Tag: Management

  • 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…

  • S2E33 – Can you Remove Punishment?

    Show Notes In this episode of the Tactics for Tech Leadership podcast, the hosts, Andy and Mon-Chaio, explore the concept of removing punishment from organizations. They discuss the implications of eliminating punishment, the role of corporate culture in employee motivation, and the potential obstacles such as untrainable employees and economic downturns. Through a philosophical lens…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • S2E28 – Making better hiring decisions with Edward Morgan

    Show Notes  In this episode of the TTL podcast, the hosts welcome Ed Morgan, founder of Gordian Knot, to discuss enhancing the hiring process for software engineers. Ed highlights the concept of ‘sensemaking’ and its impact on interview outcomes, stressing the importance of structured versus unstructured interviews. The trio touches on creating effective rubrics, the…

  • S2E26 – Out of the wartime crisis trap

    Show Notes  In this episode of the Tactics for Tech Leadership podcast, hosts Andy and Mon-chaio explore where leaders should spend their time, touching on the importance of signaling dedication, performance, identity, and power through time management. They discuss the contrast between crisis, wartime leadership, and peacetime stability, emphasizing the Eisenhower Matrix as a tool…

  • S2E24 – Leadership Insights from the Plato Elevate Conference

    Show Notes  In this episode of the TTL podcast, Mon-Chaio and Andy review the recent Plato Elevate Conference in San Francisco. As a unique gathering focused on engineering leadership, Mon-Chaio shares his key takeaways from sessions on effective reorgs, experiments in culture engineering, and the innovative EngOS. The duo also explores the broader value of…

  • 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…

  • S2E22 – Making Use of the Theory of Constraints

    Show Notes  In this episode of the TTL Podcast, hosts Mon Chaio and Andy delve into the Theory of Constraints, an approach developed by Eliyahu Goldratt. They discuss how this methodology applies to various systems, including technical, people, and cultural systems, emphasizing its importance in software leadership. The hosts explain the core principles of the…