A discussion I was having with a frustrated coworker reminded me of these decision making myths from Professor Roberto. We maintain a belief in a number of myths about how decisions are made in groups and organizations… “Myth #1: The chief executive decides. Reality: Strategic decision making entails simultaneous activity by people at multiple levels… Continue reading Roberto’s 5 Decision Making Myths
Author: Tyler Peterson
Web Developer and a hiring manager at an established technology company on Utah's Silicon Slopes in Lehi.
I Was a Condescending Jerk
Dear ManagerJS, I’m upset about something stupid I did yesterday. I was in a meeting with several peers. One of them suggested an improvement to our hiring practices. Before I knew what I was thinking I was already speaking. I said, “I categorically reject that suggestion.” Can you believe that? Not, “I see it a… Continue reading I Was a Condescending Jerk
Lovallo on Confirmation Bias
Confirmation bias Is probably the single biggest problem in business, because even the most sophisticated people get it wrong. People go out and they’re collecting the data, and they don’t realize they’re cooking the books. Dan Lovallo, interview with Dan Heath, quoted in Decisive, Chip and Dan Heath, page 12.
Roberto on Fundamental Attribution Error
we don’t attribute correctly when we think about others versus ourselves. We have a bias in the way we attribute the causes of success and failure — particularly failure “When we observe … highly flawed decision making we often ask ourselves, ‘How could they have been so stupid?’ We often attribute others’ decision making failures to a lack… Continue reading Roberto on Fundamental Attribution Error
I’m Sorry I Was Rude Today
You can have intellectual curiosity. You can relish inquiry. But I still think people don’t like being wrong. And as much as I dislike being wrong, I hate being in the wrong. I snapped at a direct report today. It was in a tense voice, at a normal volume. It was one sentence long.
Don’t Speak From “The Cloud”
Warning!: This is not a very helpful post. I’m just sharing because I have to. Feel free to round-file this post if you’re in a hurry. This isn’t important. I followed this series of links and found something at the end funny enough to make me chuckle, then giggle, then laugh until I cried. Your… Continue reading Don’t Speak From “The Cloud”
Successful Change Follows SEE FEEL CHANGE
In almost all successful change efforts the sequence of change is not “Analyze, Think, Change,” but rather, “See, Feel, Change.” “You’re presented with evidence that makes you feel something. It might be a disturbing look at the problem, or a hopeful glimpse of the solution, or a sobering reflection of your current habits– but regardless,… Continue reading Successful Change Follows SEE FEEL CHANGE
Read: Crucial Conversations
About time for me to read Crucial Conversations again.
If Leadership and Self Deception had a baby with ManagerTools.com it would be Crucial Conversations. The book takes an intensely personal view of leadership and combines it with an emphasis on observable behavior and concrete action. More good information in this book than you can absorb after only one reading.
I highly recommend the book. It is universally useful. If you ever talk to other people then you will eventually need the skills in this book.
Bring Architecture to Your CSS
Good article on CSS Architecture: http://engineering.appfolio.com/2012/11/16/css-architecture/
Philip Walton starts by saying what he wants a CSS architecture to provide – what would be the value. Then he examines common anti-patterns that work against those values. Finally he outlines some concrete suggestions.
His approach isn’t perfect. It leads to long class names and more of them. He does do a good job showing what you get for the price.
Hope you enjoy it!
(Thanks to Daniel Sellers for posting the link on Yammer.)
paper-code helps you interview
github.com/ManagerJS/paper-code
In addition to writing daily for this blog, I’ve been scraping together resources that web devs and their managers might benefit from during interviewing. I made the ManagerJS GitHub organization to hold those documents and code.
Today I’m announcing the paper-code repository. It will hold programming challenges you can sketch out with pen and paper during interviews. I routinely use these when interviewing intern candidates.