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OK, fine, y'all win. We finally did the episode of "Managing Up" about managing up. In it, Nick, Travis, and Brandon talk about techniques for managing up, how they're similar to managing your own team members, and how it is sometimes very different. They share books and resources that helped them and talk about how communication, being crisp, and (gasp) _feelings_ play into managing your upward relationships. Show Notes: Managing Up article by Stephen Gossett from Built In https://builtin.com/people-management/managing-up Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends, and Colleagues by Dr. David Bradford, Ph.D & Dr. Carole Robin, Ph.D  https://www.amazon.com/Connect-Building-Exceptional-Relationships-Colleagues/dp/0593237099 Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life by Susan David https://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Agility-Unstuck-Embrace-Change/dp/1592409490 Ted Lasso: Darts scene ("Be curious, not judgmental") https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S16b-x5mRA

The Managing Up Crew is joined by Estella Gonzalez Madison (@chicagoing) to discuss how they've changed the way they manage since the start of the pandemic 2+ years ago. They discuss tactical changes and how they've changed philosophically during this time, and how they square their own humanity and that of their teams during the last 2 years, as well as how this affects how they plan to manage in the future. Show Notes: Estella Gonzalez Madison https://twitter.com/chicagoing Talking to your past self (humor) https://mymodernmet.com/julie-nolke-funny-viral-video/ Rethinking Remote Standups https://www.honeycomb.io/blog/standup-meetings-are-dead/ Lara Hogan's Manager Voltron https://larahogan.me/blog/manager-voltron/

Nick, pondering the Texas electric grid and the 2021 power crisis posits the question to Travis and Brandon: What role does pain play in leading teams? What is the role of a manager in managing and reacting to pain on our teams? What are the dangers of hiding or deflecting this pain? This leads to a discussion of processing feedback, helping teams learn from pain, and yes, launching trains at meteors. What roles do curiosity and fear play in managing organizational pain? What role do retrospectives play in this? How do you pronounce "gigawatt"? Show notes: 2021 Texas Power Crisis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Texas_power_crisis The lottery factor (AKA bus factor) https://towardsdatascience.com/maintaining-a-good-lottery-factor-1eeb2b2f52a6 Ted Lasso: "The shower pressure is rubbish: make a note of that" https://www.getyarn.io/yarn-clip/cff607e3-f79e-4a84-a38c-ab6124c596c6

Travis, Nick, and Brandon discuss the word "accountability". What does it mean? Why has it developed a negative connotation? What's the connection between "trust" and "accountability"? They discuss the sometimes uncomfortable conversations that must take in place before a conversation about accountability can bring real results. They also talk about how remote culture changes the shape of this conversation by removing shortcuts some leaders have leaned on in offices. Show Notes: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Five_Dysfunctions_of_a_Team Start with Why by Simon Sinek https://simonsinek.com/product/start-with-why/ Radical Focus by Christina Wodtke https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Focus-SECOND-Achieving-Objectives-ebook/dp/B091ZL2SRL Remote by Jason Fried and DHH https://basecamp.com/books/remote

Nick, Travis, and Brandon revisit the one-on-ones topic from several years ago and go beyond "1:1s 101". The hosts dive past the scripts and formulas to discuss challenges with regular one-on-one meetings with your team. How do you discern "gripe sessions" from a genuine request to intervene? When do you share context vs. listen? How do you get people to shift past surface-level concerns to the most important topics? What are some 1:1 antipatterns? Also: The group restrains themselves to only one Ted Lasso reference. Show Notes: Episode 5: "One on Ones: The Basics" (Oct. 2018) https://www.managingup.show/episodes/54705bed Ted Lasso https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10986410/ https://twitter.com/TedLasso

Nick, Brandon, and Travis discuss the term "Marketing" and the myth that doing good work will speak for itself. How can you advocate for your team's work authentically without feeling like you're bragging? They talk about using tracking documents to track and showcase team accomplishments, and why it's important to demonstrate your team's impact, and not just their efforts.  Episode links: Get your work recognized: write a brag document https://jvns.ca/blog/brag-documents/

