For our ninth book, we read "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" by Patrick (or Peter, if you're so inclined) Lencioni.

Next up will be "Measure What Matters" by John Doerr, if you are one of the 7 people in the industry that hasn't read it yet!

In this episode, we answer...

One of the goals assigned to me when I was hired at my current company is to train a new junior systems engineer so he can develop a broader skill set and gain some experience on the systems engineering side (he was performing desktop support duties previously). However, even though the Junior SE doesn't have any experience in that area, he regularly argues with me about the "correct" way to do something. I feel that I spend more time arguing with the junior guy than actually implementing new things and managing the environment. I'm not sure how to handle this. I'm willing to teach, but it's challenging to teach when you're constantly being questioned about if your way is correct or not, especially by someone with no experience in the field.

What should I do? My manager has addressed this type of behavior in the past with the JSE, and we've both talked to him directly about these issues, but it keeps happening.

This episode, we answer the question...

How do you switch careers? I'm worried about completely starting over and then finding out I hate the new one.

Don't forget to read along with us, because our next bookclub book is The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni!

In this, our eighth bookclub episode, we talk about "Drive" by Daniel Pink.
Our next book will be Patrick Lencioni's "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team"

In this episode, we respond to...

I want to be promoted to a leader role because all of our leaders suck. We need somebody that knows how software is delivered to lead these development teams and stop making garbage decisions all of the time. I have been turned down over and over and over. How do I get that promotion so I can fix things?

Stay tuned after this episode to join us in discussing Daniel Pink's Drive!

In this episode, we answer the following question:

You both have talked a lot about letting employees fail, but what if they fail constantly? I teach them how to do things right and they do it wrong unless I'm right there doing it with them. I don't get it.

We are currently reading Daniel Pink's Drive, so grab a copy and join us in a few weeks!

In our seventh bookclub episode, we discuss Tom Demarco's "Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency"

For our next book, we'll be discussing the oft-referenced-by-us "Drive" by Daniel Pink.

This episode, we discuss changes...

Many things at my current company are changing, and most are not for the better. The culture and the goals are just not the same as when I joined more than 10 years ago. I've been fighting the changes but I am not winning. When do you know it's time to quit? How long should I keep fighting?

Hang out after this episode to hear our discussion of Slack by Tom DeMarco!

This episode's question is...

I've recently been promoted to director at work starting very soon. I've never led leaders before. What can I expect? What will be different and what will remain the same?

If you're interested in reading along with us, we're currently reading Slack by Tom DeMarco in preparation for the bookclub episode to follow our next podcast!

This episode, we discuss “Ego is the Enemy" by Ryan Holiday.

Stay tuned next month for Slack by Tom DeMarco...

This episode's question is...

When I started in my current position a couple of years ago, I made clear that my expectation was that travel would be minimal. Over time, my role (title) hasn't changed, but both the company and my position have evolved, including a slight increase in the amount of expected travel. Now I'm being told that, because of the company's current direction and my role, I'm going to need to travel more, including some pretty significant international travel. I've considered proposing some creative solutions and alternatives, but in the end if they are going to insist I travel more, and extensively, I'm going to be forced to quit. How would you handle the situation?

Don't forget to stay tuned after this episode to hear us discuss our current bookclub book, Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday...or grab our next book, Slack by Tom DeMarco!

This episode's question...

I get very frustrated when things change constantly. I plan for so long and then my company just changes direction entirely and all of my plans are useless. How do I stop these constant changes or at least slow them down? Should I even try? Should I just stop planning?

Don't forget to stay tuned after next episode to hear us discuss our current bookclub book, Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday...

This episode, we discuss “How to Lead When You’re Not in Charge” by Clay Scroggins.

Stay tuned next month for Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday...

This episode's question:

I'm really having trouble with delivering what our scrum master thinks is a good minimum viable product. Our agile coaches do a good job of explaining what we should be doing but I can't have the coach with our team all of the time and they keep telling me that we're taking really big horizontal slices or build essentially the whole product before they have anything releasable but it seems like that is the smallest thing that can be delivered. How do you deliver something smaller without what your delivering being stupid?

This episode's question:

A team lead at my company leads 3 contractors that are on site part time, and they don't seem to be taking ownership of the code they're creating. The exact phrase used by one of them was: "I have no idea what it does, I just programmed it." How do you lead a team of people who are contractors when you are not? How do you get more junior developers or contractors to feel a sense of ownership about what they are doing? How do you lead when you are not the official leader of a team?

Keeping up with our bookclub episodes? Next episode we discuss “How to Lead When You’re Not in Charge” by Clay Scroggins!

Join our discussion of Simon Sinek's book "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action"...why? Because we said so.

Our next book is "How to Lead When You're Not in Charge" by Clay "Buster"¹ Scroggins

¹ Not his middle name

This episode's question:

We use Agile at work, but now management is doing a bunch of measurement and using dashboards and looking for better and better measures. I don't think that's how Agile is supposed to work, but they are doing it anyway. What can I do about this?

This episode's question:

I'm working on a project, and a lot of the questions that are being asked are coming off as very sexist. Lately I've been responding with answers that aren't a blatant "Fuck you", but have underlying tones of "Shut up". How do I deal with these sexist questions? How do I keep from taking them personally? SHOULD I take them personally? Should I point them out to the people who could possibly fix it? If I do tell someone in charge, how would I do that? Should I be 100% honest, or is there a different approach I should take?

Looking for a book to read? Try Start With Why by Simon Sinek, the subject of our next bookclub episode!

This episode's question:

I have a member of my new team who is very senior, they have been around for a very long time and they are a huge pain. Everybody talks about how difficult the person is, how much they have to work around them, and how much they are a terror in meetings and in any group work. When it comes to review time everybody has perfectly generic and kind feedback for the person. The people that complain the most just don't provide feedback at all. How can I help this person grow or make a case to fire them if it comes to it if they won't give me information to work with?

The "Are we the baddies" sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn1VxaMEjRU

A listener asked on Facebook about impostor syndrome. It's a topic that comes up a lot, both in questions from listeners and in conversation during shows. This episode Dawn, Jer, and special guest Angela Dugan talk about it a bit.

Our next book will be Ed Catmull's Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration.

For our second bookclub book, we discuss The Little Guide to Empathetic Technical Leadership by Alex Harms.

Our next book will be Ed Catmull's Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration.

In this episode:

A listener was lamenting the holiday season and how difficult it was to navigate all of the parties, dinners, and other social events as an introvert. Their questions ran along the lines of whether it was important to attend these functions, how to negotiate the events when you're not very outgoing, and how to plan social gatherings that aren't so terrible to introverts.

This episode's question is:

We just went through a re-org at work and the awesome team I was on has been split up. I am currently waiting for my next project, doing little bits of odds-and-ends work in the meantime. I went from getting to work on an agile team developing a product to sitting by myself working on spreadsheets. How do I not let this new situation poison my attitude?

Next episode, we will be discussing our next bookclub book, Alex Harms' The Little Guide to Empathetic Technical Leadership!

A listener mentioned that we talk a lot about books we've read, both in a positive way and joking at their expense. So he posed this question:

What are some great books for leaders and knowledge workers to read, and what are some not-so-great books to avoid?

This episode's question:

I constantly hear about branding and personal brands. They sound like bullshit. What do you think? Are they real or important?

Don't forget that next month (episode 53, specifically) we'll be discussing Mark Manson's book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck, so give it a read!