The key takeaways from this podcast were
On Always growing:
Design your work as a series of continual experiments. What is the hypothesis, what are the expected results and what was the actual outcome. Actual outcomes then result in confusion and we if we recognise the “confused” state as an opportunity to grow, we become curious and can try refining the hypothesis. Doing this continually will bring more clarity and more learning.
Manage by focusing on clarity, not control
“Management is the act of achieving goals through the work of others”
Jeff Hunter
Clear goals, quick feedback
Are you clear on the goals, especially in a rapidly changing environments. Does your team clearly understand what “good” performance looks like ? Also, try and be clear on how you’ll reach those goals.
Give feedback in a safe environment without any accusations, attempt to figure out what’s working and what’s not. Here is the suggested approach
- In the situation, this is how I assess the outcome vs what we understand is “good” performance
- This is how I experience (how I think and feel about) what happened or how things have gone so far
- How did the other person experience it? If its different, ask questions to understand and identify where the gaps were and then agree on what could have been different
- Quick feedback is critical, for the more time gap between cause and effect, poorer we are at making the right connections
Don’t confuse time on task with speed of work
Avoid the ‘BSL’ narrative: Don’t tell stories about how bad, stupid or lazy (BSL) you or other people are. It is usually (although not always) inaccurate. Remained focus on the issues at hand
Also give Positive feedback: People usually don’t know what they are good at, we even believe we are bad at things that we are actually good at. To do this clearly, start with the same framework
- Re-iterate what “good” looks like
- Explain how I experienced the situation/particular piece of work – in my view why the work done was good or great
- Listen to how the other person experienced it & see if there are insights/ lessons to learn
On hiring
The chance of getting a great fit hire is 1/5. To hire better, ask the following quesitons
- What will be the future of the role I’m hiring for in 6-9 months and am I hiring for that?
- What skills will the candidate need and which of those do they have ? What decisions has the candidate taken and behaviours he/she has displayed that helps me gather evidence
Try being a like a detective to keep clarifying — What you did, how you did it, why you did it. Look for evidence. Also, If you have not hired for that role before, you will be blind – ask for help from people who have done it.
How to think critically:
More likely than not, the world isn’t the problem; the problem is the way you’re interpreting it. Therefore, always start with the reality that you’re missing something; What have I missed here? How do I deal with inherent biases (e.g recency bias) ? What is the underlying root of the problem, so we aren’t just solving for resulting patterns/symptoms