The Cranky Middle Manager Show #311 Serial Innovators Claudio Feser
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #243 The Female Vision Sally Helgesen
Posted on 30. Jun, 2010 by Wayne in Podcast
Today Wayne Turmel enters the murky waters of gender and management styles with Sally Helgesen, author of The Female Vision- Women’s Real Power at Work. We also talk about Shakesperean heroines and French debaters and I try to keep my cockatiel Byron quiet long enough to get this show recorded.
Sally Helgesen, author of The Female Vision
2 new webinar workshops this month!
How to Create and Manage Remote Teams July 3oth
Web Presentation Basics- for those who have to present online and want to learn how not to suck at it. July 26th and 29th
Show notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. Today we have a very wide-ranging discussion about how men and women see the world differently, and why more female managers would be a good thing for the most part. Not that women are more perfect than men, they just see the world differently. We dedicate the show to Portia, the heroine of The Merchant of Venice and like most managers I’ve had in my life, both male and female, a mix of talent and less desirable characteristics but possessing a world view different than most males.
3:20 The quote of the week is from Joseph Joubert and it sums up the philosophy of this show: debate and discussion are way better than not discussing something. Unless it involves video replay of World Cup goals and then there’s no reason for discussion.
4:20 Welcome Sally Helgesen to the show. With fans like Marshall Goldsmith and Frances Hesselbein she’s probably someone we should talk to. While tiptoeing between stereotype and observation, we plunge into The Female Vision and we start with the brain science.
7:20 I challenge the first stereotype by admitting I don’t rule the remote control in my house. This either makes me enlightened or henpecked depending on your point of view. This issue aside, what are the objective, scientific differences between the male and female brain? There are basically 2- women’s brains tend to fire at multiple points (they multitask better than men do) and they have better peripheral vision, (they notice more stuff around them).
11:00 Women often find their ability to notice little environmental things is discounted by male leaders as “off topic” but those things matter. Does your organization reward laser-like focus? What’s the business impact of that kind of thinking and how is it different than Attention Deficit Disorder?
15:50 There are three things that separate how most women work – What women notice, what they value and how they put things together. Here’s a big difference: more men are willing to put up with a dissatifactory work place than women are. Is that necessarily or a virtue or are things only improved by those willing to change them? Men also tend to be more focused on future outcomes (eyes on the prize) than women are.
20:57 We compare these gender differences with generational differences. Why don’t we think about ways to create a work experience that isn’t miserable short term as well as long term? Surely there’s a business issue here.
23:50 Do these findings reflect what’s going on in the younger generation? Women are outperforming men in academics, are outnumbering us in college and getting hired at a faster rate. How is this impacting younger generations of men and women?
28:50 How do women put information together in different ways than men? Women tend to look at a more complete picture in terms of impacts on people as well as on “business performance”. This means a big change in the focus and behavior of businesses. Is shareholder value the only guiding principle businesses should have?
Sally’s Resources
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #242 One Minute Commute- Remote Teams with Zack Grossbart
Posted on 22. Jun, 2010 by Wayne in Podcast
Wayne Turmel talks to Zack Grossbart, author of The One Minute Commute about how he manages remote teams of engineers and software programmers. We also discuss freebooters and long distance love affairs. Plus you meet my noisy roommate, Byron de Prorok.
Zack Grossbart in what passes for the home office for many workers. You can read more in my BNET blog post
My obnoxious officemate, Byron de Prorok. He puts in an unexpected appearance.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. We dedicate this episode to Sir Francis Drake. He not only managed remote teams and people in cramped quarters, but he kept the stakeholders happy. Talk about ROI…
3:11 The quote of the week is from Francois de Rouchefoucauld. Does distance blow out your team’s candle or blow up their bonfire? No, that’s not a euphemism for anything.
4:20 We are talking about managing remote engineers today, and welcome to Zack Grossbart. As an engineer working remotely himself, he didn’t have a resource like this to work from. Who knew he’d have missed his coworkers so much. He probably just missed the cool software startup office with the pingpong table.
