A Journeyman's Travels

George Orwell compares writing a book to battling a force the author can neither defeat nor control, except to write. So it stands to reason that if an author took the time to write an introduction, we would do well to read it! So let's explore Drucker's introduction to The Effective Executive, and see what kind of insight he'll be sharing with us, this time on A Journeyman's Travels!

What do you get when you combine a book club and a podcast? I don't know either, but we're gonna find out! This season on a Journeyman's Travels, we'll explore Peter Drucker's The Effective Executive. A Seminal work in the Management space, especially poignant to Knowledge Workers. So starting next week, we'll start explore the work, so get your copy, and join us on a Journeyman's Travels!

This season we've been discussing Leadership First Principles. We've explored how Leadership is not about you, the leader. We've seen how it must change how we spend our time, and that we must build systems. In our last episode on the topic, I want to discuss one characteristic necessary for all of those to succeed: Endurance. Endurance saw Edison to the lightbulb, and Washington to victory over the British. Enduance , and consistency in discipline, is absolutely vital for any element of Leadership to succeed. Let's talk about it!

Leadership is about _leading_ the way. But how do you do that, when you can't be in the room? We've already seen how leadership has to affect your priorities, and that it must manifest in how you spend your time. But part of leadership is creating systems to empower action even when you are not present to drive it. Let's talk about Systems as a first principle of Leadership, and what elements are necessary for those systems to succeed.

Building on the first principles of leadership, we find that Leadership must affect how you, the leader spend your time. Not specifically because more time means more leadership, but rather that the right focus in the time you already is more leadership. Let's discuss how the career change of stepping into leadership should affect an engineer's time, and how we can gain more control over our own time as well!

The next topic in this season of First Principles is Leadership. And the starting point for leadership is a realization of what it means to lead. Not some earth-shattering revelation, but a simple return to basics: Leadership is not about the leader. Let's explore the implications of this first principle as we lay the foundation for impactful, successful leadership!

Retrospectives must be intentional, and they must produce change. But where does that change actually occur? To say a team changes is really to say that her people do. So let us explore how the people on a team impact a retro, and how their retros ought to impact them. This principle, that Retros are For People, is the last core principle we'll discuss on retrospectives this season, but it may be the most important. By keeping in mind that Retros are for the people in them, we can balance many of the negative tendencies, and better inform our design and decisions around this valuable practice!

A Retrospective from which the team cannot change is effectively useless. It is just so much wasted time! Why retrospect if there is _nothing_ to be done with it!? Like the principle which came before, we can use the axiom that 'Retrospectives Must Product Change' as a first principle, and atomic unit in reasoning about and designing effective retrospectives. But let us temper our expectations. After all, not all changes can move mountains. So what does it realistically look like for a retrospective to produce change?

A core principle of Effective Retrospectives is that they must be intentional. This idea can be used to reason about designing a Retrospective as a first principle, an atomic unit of reasoning, and discussion. Let's explore this idea and give it some more body, as we discover just what it means for a Retrospective to be intentional.

Code is read more oft than written. This quote from PEP 8 and Guido Van Rossum significantly impacted how I view the art of writing code. Let's take this lens and review one of the most common activities in development: Naming Variables. We'll look at some historical nomenclatures, discuss the constraints that informed them and ask how our own initial constraints still impact the way we write code today. 

What's the one skill that can multiply your impact? It's not technical, or even certified. It's something you do every day, most of the time without thinking about it. It's communication. Talking to your team mates? You're communicating.  Working on a Sales pitch? That's communication too! Even creating architecture documents are a form of communication. And the better at it you are, the greater your impact. So let's discuss some common elements you should consider to improve your communication!

Communicating gratitude and appreciation would seem to be simple, right? Just say thank you! Ok, sure that's where you start. But if you want to tap into the real impact that some appreciation can have, you'll need to do a little more work. Let's explore what makes gratitude so impactful, and how you can more effectively communicate your own gratitude; Just in time for Thanksgiving!

This episode is a bit of an experiment, so I'd love to hear your feedback. As always, I endeavor to share something worth considering.  And this is no exception. Give it a listen, and let me know what you think. 

Sea Fever by John Masefield

How could knowing a statistical distribution help your leadership? And what do an Italian civil engineer, and John Maxwell have to do with it? Let's discuss a distribution you should know, and how you could apply it to magnify the impact of your team!

How can articulating your leadership principles impact your leadership? What should that sound like? Let's explore some of my experiences from a recent client, how we manifested those leadership principles, and what the next steps might be.

What does it mean to lead a team? What does that mean if you want to build a trusted empowered or learning team? And how does 'leading that team' change what you need to do? Let's explore those implications, and some of how journalling helped me walk it out.

Here's a sneak peek at what's coming this season on The Journeyman's Travels!

What could a marriage book possibly have to say that might help build a high-performance team!? Let's discuss how 'Conversational Bids' just might be the key to unlock greater trust and productivity on your team!

To get the best results, organizations need a 'high-performance culture'. But you cannot simply wish one into existence. You need consistent behaviors to build such a culture. But before those behaviors can take root, something must first change: the Identity of those who participate...

For today's experiment, I'd like to share my impressions and thoughts on Drucker's The Effective Executive. Per Drucker, every Knowledge Worker is an Executive if in the course of their daily duties they can make decisions that materially impact the ability of their organization to deliver results. In short: just about every software developer you know is this kind of executive. Let's explore some more of his concepts as we look at a Book in Review.

What distinguishes a 'good' team culture from a 'bad' one? And why is it that taking people from a good culture and adding them to a new team doesn't make that team good too? What tangibles are these cultures even based on? Well, as you read the title, culture is built by behaviors. Let's explore how.

In the second Avengers Movie, it's pretty clear that most of the plot is the direct result of Tony's actions and mistakes. What is more, he keeps making it worse while trying to fix it. Yet, Captain America never completely removes Tony from the work. Why is that? And what could be learn from reflecting on how Captain deals with the failure of one of his team's high performers?

What defined 'Excellent Work'? Is it to deliver at an extreme rate for a short time? Or is a sustained delivery more desirable? I favor the idea of a high level of sustained delivery. But to maintain such a pace, we must look at our work differently. We must train like a Marathoner, and carefully consider the maintenance of our chief tools: Our hands, and our minds.

What exactly does it mean to be a 'Thought Leader'? Does it need a title? Or maybe you have to go on the conference circuit? Let's discuss the meaning of the phrase, and explore how it might just be simpler than we thought.

Gandalf and Elrond knew how to destroy the Ring. Yet, instead of dictating the path, they held a discussion. What might we learn from the leadership approach about selling bitter-pill solutions?