Author: Matt
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The Unreliable Narrator as Manager
In literature, the unreliable narrator can be a delightful way to introduce suspense or tension. An unreliable narrator tells lies or misunderstands the world, and therefore can’t be trusted. They seem believable at first, but the reader soon realizes they’re not credible. You need to doubt what they say, and figure out what is really…
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Jury Duty
Recently, for the first time in my life, I had to report to the county courthouse for jury duty1. I wasn’t selected for the final jury, but I still spent two days participating in the selection process. It may surprise you to know that movies and TV don’t dwell on the boring parts of jury…
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Teamwork Stone Soup
Stone Soup is an old folktale. I remember hearing the story well before I was in school. And I remember my brother and I begging our mom to let us try making stone soup!1 For those not familiar with the story, here’s my short retelling. Then I’ll get to my point. Stone Soup, A Retelling…
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Flushing Away Time – A Toilet Story!
Once upon a time, my family decided our powder room1 needed some improvements. When we bought the house, we’d noticed the hardwood floor was discolored around the base of the toilet, like there had been condensation or maybe a few overflows. The toilet itself was prone to clogging. So, we hired a contractor friend2 to…
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Facilitation and Participation
I don’t have answers in this post. Or probably many words. I do have an observation. It’s difficult to be a facilitator while also being a participant. It’s even more difficult if you have strong opinions or key information about the topic. A few weeks ago, I stumbled across the term “neutral convener”1. That’s a…
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Holding Handoffs
Ashley’s legs churned. Her feet flew across the asphalt. Ahead of her, Becky started into a slow jog, gradually picking up her pace, arm extended backwards. “Becky was so tan last fall,” Ashley mused, noticing how pale Becky’s arm was against the track, while another part of her brain noted what a strange thought that…
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Putting on the Hat
If you’ve been in the business world for any length of time, you’ve probably heard someone talking about “putting on my __ hat”. It’s helpful phrasing to signal that you’re taking a certain perspective on a discussion. Someone might say, “putting on my manager hat, we need to get this done in two weeks, but…
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The Onboarding Algorithm
After onboarding new employees across companies and disciplines, having been onboarded, and working to improve onboarding practices at nearly every company I’ve worked at, I’ve stumbled to the belief that there is a nearly-algorithmic process can lead to an ideal—or at least much more acceptable—onboarding experience. Following this algorithm will take work, but it leads…
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“We’re ready for change!”
The team has just finished presenting their recommendations to their leadership. Leadership is happy about their plan for building the next part of the product. After a small adjustment, leadership is on-board with the sequencing, too. Before the meeting wraps up, the team points out the work would go more quickly, with less risk, more…
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Onboarding GIS Technicians: Beyond Remote Software Jobs
I wrote before about two of my onboarding experiences and how they shaped my view of the company I was starting at. Those were remote, senior-level software development roles. In this post, I’m going to write about improving onboarding for roles that were not remote, senior, or for software development. Once upon a time, I…