Coming to the end of another complicated year. Each time I think we’re getting back to normal, something else horrible goes sideways. It’s wearing us all down.Over at the Rands Leadership Slack, we do an annual donation program where we ask those who are finding value in the comm … | Continue reading
Imposter syndrome. It's the feeling that pure happenstance or just dumb luck is the reason you're in this current role. It's a sense you don't belong, you aren't good enough, and - real soon now - everyone is going to see you for who you really are.You might have felt this before … | Continue reading
When I am in a foul mood, I have a surefire way to improve my outlook – I build something. A foul mood is a stubborn beast and it does not give ground easily. It is an effort to simply get past the foulness in order to start building, but once the building has begun, the foul bea … | Continue reading
Even if you've checked your work, asked for all the help, and are moving gingerly, there will be decisions where you can't decide. You've considered and reconsidered your pro/con lists, you've had endless debates with informed humans, but you remain mentally paralyzed.I have an o … | Continue reading
It starts easy. The stakes are low. There is a legion of leaders around you who understand you’ve just begun, so when they see the decision in front of you, they proactively offer helpful advice. If the decision appears too complicated, excessively risky, or obviously high stakes … | Continue reading
We're a team. There's a mountain that no one has ever climbed before, but you - in your bones - believe we can. More importantly, you can stand in front of us, point at the mountain, and tell us the compelling story of how we're going to climb that impossible peak.You talk with y … | Continue reading
An inability to ask for help is not the domain of introverts. We certainly make it a more laborious mental process, but in any group of humans where there are those who know and those who are learning, the latter population is hesitant to ask for help because they don't want to a … | Continue reading
The 9th floor of The Standard located in the East Village of New York City. Pre-pandemic. I wake up mid-day and a full-sized giraffe stands in the corner of my hotel room. The view of mid-day downtown Manhattan is obscured by a full-sized living breathing giraffe. This animal is … | Continue reading
The most valuable part of a long bike ride is the second 30 minutes. The first 30 are spent settling into a groove, finding the right pace, and clearing my head. I know this is done when random interesting ideas start showing up, as I’ve written about before. | Continue reading
First-year of college at UCSC. First computer science class. Introduction to Programming. The language: Pascal.Failed it. Failed it badly. Knew I was going to fail it halfway through the class.This was my chosen profession. I'd been a grocery store clerk, a butcher, a video store … | Continue reading
You have an internal storyteller, and they are always telling you a story. Today the story is, "Almost done with all of my bugs. There were ten at the beginning of the week, but now I have two. One of them is hard, but I'll figure it out. The other, I'm sure, will be a breeze. Wh … | Continue reading
The most common conversation I've had during the last three start-ups was the growth conversation.Some version of: "Rands. I am here. How do I get there?"For leadership-minded engineers, there are four career paths available to you. I will describe three briefly, and then I'll ta … | Continue reading
Stephen was a hired gun at my first start-up. His contract started a year before I arrived, but he was long gone before I walked in the door. The story goes that when Stephen started, he found a small, solid team of five engineers, a QA lead, and a project manager. They were slow … | Continue reading
WARNING: The contents of this article might adversely affect your information consumption habits.A few weeks back, the sitting President incited domestic terrorists to storm the Capitol, so they did. For reasons I still don't fully understand, this was a relatively straightforwar … | Continue reading
In our 44th episode, we walk through the first chapters of Lopp's 3rd book. Learning to deal with endless meetings, understanding The Situation™, and learning that people often just want to be seen. Spend 45 minutes with Lyle and Lopp talking about important things.Enjoy it now o … | Continue reading
There's a Screwed Scenario that I missed.Back in my Borland days, we were working hard on Paradox for Windows. I was a QA engineer testing the database creation and modification functionality. My counterpart in engineering, Jerry, was working hard, but getting absolutely nowh … | Continue reading
He says things so sweetly. He knows all your failures. He remembers your emotional scars. He sounds like you. And he craves your attention.The Thursday after the election, I woke up, grabbed my phone next to the bed, and scanned the latest news. We were still two days from announ … | Continue reading
In our 43rd episode, we recommend shows you just gotta binge this holiday season during our end times. (Recorded November 2020)Enjoy it now or download for later. Here's a handy feed or subscribe via Overcast or iTunes.https://traffic.libsyn.com/rands/theimportantthing0043.mp3 | Continue reading
On the list of leadership merit badges, “Successfully deliver hard news” is one the hardest badges to acquire. It’s not just that you have news, it’s hard news. It’s an honest something the human sitting across from you does not want to hear. Not only do you need to deliver it, b … | Continue reading
Ed: This article assumes you've read Part #1.The first article finished with the big Rands revelation that it's the manager's job to figure out how to give Fez a swift kick in the butt. Yes, Fez needs to have the brains to listen and react to constructive advice, but that's his … | Continue reading
Tick tock.Morning. Sit down at the desk. Hit the spacebar and wake up the displays. Calendar first. What is happening today, and how do I need to prepare? Any last-minute edits? Conflicts? New meeting additions to the day? Ok, which meetings are unfamiliar? Look at attendees—map … | Continue reading
This is a keg.In Rare's Sea of Thieves, powder kegs sprinkle the lands and seas. You can find them on islands, in forts, or just floating in the ocean. Kegs explode. Satisfyingly so. You can use kegs in Sea of Thieves to kill other players, to sink their ships, to sink your own, … | Continue reading
