Category Archives: Management

Managing Humans

Management

Managing Humans is a set of guides to managing software engineers written by a practicing software manager.  It is organized into several sections dealing with  managing, process, and people.  The insights are simple, though I am not sure that everyone is ready for them.  Five years ago I don’t think I would have.

I got stuck at the chapter “What Does a Manager Do All Day?” for a couple of weeks.  The answer to the question?  A manager listens to stories all day, tries to fit them into his internal “design patterns” (AKA, experience) and look through the spin.  I stopped because that seems to be a lot of what I do these days, and I didn’t realized I had become a manager.  Argh!

I’m back on track reading the rest of the book…

Why Is It Always About You?

Management, Personal Developement

I finished reading Sandy Hotchkiss’ book upon which the Wikipedia Seven Deadly Sins section is based:

Why Is It Always About You?: The Seven Deadly Sins of Narcissism [Kindle Edition] by Sandy Hotchkiss

In a word, fascinating.  Part 1 covers the 7 deadly sins, Part 2 is on the origins of a narcissist, Part 3 is on survival tactics, Part 4 on the narcissists in your life (family, love, work), and Part 5 on narcissism in society and preventing it.  I’m still thinking about Part 2 – the theories (dating back to Freud) on how children develop from age 3-18 months.  Its in this window that a child’s future as a normal person or narcissist is determined, where a narcissistic parent or other caregiver can create another narcissist.  A drug users drug of choice is related to what goes wrong with this stage of development and represents an attempt to go back to that wonderful time of 3-18 months.  Just fascinating – how did Freud and others figure this out?

The Agile Organization and 2008 Financial Meltdown

Financial, Management

The author’s talk about organizations having two networks, a formal network based on the rules and regulations, and an informal network based on trusth that gets things done.  The author’s argue both are necessary for a healthy organization.

I couldn’t help thinking of the housing financial meltdown here in 2008.  It seems that the informal networks ran over the formal networks, which destroyed checks and balances.  When this caught up with the market, investors were stuck.  They couldn’t trust anyone at the investment banks.  Since the informal network is based on trust, they died, and the financial markets collapsed.  The injection of money from TARP didn’t accomplish anything.  The real problem was trust, which money doesn’t fix.  Likewise, the money injection would be exactly what the formal organization would propose because that is what they control.  Washington is still struggling to reestablish trust – the balance between reporting rules and restrictions on conflicts of interest (proprietary trading).  If the rules are too restrictive, then everyone learns to work around them, and tries to capture their regulators.

The Goal

Management, Needs Review Date, Theory of Constraints

The Theory of Constraints is the creation of Eliyahu M. Goldratt first introduced in his book The Goal.  TOC claims that within any system, there is a choke point (constraint) which determines the throughput of the system, whether that throughput is units of production, profits, etc.  What sets TOC apart from other research is it provides a solution!  TOC includes tools to identify constraints and manage those constraints to maximize throughput.  Most of the current published works focus on production just as six-sigma, TQM, and similar methods do.  The application is much broader, and newer books are expanding TOC into the other realms, like human resource management.

The Goal is actually written as a novel.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t present enough of the solution.

Confronting reality: doing what matters to get things right

Management, Needs Review Date

I listened to the CD version – it was well narrated.  It succeeds Execution and extends the discussion on knowing the reality of your business.  The emphasis is on the corporate business plan, the big picture.  Thus, the target audience is the high-level corporate executives whom are responsible for shaping “the plan.”  What I found useful at my low level is it gave me an idea what kind of questions our business leaders should be asking, and what kind of information they should be seeking in their business analysis, and thus what you should expect to hear if they are doing their jobs.  Many of the examples are intriguing, and the author’s even give a counter example or two (companies that did it “wrong” yet still succeeded).

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

Financial, Management, Needs Review Date

I listened to the (abridged) audio CD version which is narrated by the author.  It is a good story, though somewhat long winded at times.  The story is about the Oakland A’s and how they have used statistics to select a winning team for significantly less money than the rest of baseball.  (An analogous situation for LM would be hiring of new employees – has anyone ever studied what characteristics identified during interviews correlate to success at MFC-Dallas?)  The moral of the story is there is a great advantage when you can exploit market inefficiencies using the scientific method.  You will have to read the book to find out more.  It will really make you think about the value of conventional wisdom.

What really works : the 4+2 formula for sustained business success

Management

The authors’ point is, if a company wants to be a “winner,” they must excel at (a) 4 mandatory areas: strategy, execution, culture, and structure, and (b) any 2 out of the following 4: talent, leadership, innovation, acquisitions and mergers.  All the other things, like 360 degree PRS, management training programs, etc. they found are not consistently statistically significant.  This is the kind of book I would bring on a plane or car ride where I could skim through it.  The writing style is journalistic and sensational.  As one Amazon.com reviewer notes, the book uses a “hero” / “villain” format, which although entertaining, is somewhat naïve.  The book’s thesis is pretty much articulated in the first chapter.  You could read that, and then follow up by reading other business books that expound on one of these areas (e.g., Bossidy).