer on Fire #383: The Meaning of Professional (via Cameron Presley)

A friend and former coworker of mine was interviewed for the Developer on Fire podcast. Cameron talked about having mentors, being a mentor, being a professional, leading, organizing user groups and conferences, and multiplying the impact of teams. The episode is chock-full of good tech and team tips, as well as career lessons learned. One of my favorites was the idea that Cameron was the “product owner”, developer, and user for an app and he still didn’t build the right thing on the first try. Imaging how hard it is when those are all three different people.

Communication

Working with a Colleague Who Feels That the World Is Against Them (via Harvard Business Review)

1) Their behavior isn’t about you — they view the world differently and it’s likely difficult for them; 2) focus on their positive side, or balance things by spending time with more positive coworkers; 3) offer a different mindset for them (e.g., you’re given more work because the boss trusts you); 4) help them be heard if the complaint is genuine (not just trying to get attention); 5) ask what they’ve done to address their complaints; 6) talk to them directly about behavior you’d like them to change; 7) talk to your boss; 8) set limits with them.

Why can’t more than four people have a conversation at once? (via The Software Mentor)

The probability is greater than 50% that you’ll be excluded, which makes is harder to get your idea across. This is another example of realizing the communication overhead as more individuals are added.

Grammar, De-jargoning, and Articulation (via Pluralsight)

Professional communication is a key skill, and this course helps by demonstrating common situations, mistakes to avoid, and strategies for success. Learn how to communicate with non-experts and peers, while focusing on strong writing habits, avoiding common mistakes, and interpreting the right kind of communication for your environment.

Culture

No More “Struggle Porn” (via The Software Mentor)

“Struggle porn: a masochistic obsession with pushing yourself harder, listening to people tell you to work harder, and broadcasting how hard you’re working.” Struggle isn’t causally related to running a successful business, and even worse, people use struggle as a reason to double-down instead of stopping. This phenomenon reminds me of people that humblebrag about only getting 3 hours of sleep.

When CEOs Should Speak Up on Polarizing Issues (via Harvard Business Review)

People and employees are putting more pressure on companies to take a stand on societal issues (e.g., immigration, gender issues). Although every conceivable action carries considerable risk, inaction may not be much of an option, either. 1) Companies must consider societal values, not just shareholder value; 2) employees are now a company’s most powerful interest group; 3) the more polarized the issues, the more risk; 4) your rhetoric has to be aligned with your dollars (i.e., no hypocrisy); 5) opportunities for direct action may be constrained, because there’s only so much you can do

To Combat Harassment, More Companies Should Try Bystander Training (via Harvard Business Review)

When bystanders remain silent, and targets are the ones expected to shoulder responsibility for avoiding, fending off, or shrugging off offensive behavior, it normalizes sexual harassment and toxic or hostile work environments. Bystanders help to set the tone for what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable behavior.

Women Act More Ethically Than Men When Representing Themselves — But Not When Representing Others (via Harvard Business Review)

A study showed that women who were negotiating on behalf of someone else were more likely to lie to make the negotiation favorable. When asked, those women were more likely to report feeling guilty about letting down those they were advocating for.

We Need to Talk More About Mental Health at Work (via Harvard Business Review)

We bring our whole selves to work, yet “most people who suffer from chronic anxiety or depression are excellent at faking wellness.” People suffering from mental illness (e.g., anxiety, depression) deserve the same treatment as if they had a broken bone. Leaders and companies need to create the space and support for those that need it, and those with mental health issues should be encouraged to get help in how to manage it and communicate/share their needs so coworkers can help.

Leadership

7 Things You Should Tell Your Employees During Their Next Performance Review (via The Software Mentor)

(This article isn’t titled well, and the section headings aren’t either. Here are my clarifications…) 1) If employees aren’t meeting expectations, tell them now instead of later; 2) set those expectations as early as possible; 3) be direct if they’re not meeting expectations – don’t sugar-coat; 4) be clear about why their pay increases (e.g., merit, time in the seat); 5) favor precise feedback over general terms (e.g., satisfactory); 6) don’t skip reviews; 7) have people evaluate themselves before you do.

When Companies Should Invest in Training Their Employees — and When They Shouldn’t (via Harvard Business Review)

Training can be a powerful medium when there is proof that the root cause of the learning need is an undeveloped skill or a knowledge deficit. 1) It may be your systems, not lack of skills in your workforce; 2) how are you going to sustain that change?; 3) training must have a discernible purpose — i.e., don’t just train for training’s sake.

4 Ways to Pressure-Test Strategic Decisions, Inspired by the U.S. Military (via Harvard Business Review)

1) Practice situational awareness; 2) think outside-in; 3) war-game; 4) form diverse, strategic groups.

Process

The Secret To Holding Efficient Meetings? Follow This 1 Scheduling Rule (via The Software Mentor)

(This was by the same author as the performance review post above with the misleading title; I couldn’t isolate what his “1 scheduling rule” was, so I guess I took the clickbait!) YMMV with this post, but if you want tons of good advice on meetings, watch this Pluralsight course by Stephen Haunts (~2 hours).

Making Process Improvements Stick (via Harvard Business Review)

Keys for success… 1) communicate improvements in a clear narrative that aligns with the company’s purpose; 2) focus change efforts on pain points employees have; 3) senior leaders act as coaches, helping to motivate and engage. Starting to change a process is exciting; maintaining it is harder.

Software development

DevOops, some common anti-patterns (via The Software Mentor)

1) Developers build it, but don’t include Operations; 2) Operations builds it, but doesn’t include Developers; 3) hire a “DevOps” engineer which doesn’t come from either of your internal groups; 4) just because you build it doesn’t mean it will work forever (especially when people leave); 5) focus only on the tools; 6) assess yourself just once.

Don’t Make Squirrel Burgers (via The Software Mentor)

Developers aren’t given enough time to deliver what is needed, so they do what they can with what they have. The problems that follow are 1) the system fails because it wasn’t given what it needed to be successful, or 2) it works well enough for it to get more attention.

Pragmatic TDD (via The Software Mentor)

We sometimes get too focused on test-driven design as a philosophy. I concur with this author that it’s just one of many approaches to achieving the objective of delivering value/functionality to the customer. If it helps you (however you measure that), great; if not, it may not serve you to treat TDD as dogma. I’ve often considered TDD as “training wheels” to get developers thinking about how to design testable code.

Technology

Chinese Activists Are Using Blockchain to Document #MeToo Stories (via Harvard Business Review)

Chinese activists used it to report sexual misconduct at universities. Not every interesting idea or business proposal requires the blockchain. But where data integrity is essential, it can be transformative.