Author: Mon-Chaio Lo

  • S2E34 – Unmasking Burnout

    Show Notes Burnout transcends mere feelings of being overwhelmed; it’s a profound state that can drastically affect personal well-being and the productivity of organizations. Despite its significance to individuals and their workplaces, it remains a concept often enshrouded in mystery and misinformation. Leveraging validated academic research and personal insights, Andy and Mon-Chaio present practical strategies…

  • S2E32 – Addressing Wicked Problems: Clumsy Solutions and the Role of Uncertainty

    Show Notes In episode 29, Andy and Mon-Chaio explored Grint’s taxonomy of tame, critical, and wicked problems and how different problem categories required different leadership tactics. However, Grint had a lot more to say about the tactics necessary to adequately address wicked problems. In this episode, our hosts delve deeper into Grint’s paper and introduce…

  • S2E29 – Critical, Tame, and Wicked Problems

    Show Notes One way of categorizing problems faced by engineering organizations is Keith Grint’s framework of wicked, tame, and critical problems. These problem types, each with their unique characteristics and challenges, require distinct approaches to effectively address them. Join Andy and Mon-Chaio as they provide practical insights and real-world examples to illustrate how engineering leaders…

  • S2E27 – Evaluating Leadership Excellence

    Show Notes It’s something that all companies do and yet it’s still a very misunderstood topic: evaluating the performance of people managers. The majority of methods regularly used for measuring managers rely heavily on superficial metrics and outdated practices that fail to capture the true essence of effective leadership. Join Andy and Mon-Chaio as they…

  • S2E25 – VacationCast – Stories from the Plato Elevate Conference

    Show Notes While Andy is away, Mon-Chaio shares anecdotes and stories from his time at the Plato Elevate conference, snippets that didn’t make their way into the prevous episode. References Transcript Mon-Chaio: Hello everyone, and thanks for tuning in to this week’s VacationCast episode. Andy is an Ireland attending a wedding and so I’ll be…

  • S2E23 – Doing What is Impossible

    Show Notes From pair programming to NoEstimates, the industry brims with creative minds proposing new ideas and methodologies to tackle longstanding challenges. The issue, however, isn’t the scarcity of innovative concepts, but rather the failure to implement them, often dismissed with the notion “it won’t work” … or, in other words, “it’s impossible.” In this…

  • S2E21 – VacationCast – A Small Story of Language Diversity

    Show Notes Join Mon-Chaio in this VacationCast episode where he recounts an anecdote from his past involving collaboration, inclusion, and using diverse language in a business environment. References Transcript Mon-Chaio: Hi everyone, and welcome to this week’s episode of The TTL Podcast. Andy is off on a bike adventure somewhere. I think the last I…

  • S2E20 – Ascending the Tower of Techno-Babel

    Show Notes In both popular literature and media, we’ve all seen the clichéd portrayal of the brilliant engineer spouting indecipherable jargon to explain a situation … and, inevitably, the main character uses a simple analogy to demystify the message. In the real world, however, things rarely mirror those stereotypes, but miscommunication or poor communication of…

  • S2E18 – Leadership Beyond Extroversion

    Show Notes Both conventional wisdom and widespread anecdotes point to the conclusion that extroverts make better leaders. But is there any evidence of this, or is this another belief with little basis in fact? In this episode, Andy and Mon-Chaio examine the misconceptions around introversion and extroversion and dive into the research around the relationship…

  • S2E16 – Misleader Majority

    Show Notes The lack of exceptional leadership in tech companies is far from ideal, and this issue is exacerbated by the widespread presence of poor leaders. The situation becomes particularly troubling when these inadequate leaders believe they are competent or even exceptional. Join Andy and Mon-Chaio in their conversation as they explore the reasons behind…