Good mentors are important. The best workplaces have formal programs to develop mentoring relationships. LinkedIn has even launched a feature to help you find one. And how to be a good mentor is a topic of perennial interest. “For mentors, the most important thing, really, is to ask questions, to be this guide on the side, rather than the … Read more
I have been fortunate to have some great leaders along my path. They seemed to have genuinely cared about me and instilled in me a strong trust and loyalty to them. These leaders had empathy, they were good listeners and knew how to inspire a team with a clear vision. “Success is a team sport. … Read more
Over the years, I have developed my share of Design vision, missions, goals and strategies. Early in my career, I developed the teams from scratch but now it is more about helping existing teams level up. At the core of any good team, is a clearly understood vision. As I have stated many times over … Read more
One of the questions that I get all the time is “What is the best Designer to Developer ratio?” As you can imagine, this can vary depending on marketplace and business goals. If you developing an engineering tool for engineers then your engineers who are developing it probably have a good idea of who is … Read more
In the O’Reilly article, Design thinking and data science: Solving problems with data necessitates a diversity of thought, Dean Malmgren from Datascope and Jon Wettersten from IDEO shares: “Problem solving not only requires a high-level conceptual understanding of the challenge, but also a deep understanding of the nuances of a challenge… Solving problems with data necessitates a … Read more
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill In today’s dynamic markets, teams must be curious, optimistic and thoughtful. Curious to explore new trends and new ideas. Optimistic to keep motivated and motivate others. And thoughtful to have empathy for the people that you … Read more
Where customer journey maps define your customers – prospects through advocates – touch points with your brand, products and services; service blueprints define the the behind-the-scenes people, processes and technology that supports that journey. Where creating a customer journey maps requires you to “walk in the shoes” of your customer and see your organization through … Read more
In a recent New York Times article, What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team: New research reveals surprising truths about why some work groups thrive and others falter, Charles Duhigg shares that five years ago, Google — one of the most public proselytizers of how studying workers can transform productivity — … Read more
The first line of the Agile Manifesto is “Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.” My interpretation – and my experience – of this, is that no matter how great your process and tools, it is people and their interactions that is the success of any organization. In his book, What the CEO Wants You … Read more
The Temkin Group recently published The Five I’s of Employee Engagement. As recent research has shown us the direct correlation between employee engagement, customer loyalty and profitability, this report spells out the 25 best practices based on interviews with companies that lead in this area. Here are the results: Inform 1. Follow a thorough communication … Read more
On April 23, 2012, Geoffrey James posted 8 Core Beliefs of Extraordinary Bosses. In this post, Geoff shares that the best managers have a fundamentally different understanding of workplace, company, and team dynamics. Geoff interviewed some of the most successful CEOs in the world in order to discover their management secrets. In this post, Geoff … Read more