7:33 Many remote managers become micromanagers in order to avoid unpleasant surprises. One of the biggest mistakes managers make is figuring that people will know how to communicate effectively with each other. The communication wall gets much bigger than it should be, and it’s not a technology problem.
10:30 People have to know how to get hold of you, and that includes both the obvious (phone, email, IM) and other tools like wikis and blogs that help span time zones. Also keep your statuses and messages up to date. Teammates need to trust and know each other, and those tools are great ways to do that. You can learn more in our “How to Create and Manage Remote Teams” workshops.
14:24 Written communication can make or break your remote team. It’s both the best way to communicate what you know to your teammates, but also a way to demonstrate what you have done. If you can’t write well, you won’t be trusted or understood and work takes a lot longer.
16:40 Just because we can communicate at the speed of light, does that mean we have to work that quickly? How does a manager set expectations, or more to the point, help the team set norms and expectations. He’s a big fan of IRC which is a bit geeky but works nicely, especially for open source projects. Also, schedules are crucial- and stick to them.
21:49 Regular communication is an important factor in team communication. It can also save your sanity.
22:30 One of the biggest problems for remote workers is being able to turn things off and have some sort of life. You have to turn the computer and phone off. Yes, actually off. You can’t do your best work when your’e stressed. Try to make sure you eat lunch, for example. Really, when was the last time you really took lunch?
27:10 What are the signs of stress and strain in a team? How do you know when people are working too hard or not being effective? Use a 3-week plan to test and still get good grades.
Resources
The one minute commute blog in 15 chapters
WordPress Editorial Calendar project- an open source project
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #241 Analytics At Work with Robert Morison
Posted on 15. Jun, 2010 by Wayne in Podcast
Today Wayne Turmel talks to Robert (Bob) Morison about his new book, “Analytics at Work- Smarter Decisions, Better Results”. We also talk about the father of demographic studies, who should have seen his own fate coming, and a quote from Arthur Conan Doyle that helps explain why we are each a mystery but collectively we’re horribly predictable. Darwin was an optimist.
Bob Morison uses small words to explain Analytics to me without making my head explode.
June 28th’s workshop will be also be How to Create and Manage Remote Project Teams. Find out more here
As always, use the discount code cranky to save 10%!
Also, check out our new BNET blog on Managing Remote and Virtual Teams.
If you want a copy of our FREE white paper “3 Reasons Remote Teams Fail- And How to See It Coming” click here.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show, everyone. Today we are talking about analytics. Rumor has it you can actually make good decisions with this stuff called “data”. Crazy, right? Still, it’s an old idea and we dedicate this show to the father of English Demographics and actuarial tables John Graunt. Statistically, he should have seen the trouble he’d get into.
2:37 Our quote of the week is from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This is why you know what most people will do in any situation, but individuals will make you crazy. Are you an” insoluble puzzle”?
4:34 Welcome Bob Morison back to the show ( he was here in the early days, you can hear that interview here). He’s a numbers geek, which I decidedly am not. Why is good data so important and how can we use it intelligently?
8:30 Bob is a smart guy, besides his use of the word “informate”. When is it useful and when is it just paperwork? Turns out you actually have to ask. You have to create a culture where people can challenge numbers without it getting personal. Turns out he’s not a born geek, he’s had it thrust upon him.
11:57 He gives us an example of good data like finding patterns. Oh, so THAT’S what analytics are good for
13:18 How do you get the team excited about getting the numbers and using it to bring them all together. This involves actual conversation and stuff. Managers need to facilitate these discussions and help the introverts demonstrate value.
16:40 How do managers make it okay to challenge and question data? Bob is a big believer of assigning gadflies or instituting the equivalent of Question Period). You have to challenge your assumptions on a regular basis.
