Posts from Awesome Folks #134

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

Author

Emily Webber
December 13, 2024

Hello folks,

It’s the week of the end-of-year wrap-up emails, and I’m not doing it yet. It feels too early, and as much as I might be wishing the year was over, we have a little bit to go.

This week, I have had my Spotify unwrapped, my Strava year in sport, my Donut digested, and even my Beehiiv rewind. But the year isn’t over, and I still want to listen to music, do some exercise, have random coffees and send newsletters. Do those now not count? What happens to the stats of the lost space between now and Jan 2025? If Strava doesn’t recognise my activity in the roundup, did I really go for a run?

I won’t be rounding up the year until next Friday, I just won’t.

Enjoy this week’s posts, and happy Friday.

Emily

People and Culture

Creating Joy at Work: The Key to Employee Engagement

Henry Stewart

The quality team at East London Foundation Trust (ELFT) discovered that joy at work is the core ingredient for successful, high-performing teams.

www.corporate-rebels.com/blog/creating-joy-at-work

How to keep high performers engaged and growing 

Meg Adams

Managing high performers can be equal parts daunting and exciting. Using these four tips to help keep your reports engaged.

leaddev.com/management/how-keep-high-performers-engaged-growing

Research: Why Passionate Men Succeed, Even When They’re Mediocre

Joyce C. He, Jon M. Jachimowicz, and Celia Moore

By identifying and developing promising employees early, high-potential programs aim to level the playing field and increase the representation of women in senior roles. But new research reveals an unintended consequence: When they rely on subjective criteria like an employee’s passion for their work, these programs may actually reinforce gender disparities. In theory, passion is a positive attribute linked with drive, dedication, and motivation. Yet in practice, displays of passion benefit men disproportionately.

hbr.org/2024/12/research-why-passionate-men-succeed-even-when-theyre-mediocre

Design Work to Prevent Burnout

Sharon K. Parker and Caroline Knight

A simplified model for work design helps managers make changes that can reduce burnout.

sloanreview.mit.edu/article/design-work-to-prevent-burnout

Organisations and Systems

TBM 326: Adhocracies and Bureaucracies

John Cutler

Rapid-growth tech companies often operate as adhocracies—they do whatever it takes to grow, move quickly, etc. The 0-1 stage is characterized by a lot of startup-wide bridging and fluidity. After the 0-1 stage, there's a tendency to favor team independence, clear spheres of ownership, and fewer global/mandated processes and rules.

cutlefish.substack.com/p/tbm-326-adhocracies-and-bureaucracies

Command vs Control

Jessica Kerr

I think of “command and control” as one thing. Is there a difference? That common phrase notwithstanding, command and control are two alternative structures, more opposites than synonym…

jessitron.com/2024/11/29/command-vs-control

Outcomes and Objectives

Continuous Reflection: Driving Success Across the Product Lifecycle

Christina Wodtke

Every product has a lifecycle, and every company navigates it differently. Some ideas take root and grow into thriving, enduring products. Others struggle to gain traction, fade quickly, or linger …

eleganthack.com/continuous-reflection-driving-success-across-the-product-lifecycle

Approaches for Teams

Turning your team into a tribe

Michael Morris's book Tribal covers the codes that bond humans together. It has been shortlisted for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year award 2024. He explains that humans are inspired by peer codes, human codes and ancestor codes when it comes to their behaviour. Make Work Better: Resisting the Enshittification of Work in

eatsleepworkrepeat.com/turning-your-team-into-a-tribe

Other Things

Spotify Wrapped 2024, OpenAI, and Bluesky: This week's product news

Kent McDonald & Louron Pratt

Our content series gives you the lowdown on what’s been happening in the world of product this week and what it could mean for product professionals. This week, we're looking at Spotify Wrapped 2024 getting backlash, Meta looking to compete with Bluesky, and Atlassian launching a new database.

www.mindtheproduct.com/spotify-wrapped-2024-openai-and-bluesky-this-weeks-product-news