Posts from Awesome Folks #87

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

Author

Emily Webber
December 01, 2023

Good morning,

If you have been anywhere near tech social media this week, you would probably have seen the DevTernity fiasco unfold: A gripping drama that includes a 4-year-old fake catfish profile, made-up women and (almost) every speaker cancelling. The organiser claimed he can’t find women in tech to speak at conferences. I have spoken at tech conferences amongst a ton of brilliant women; I’m surprised, but also not really, that people are still using that excuse.

Also, a stark reminder to speakers to check the lineup: if everyone looks the same on the speakers page, then there is a problem.

Props to Gergely Orosz (who runs the Pragmatic Engineer newsletter) for being the whistleblower.

DevTernity conference collapses amid claims of fake speakers

Anna? Oh, she was just a demo persona, says organizer

www.theregister.com/2023/11/28/devternity_conference_fake_speakers

Enjoy this week’s posts, and Happy Friday.

Emily

People and Culture

How to Build Trust at Work

With Liane Davey

Organizational psychologist Liane Davey takes questions from listeners who are struggling to cultivate trusting relationships with their boss or colleagues.

hbr.org/podcast/2023/11/how-to-build-trust-at-work

Leading in the Age of Exploding Transparency | Melissa Swift

By Melissa Swift

Today, information flows faster — and more broadly — than many leaders can handle. These stay-sane strategies can help.

sloanreview.mit.edu/article/leading-in-the-age-of-exploding-transparency

Organisations and Systems

How This Vietnamese Company Burned Down The Traditional Management…

By Pim de Morree

Nestled amidst Hanoi's vibrant lanes, Amber Online Education, a company providing online learning experiences for titans like Samsung and LG, was on the cusp of crafting its own metamorphic tale. A tale not just of business reinvention, but of throwing out the entire playbook of traditional management. We traveled to Vietnam to visit them and learn from their remarkable transformation journey.

www.corporate-rebels.com/blog/amber-academy

5 Pillars for Democratizing Data at Your Organization

By Hippolyte Lefebvre, Christine Legner, and Elizabeth A. Teracino

Many companies have made becoming data-driven a goal, and yet many traditional organizations are still struggling to democratize data beyond the data experts.

hbr.org/2023/11/5-pillars-for-democratizing-data-at-your-organization

How Centralization Decisions Create Friction, Increase Cycle Time, and Cost Money, Part 1 - Johanna Rothman, Management Consultant

By Johanna Rothman

Some company is buying your company (or vice versa). Why? They claim it's “Economies of scale,” and the combined organization will save money by centralizing “overhead” and flattening management. You know who that “overhead” is: the people who support the business, such as finance and HR. And, the managers. Worse, the new management asks managers … How Centralization Decisions Create Friction, Increase Cycle Time, and Cost Money, Part 1 Read More »

www.jrothman.com/mpd/2023/11/how-centralization-decisions-create-friction-increase-cycle-time-and-cost-money-part-1

Outcomes and Objectives

Tom’s Roadmap Heuristics – a work in progress - LeaningForward Blog

By Tom Dolan

I've previously trailed a massive blogpost-that-might-be-a-book about roadmapping, but I suspect it'll never get finished enough. However, earlier this week I was at a chat about the future of Product Craft within government, and mid-discussion spontaneously reeled off a list of my top reckons on the subject. Given that I had managed to do it

www.leaningforward.com/blog/2023/11/toms-roadmap-heuristics-a-work-in-progress

Team Approaches

TBM 257: How to Make the Case for Slowing Down to Speed Up

By John Cutler

How can we make the case for slowing down to speed up when we are already going slow, and when shutting things down and starting over is not an option?

cutlefish.substack.com/p/tbm-257-how-to-make-case-for-slowing

Other Things

Enabling Gaps

By Jessica Kerr

Sometimes my calendar looks like an LA freeway: 100% utilization, ultimate deadlock. This is not one of those times. November through January are quiet at my current job, no big launches or deadlin…

jessitron.com/2023/11/23/enabling-gaps

And to close, here’s a use of GenAI that I appreciated this week. Click this link to see the story.