21:30 According to research, analysts and geeks are happier with their work than the rest of us. Why? Turns out because they’re allowed to do the part of the job they really care about. Crazy notion. Also, if you just have them doing reports and not tackling the problems they’ll go running for the hills. They’re a lot like engineers , which makes sense, but they also want to work on the challenges that matter and that they’re appreciated. Oh good, that’s our challenge again.
25:00 Social networking is vital to these people, but a lot of companies try to lock them up because the data is proprietary. Companies need to figure that out. Connecting and sharing is vital. What are you keeping close to the vest that is worth more when you share it?
Bob’s Resources
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #240 How NASA Builds Teams Charles Pellerin
Posted on 04. Jun, 2010 by Wayne in Podcast
Today, Wayne Turmel geeks out on space and leadership with Charles Pellerin, author of “How NASA Builds Teams- Mission Critical Soft Skills for Scientists, Engineers and Project Teams”. He was the guy in charge of the Hubble Telescope project which was the lowest of lows and highest of highs so he feels your pain. Also we look at another project that was just crazy but got funded, the Trojan Horse, and a quote from Stravinsky (although I’m pretty sure he said it in Russian).
Charlie Pellerin is the brains behind 4-D Systems and proof that sometimes, leadership really is Rocket Science.
June 28th’s workshop will be also be How to Create and Manage Remote Project Teams. Find out more here
As always, use the discount code cranky to save 10%!S
Also, check out our new BNET blog on Managing Remote and Virtual Teams.
Now you can get 3 of the best Cranky interviews on project management on one CD for $15 plus postage
- Green PM
- Lazy Project Management
- Managing Projects Across Distance
Click here to learn more and to purchase this CD. Contains a discount coupon for all Greatwebmeetings.com webinar workshops.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome everyone. Today we are talking leadership on the biggest of projects so it seems right to dedicate this show to Odysseus, who understood how hard it was to get a project adopted (really, a big wooden horse?) and that it’s not over til it’s over.
4:20 Today’s quote of the week is from Igor Stravinsky. Do you learn from founts of wisdom and knowledge or from your mistakes…and can’t it be both?
5:00 Okay, Charlie Hellerin was the head of Astrophysics at NASA when the Hubble Telescope launched. Here he tells us how things went wrong, and how this led to his research on leadership and teams. It gets a bit geeky but it’s worth the ride.
11:20 Give thanks to whatever gods you believe in that this was him and not you. The real issue was the culture at NASA. Who knew that beating the snot out of contractors wasn’t going to get good results?
13:41 No big surprise, but the biggest challenge in organizations like NASA was “context”. That’s the working environment. How do you do things where you work and how does that impact leadership? Charlie tells us how he developed his “4-D” system by using Cartesian physics, Carl Jung and a Dilbert cartoon. Yeah, it makes my head hurt but it’s really cool. It’s all based on how we make decisions (emotions and logic) and where we get information from (intuition and observation).
15:58 The 4 dimensions of leadership are:
- Cultivation- do you care about growing people
- Inclusion- do you include people and give them a sense of belonging
- Visioning- innovation and big picture
- Direction- processes and getting things done
17:45 Why don’t business books work? Change comes from behavior change, not recognizing the problem. Charlie walks us through how this works in the real world.
22:09 I ask him to speak slowly with small words. When you’re doing an assessment it’s amazing how just the act of being assessed can improve performance. As long as the assessment is followed up on and taken seriously it actually works. People will spend time on what gets measured. It’s pretty simple.
27:14 As managers, we spend a lot of time influencing and trying to persuade other people to do stuff. The term Charlie uses is “story lines”. Is your story line arguable or is it factual? He explains it better than I do but can you identify your story line and tell whether it’s arbitrary or factual.
30:00 The story line at NASA was about beating vendors til they scream, well why would they come forward with problems?
31:29 NASA is an engineering culture. Soft skills are often looked at skeptically, but the problems were largely with that culture.
Charlie’s Resources
Chris Martenson’s Crash Course Blog (not for the paranoid)
All kinds of good stuff including free downloads and assessments from Charlie’s site