Nick, Travis, and Brandon talk about how they increase psychological safety on teams to create space for a variety of voices, starting by debating the value of "strong opinions, weakly held". They explore the questions: How do you bootstrap trust and safety when joining a team? How can you make space for less vocal team members? What are things managers do that reduce trust within their teams? How can you encourage and receive important and valuable feedback? Episode links: Strong Opinions Loosely Held Might be the Worst Idea in Tech https://blog.glowforge.com/strong-opinions-loosely-held-might-be-the-worst-idea-in-tech/ How to Get Your Team to Challenge Your Ideas https://medium.dave-bailey.com/how-to-get-your-team-to-speak-up-4d403bfc10c9

In this episode, Nick, Travis, and Brandon talk about the word "resources", thinking of humans versus abstract notions of people, and balancing company needs with individual needs. What changes as your role moves further from managing individual contributors? Show Notes GE's "Up or out" environment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitality_curve Episode 1: OKRs https://managingup.simplecast.com/episodes/podcast-episode-1-measure-what-matters The Passionate Programmer by Chad Fowler https://pragprog.com/titles/cfcar2/the-passionate-programmer-2nd-edition/ 

In the last episode we recorded in the "before times", Nick and Brandon discuss the connection between blameless culture, systems thinking, and just culture. Nick explains how blame robs learning, and how to foster an environment that allows the system to learn and improve. They talk about how accountability fits into a blameless culture, and Nick introduces Sidney Decker's idea of Forward Accountability and shifting behavior rather than assigning blame. Show notes: Just culture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_culture Nick's talk on Three Mile Island https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMk6rF4Tzsg Field guide to understanding human error https://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Understanding-Human-Error/dp/0754648257 Sidney Decker: Forward accountability https://sidneydekker.com/just-culture/

In another episode recorded in the "before times", Travis talks about finding the balance between not enough and too much process. Is Scrum too much process? How do you tell when process is designed to help versus be a remote control for a team? What if the process is being blamed for other problems? They discuss the signals that tell you when a process isn't working for you and when to modify existing processes versus throw them out. Notes: Extreme Programming Explained by Kent Beck https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Programming-Explained-Embrace-Change/dp/0321278658 Scrum Guide ™ ™ ™ ® ® ® https://www.scrumguides.org/index.html Taylorism (Scientific Management) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management

In an episode recorded in "the before times" that we feel is still relevant, Nick suggested we talk about what to do when you can't do it all. Nick, Brandon, and Travis discuss how the game of "Calendar Jenga" is symptomatic. What happens when your calendar is so full of "valuable" things that you have to choose between lunch or more meetings? Nick talks about using WIP limits to keep your calendar clean, and Travis talks about how designing your schedule is like designing teams. Notes: @catehstn tweet: https://twitter.com/catehstn/status/1231685231909974018 Your calendar is a trash fire https://speakerdeck.com/tehviking/the-new-managers-toolkit?slide=62 Time blocking https://blog.rescuetime.com/time-blocking-101/ Time Management Matrix https://facilethings.com/blog/en/time-management-matrix

Travis, Nick, and Brandon ask: what do you do when you have a sense that things are about to change? What about when your work evaporates due to a startup pivot or major organizational change? They talk about how to help maintain a team's composure and capability during times of uncertainty or lack of clear direction, including leaning on your own manager.

Burnout is a very real problem right now, and is often aggravated in our jobs as managers, ironically in our work to help others avoid burning themselves out. Nick, Travis, and Brandon ask: how do you stop the cycle of overwork that led you to success in the first place? How do you take a break? Once you do, how do you come back to work? They discuss learning to set boundaries and say no, even to things we want. Travis compares burnout to technical debt. Nick explains how systemic thinking can alleviate the "trapped" feeling that can exacerbate burnout. Show notes: 6 Causes of Burnout https://hbr.org/2019/07/6-causes-of-burnout-and-how-to-avoid-them

