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Sometimes, existing tools and frameworks won’t solve the problem that’s in front of you. A while back, I was working with a coaching client1 that needed to clarify involvement of various folks in their projects. The first tool most people reach for in that situation is RACI. If you’ve spent much time in projects in the corporate world, you’ve probably bumped into RACI. RACI is a tool for identifying participation in a project. Sorry. RACI is the go-to tool for identifying participation in a project. The letters stand for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed. I don’t like it much. It often… …read more…
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I wrote a post on LinkedIn recently. It was a professional rant—strong opinions, direct, and lots of imperative statements. Out of curiosity, I clicked the “Rewrite with AI” button. I was curious how close it would land to the original meaning, if it would capture the directness of the original, and if it would work. Or would it turn it into a mushy soup of business platitudes?1 Here are the two versions. I’m interested in your take on them. Matt’s Original Leaders: are you with your team? Do you know them and what they’re doing well enough that THEY would… …read more…
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If you’ve managed for any length of time, you know that management isn’t just about barking out orders and denying a couple of raises before heading off for a three-martini lunch and a round of golf.1 Some things about management are even hard, in ways that are different than a “normal” job.2 Now, this isn’t going to be a complete list of everything that makes management hard. There are a lot of difficult parts of the job, and some vary by company. Writing a complete list would take a very long time. Longer if I tried to include solutions. I’m… …read more…
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Imagine you’re a manager. You’re hiring. You have an intriguing candidate. Let’s call this candidate Barry. In one hour, Barry can produce 10 times what a good employee in this position can produce in a week. Code, doorknobs, sales leads—whatever it is your team produces. It’s at least as high-quality as what everyone else on the team produces. So if Barry shows up at 8AM on Monday, at 9AM he’s produced 10x the weekly output of a solid employee. Here’s the catch. If Barry works two hours, his net productivity is down to the normal weekly output of a solid… …read more…
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About a year ago, I wanted to become a certified lifeguard.1 Before I could take the course, learn the skills, take the test, and get certified, I had to take a pre-test. The pre-test consisted of a 300-yard continuous swim, a timed 10-lb brick retrieval, and treading water for two minutes without using my arms. I’ve always loved being in or near water. Spend enough time with me and I’ll tell you how I grew up swimming in Lake Superior2, or we might get talking about canoeing, or we’ll talk about the sound of waves on the shore. I was… …read more…
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This is a tale of two firings. Names and several other details are changed to protect privacy. Besides, I’ve seen enough versions of Harold’s story that even if you’d been watching over my shoulder my entire career, you’d still not be certain who it’s about.1 The point isn’t the specifics of the two firings, or any other firings they may resemble. But before we can get to the point, the stories of Harold and Walter. Harold Years ago, I worked with an individual we’ll call Harold, because this individual was not named Harold. We all knew Harold was a slow-and-steady… …read more…
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Some years ago, I was asked to step into a leadership role of a skilled technical team in an organization undergoing high-level changes in vision and approach. The changes would require the team to do their jobs much differently than they had in the past, with different and higher standards. That’s how I ended up as the volunteer leader of the sound team at my church.1 I knew the team, having been an occasional audio volunteer for quite a while. That meant I only had to articulate the new vision, standards, and procedures. “Only” Some of the standards2 were pretty… …read more…
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I live in Iowa,1 a mostly-rectangular state in approximately the middle of the United States.2 I grew up in Wisconsin, a lumpy state in the north central United States.3 Both states are about as far from the coasts of the United States as you can get and still be in the lower 48 states. Both of these states are pretty accurately referred to as “flyover country“. They’re not places that people fly to. Iowa is heavily agricultural, with large fields growing corn and soybeans and wind turbines.4 Wisconsin is known for dairy production, beer, bratwurst, natural beauty, and a few… …read more…
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There is a simple activity called “prioritization” that is often misunderstood and done wrongly, in a way that causes confusion and frustration. Not just for you and your team, but for everyone that depends on you. The way I’ve most often seen prioritization done in real companies is to write down all of the things that need to be done, that we’d like to achieve, that it’d be nice to get taken care of, or that got suggested that one time. Then they get put in order, and everyone1 starts working down that list.2 If any new work comes up,… …read more…
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There is a tiny soft-serve ice cream shop not that far from my house called “The Freeze”. I believe that once upon a time it used to be a Tastee-Freez. It’s a lot like a Dairy Queen, if you’re not familiar with Tastee-Freez. They serve the soft-serve standards: cones, sundaes, splits, shakes, and most important for the purpose of this post, freezes. A freeze is a mixture of soft-serve ice cream and additional ingredients, such as candy or cookie bits.1 The Freeze has dozens of freeze flavors on its menu. When ordering, there’s a tension: do I order one of… …read more…