Posts from Awesome Folks #124

A weekly round up of blog posts I've been reading

Author

Emily Webber
October 04, 2024

Hello folks,

I’ve been at Agile Cambridge this week. It’s such a lovely conference, and it’s been great catching up with people. It’s still ongoing, but the word of the week for my conference experience has been “Thrive.” It has come up in a few places, including Alison Coward’s keynote, Jenny Martin’s talk, and my own workshop. It’s a great positive word and one I use in my own work.

Top row, Alison Coward keynote, workshop participants at my workshop, Cara Bermingham at Agile on the Bench and Elizabeth Ayer’s keynote.

I’ve also had the opportunity to run Agile on the Bench again this year over lunch, which has been a lot of fun. Just a few more sessions to go before heading home.

Enjoy this week’s posts and happy Friday.

Emily

People and Culture

How to give feedback without killing morale

Mathias Meyer

Instilling a culture of free-flowing feedback between team members is difficult but not impossible. Here's how you can get the ball rolling.

leaddev.com/community-corner/how-give-feedback-without-killing-morale

Watch your Language: The Hidden Power of Words in the Workplace - Blog

Doug Kirkpatrick

Most leaders are unaware of how much dehumanizing and demeaning language they use in the workplace. In this post, we look at the hidden power of words.

www.corporate-rebels.com/blog/watch-your-language-hidden-power-words-workplace

How to Work for a Boss Who Always Changes Their Mind

Elizabeth Lotardo

Working for a leader who always changes their mind is a maddening yet common experience. When the strategy is perpetually changing, it’s challenging to be enthusiastic about the strategy du jour.

hbr.org/2024/09/how-to-work-for-a-boss-who-always-changes-their-mind

Organisations and Systems

How to Create More Autonomy and Finish More Work with Just Enough Delegation

Johanna Rothman

I keep seeing too much micromanagement in organizations. That's where managers decide for the people they lead and serve, not with the people they lead and serve. Micromanagement creates several problems: People stop learning how to solve problems because the manager steps in to tell them what to do. That leads to much lower throughput, […]

www.jrothman.com/mpd/2024/09/how-to-create-more-autonomy-and-finish-more-work-with-just-enough-delegation

Outcomes and Objectives

Scoping and Shaping Mini-Book

John Cutler

In addition to my newsletter, sometimes I write short playbooks/mini-books.

cutlefish.substack.com/p/scoping-and-shaping-mini-book

Facilitation and Decision making

Collaboration isn't democracy

Jeff Gothelf

Collaboration is a powerful technique for creating amazing products. If it's not coupled with strong decision making it will fail.

jeffgothelf.com/blog/collaboration-isnt-democracy

Four Ways to Energize Your Dull Team Meetings

Alexander Loudon

Leaders can use these tactics to make meetings more engaging and move people from apathy to energy.

sloanreview.mit.edu/article/four-ways-to-energize-your-dull-team-meetings

Approaches for Teams

Manage Boundaries Better With Your Team

Angela R. Grotto, Maura J. Mills, and Erin M. Eatough

These research-based strategies can help managers and their employees navigate the line between work and personal time.

sloanreview.mit.edu/article/manage-boundaries-better-with-your-team

Other Things

Ethically Sourced Creativity: Shutterstock’s Alessandra Sala

On the Me, Myself, and AI podcast, Alessandra Sala shares how Shutterstock’s photo library incorporates responsible AI.

sloanreview.mit.edu/audio/ethically-sourced-creativity-shutterstocks-alessandra-sala