It's hard to pick a single best work by Joel Spolsky, but if I was forced to, I'd pick The Joel Test. It's his own, highly irresponsible, sloppy test to rate the quality of software, and when anyone asks me what is wrong with their team I usually start by pointing the questioner … | Continue reading
Our much delayed 32nd episode, which was recorded pre-Pandemic, we giggle a bit because we have not been giggling enough. In this episode, we discuss why Rands names his bikes and cars, which results in some helpful therapy. Also, stickers are discussed. (Recorded in February 202 … | Continue reading
Wildfires threatened the Rands home this last week. We’re fine, but there were a couple of sketchy days where we had the go-bag packed and the keepsakes identified. Natural disasters bring folks together rapidly. I’m on a Messages group with a bunch of mountain folk. As word of … | Continue reading
A satisfying aspect of the new book was I achieved the intended goal of providing actionable advice. After a brief introduction, I list the 30 specific practices you can start with today to improve different aspects of leadership. I then go onto to tell the story of how I discove … | Continue reading
Stephen was a hired gun at my first start-up. His contract started a year before I arrived, but he was long gone before I walked in the door. The story goes that when Stephen started, he found a small, solid team of five engineers, a QA lead, and a project manager. They were slow … | Continue reading
Morning. I sit down at my desk. Meeting starts in thirty seconds. Let’s run through the pre-meeting checklist: Turn on the video. Am I presentable? How’s the hair? And the outfit? Right, I look like I’m working.Start the call. While in the green room, make sure the camera is on … | Continue reading
Up at 7am. Check the outfit, the professional outfit, on the floor to make sure it still fits my mood. Adjust as necessary. Shower and put on the outfit. Consider wearing shoes, but don't. My shoes are lonely. Upstairs. Coffee (black) and a glance at the view. Santa Cruz Mountai … | Continue reading
Your manager has a default management mantra. You see it when they are not paying attention and a problem – large or small - presents itself. It’s the sound and shape of their first reaction. Their default reaction. And after a few months, everyone knows their mantra. Here are a … | Continue reading
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YacZkPg0OjE The promotional site for Managing Humans still makes me smile. The photos were from a part of the property we call the Fairy Meadow. It’s a horse chestnut tree surrounded by a stream that only runs during the rainy season. We return t … | Continue reading
In our 41st episode, we continue the discussion regarding how to write a book. Start with a clever name, find a publisher... and then write a lot. That's about it. Ok, it's harder than that. (Recorded on February 24th, 2020) Enjoy it now or download for later. Here's a handy fee … | Continue reading
There's a lot of Slacking on the planet right now. The essential practices of shelter-in-place are forcing us to rethink how we get work done especially when that work is dependent on a vast amount of interconnected humans. Pre-Pandemic, one of my opening pitches to current and f … | Continue reading
In our 40th episode, we are talking about the practice of networking. Who does it, why they do it, and the very expected and random value that sometimes emerges from it. (Recorded on February 24th, 2020) Enjoy it now or download for later. Here's a handy feed or subscribe via Ov … | Continue reading
Rands HQ continues to experience unprecedented usage. We’re in week five of shelter in place and the home office is poppin’. As described earlier, I did an intense clean of the office two weekends back and am happy to report that the tidiness remains primarily because there’s a n … | Continue reading
In the 39th episode, recorded in a pre-COVID world, we talk about love letters, the challenges of speaking, and the timely pause. Recorded on February 24th, 2020. Enjoy it now or download for later. Here's a handy feed or subscribe via Overcast or iTunes. https://traffic.libsyn … | Continue reading
In the 38th episode, we lighten it up a bit. Not a lot. A bit. Finding solace in very strange times. Finding comfort while the world appears to be shutting down. Ok, it's a little lighter than that. Recorded on March 18th, 2020. Enjoy it now or download for later. Here's a handy … | Continue reading
The best part of a deep cleansing of the space is the next morning. You don’t get a sense of the total difference while you’re doing it because you’re there for each part of the gradual change. After a night’s sleep, you forget a bit, and the results are shocking. (click for larg … | Continue reading
I love my Cave. Earlier this week, I finished the book. This is the third book I’ve mostly written in the Cave. There’s been lots of outside writing spots, coffee shops, vacations, and airplanes, but the bulk of the work has been completed right here. Sitting in a hoodie, coffee … | Continue reading
In our 37th episode, it's a bit dark. Lyle and Lopp talk about the current state of the world. Not much laughing. Hoping that hearing you are not alone might help... it helped us. Recorded on March 18th, 2020. Enjoy it now or download for later. Here's a handy feed or subscribe … | Continue reading
I’m a manager type, which means the calendar is usually full of meetings. Now, it is my goal in life to make sure that every single meeting must actively defend its right to exist, but even with that constant fight going on, I am in a lot of meetings. 9am until 5pm is 85% meeting … | Continue reading
In our 36th episode, we're back at Disneyland. Lyle explains why he is a far better Dad, we talk about how to build a proper lightsaber, and we laugh... because we need a little laughing right now. Enjoy it now or download for later. Here's a handy feed or subscribe via Overcast … | Continue reading
As much as possible, make sure to hold existing staff and 1:1 meetings as usual. Structure in these times of flux is critical.Lots of folks have more family at home and will need to shift their schedule. Full support. Make it a non-issue for being off the grid for folks to focus … | Continue reading