Nick, Travis, and Brandon talk about the chaotic and downright scary state of the world and our own prior adjustments to remote work. They discuss ways to lead authentically in these times, and how remote work has helped them learn how integrate life and work (and also, paradoxically, how to keep them separate). Show notes: Bringing your whole self to work https://mike-robbins.com/work/ CNN/BBC guy gets interrupted by child https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2017/03/10/interview-interrupted-children-newday.cnn Career timeline exercise http://lanipeterson.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Career-Timeline-Exercise-01.2015.pdf Basecamp: Shape Up https://basecamp.com/shapeup Miro (formerly RealtimeBoard) https://miro.com/

Travis and Brandon talk about the tendency of software developers to fall into an "overly strategic" or "overly tactical" style of thinking. How do you encourage individuals and teams to consider both near and long term impact in their day to day work? How does team design factor in? What can you do if external factors are causing or aggravating these challenges? Is there a way to achieve balance? Show notes: A Philosophy of Software Design https://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Software-Design-John-Ousterhout/dp/1732102201/ Pragmatic Programmer https://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Programmer-journey-mastery-Anniversary/dp/0135957052/ E myth revisited https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280/

Nick, Travis, and Brandon talk about the seasonality of work and how that affects individuals and teams. They talk about how they work with low points in the cycle and how to capitalize on the high points, rather than fighting these cycles. How can you change the rhythm when things are flagging too much? What do you do when you can't move dates or deadlines around? When is it OK to ask the team for an "above and beyond push"? Notes: Shop Class as Soulcraft https://www.amazon.com/Shop-Class-Soulcraft-Inquiry-Value/dp/0143117467 The Productivity Cycle https://alexsexton.com/blog/2014/1/the-productivity-cycle/

Brandon asks Nick about a piece of advice he doesn't even remember giving about teaching teams to manage themselves. Nick, Travis, and Brandon explore tough questions around self-managing teams: How do you know when to let go and when to step in? What is the job of a manager on a self-managing team? How do you deal with micromanagement from above? How do you dig out if your team can't live without you?

Travis and Brandon talk about how teams can support early-career developers and career changers. What environments are they a good fit for? How do you set expectations for newer folks? How can you help them get and stay productive? Is the cost of doing so worth it? They also talk about the surprising lack of definition around the space between "Entry-Level" and "Senior" engineers to define the main role that the rest are supposedly based on. They talk about the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition, how folks get stuck in "Advanced Beginner" stage, and how to help them move to "Competent" and toward real, holistic expertise. Notes: Zone of Proximal Development https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_of_proximal_development Charity Majors tweet https://twitter.com/mipsytipsy/status/1191622396207190016 Bryan Liles tweet https://twitter.com/bryanl/status/1192408098457174016?s=21 Dreyfus model of skill acquisition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreyfus_model_of_skill_acquisition

Travis, Nick, and Brandon discuss a tough-but-frequent listener question: "How do I coach senior developers and tech leads to work better with each other when they have opposing personality types or passions?" They explore the personality types of "ship it" vs. "perfect it". Brandon talks about what happens in the 1 out of 5 times when the conflict is ego- and control-driven rather than just slightly different values (hint: it's not great news). They discuss techniques to draw out the benefits of these personality differences to lower drama, build trust, and balance a team's ability to focus on outcomes with technical and product excellence. Notes: Your high bar is wrecking your team http://brandonhays.com/blog/2018/06/19/your-high-bar-is-wrecking-your-team/

Nick pays homage to one of his heroes, Captain Al Haynes, who saved hundreds of lives by managing a crisis during a famous airplane crash. Captain Haynes demonstrated one of the canonical examples of Crew Resource Management and "just culture". They ask why we still adhere to the "unquestionable captain" myth and point out some of the (very public) disasters that created. Nick talks to the group about how he pivots into "questions/curiosity" mode from "assumptions/making a point" mode. They discuss the impact and legacy of Captain Haynes and how that's impacted the way we choose to lead and live. Notes: Capt Al Haynes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Haynes Crew Resource Mgmt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_resource_management United 232 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_232 United 173 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_173 Tenerife airport disaster (worst air disaster) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenerife_airport_disaster Turn the Ship Around! https://www.amazon.com/Turn-Ship-Around-Turning-Followers/dp/1591846404