Tag: feedback

No other way

FabrizioLeave a comment

If you want to become a writer, read a lot and write a lot.

If you want to become a director, watch a lot of movies and make a lot of movies.

If you want to become a musician, listen to a lot of music and make a lot of music.

If you want to become a content marketer, consume a lot of content and create a lot of content.

If you want to become a public speaker, check out a lot of talks and give a lot of talks.

There really is no other way.

You learn from others and you practice what you learn at scale.

It’s an iterative process and it never ends.

Today is a great day to start.

Comment section

Fabrizio3 Comments

Why do you commit to a heated discussion in the comment section of a social media post?

If it is to share your opinion, display your wit, dispense your humour, a better way is to create your own post, article, story, and share it with the world.

If it is to change minds, a better way is to engage in a one to one conversaton, and be prepared to be changed as well.

If it is to spend some free time, a better way is to read a book, go for a walk, watch a movie, reach out to a friend, play with your kids, or really anything else.

If it is to avoid work you don’t want to do, a better way is to find work you actually want to do.

There’s really no reason why one should commit to a heated discussion in the comment section of a social post. Yet those happen every day. And people lose their energy, focus, and minds to this activity.

Get back control.

Full control

Fabrizio1 Comment

There is a popular meme that tells about the relationships between a job done fast, well, and cheap. You can do a job fast and well, you can do it well and cheap, you can do it cheap and fast. What you can’t do is fast, well, and cheap at the same time.

Source: The Developer Society, Good/Cheap/Fast

The meme fails to tell another truth, though. A bane to many companies. That is: you can’t do a job fast, well, or cheap if you want to maintain full control on the outcome.

You can’t do fast, because when the job is ready, there are still review phases to go through. Often featuring vague feedback, last minute changes, and unsubstantiated personal opinions.

You can’t do cheap, because all the layers you are adding have a cost. And even more expensive is the price you pay for the people who leave once they realize their talent comes after tenure.

You can’t do well, because by the time you get to the finish line, what you have is a frankestein that satisfies everyone and excites no one.

So, if your goal is to maintain full control on the outcome, any of the combinations in the meme is a much better path to execution. Change, or be prepared to be kicked out of the game.

Support

FabrizioLeave a comment

What do you do when someone comes to you with an idea you find hopeless or inadequate?

You denigrate the idea, saying it is a bad one and it does not deserve any of your time.

You force change onto the idea to make it fit with what you think might be a better idea.

You begin a conversation and try to compromise to get the idea nearer to you.

You support the idea and say you will do your best to help.

I guess much depends on how invested you are in the topic. A manager might find it difficult to support something that might take time and resources and return no results; a friend might be more open to keep their opinions to themselves and help instead.

Relationships are built and broken on these type of choices. Get to them with intention and care.

Not many people

Fabrizio1 Comment

After becoming a leader, there is a choice you have to make.

As you are in the middle, many think the choice is between siding with management and siding with your team. But the truth is, the two sides are not at war. And a huge part of your responsibilities as a leader is to not act as if they were.

The tension is instead between you and your team.

Every request from the people you lead will cut into your time, energy, and focus. You will not be able to do what you were doing before, what you were good at before. They will ask, demand, pretend, guess, second guess, and ask some more. They will push you to do things you are not used to. They will force you to have conversations you would normally avoid. They will expect that you raise above yourself, often without any guidance, and act as the leader you are paid to be.

And so the choice is between being who you are and being who your team wants and needs you to be.

Not many people are willing to let go – of their ideas, of their ways, of their habits, of their responsibilites, of their work, of their ego.

Not many people are good leaders.