Tag: Engineering Leadership
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S2E39 – Living on the Edge of Chaos
Show Notes Andy and Mon-Chaio challenge the traditional notions of root cause analysis and incident reviews within complex systems. They examine how the framing of ensuring errors ‘never happen again’ can be counterproductive, suggesting a shift towards faster recovery and continuous learning instead. Drawing parallels with After Action Reviews in the military and Netflix’s Chaos…
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S2E38 – Mastering Team Morale
Show Notes Morale: a topic that impacts every team. But how does morale influence organizational effectiveness? And what really makes a morale event impactful? Through humorous banter and thoughtful discussion, Andy and Mon-Chaio offer actionable insights and challenge conventional wisdom. They share personal anecdotes, explore research-backed definitions, and tackle the complexities of boosting team morale…
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S2E37 – Remote Work, Boundless Burnout?
Show Notes Is remote work a burnout trap or a path to freedom? There are good reasons to suspect that remote work may be highly correlated to increased burnout and many may be reinforced by our own experiences or that of our friends and colleagues. But is this hypothesis supported by research and, if so,…
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S2E36 – Surviving the Peter Principle
Show Notes In this episode of the TTL podcast, Andy and Mon-Chaio answer a listener’s question regarding the Peter Principle and how to avoid its effects. They explore the origins of the Peter Principle from the 1969 book by Lawrence J. Peter and Raymond Hull, discussing its implications for organizational hierarchies. The hosts examine various…
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S2E35 – Vacationcast – Iterate!
Show Notes Andy discusses the importance of iteration and feedback in the development process. He emphasizes the difference between iteration and incremental progress, sharing a story from Kent Beck’s ‘Extreme Programming Explained’ to illustrate the concept. Mon-Chaio returns next week when they will discuss the Peter Principle. Stay tuned! References Transcript Andy: Hello again, to…
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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…
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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…
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S2E30 – MX (not the DNS records!)
Show Notes In this episode of the TTL podcast, the hosts, Andy and Mon Chiao, discuss the concept of ‘Management Experience’ and its distinction from ‘Employee Experience.’ They explore the importance of management surveys, the challenges of delegation, and ethical implications in a hierarchical setting. They debate the effectiveness of the proposed four pillars for…
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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…
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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…