Tag Archives: management

September 5, 2012 · 9:49 am

The One Man Band Battle

I got a note from a regular reader of the screed who was kind enough to send along today’s topic.  I’ll let him tee it up (not, it’s not golf) for you. He’s a smart developer who works solo, like so many of us do these days.  Here’s the situation:

I will be provided with an RFP shortly, along with 4 other entities. Although I think I have the inside track, I am battling the perception from the CEO that I am a one-man-band. My estimation is that the project is 4 man-months of work if I do it single-handedly but the CEO wants to go from RPF to implementation in 2 months.

To win this contract I must partner with others to combat the one-man-band perception and to get the project completed within the desired time-frame.

As a sage man of business, you could probably  give me some good advice on how to battle the negative perceptions so I can win this contract, which I would appreciate. I also think my predicament might serve as good subject matter for your blog.

Indeed it does!  My advice to him was to do a little sales jiu-jitsu – turn the negative into a positive.  In a time when it seems everyone I meet is either a consultant, a contract employee, or even a short-staffed manager, none of us are one man bands.  Everyone I know pulls in additional folks from time to time and I’m willing to bet the CEO (or his managers) do that as well.  A big advantage we independent folks have is that we’re no/low overhead operations.  You’re not paying for a nice building, multiple layers of staff, or large benefit programs.  Most of us are generally very senior and have been fully vetted and battle-tested.  There are no junior people on your account and it’s much easier for us to adjust to the right size team whilst people with entrenched staff can’t just up and hire and fire.

Another big advantage is the trust factor.  Those of us with lengthy high-level careers can generally be trusted to get the job done within the allocated time frame and budget and to let you know ahead of time if it’s going to be an issue.  If the CEO in question is dubious, build in some safeguards – penalties if the job isn’t done on time or additional fees if it’s done ahead of schedule or under budget.

Am I being self-serving here?  Maybe.   Then again, perhaps one can be right and self-serving at the same time.  Hit up the comments and let me know, and keep those topic suggestions coming.

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August 23, 2012 · 8:49 am

The Smartest One In The Room

We all like to believe that we’re smart.  I always used to ask that as an interview question of potential employees – “are you smart?”  No one ever said they weren’t and I certainly wouldn’t have expected them to.  Me?  I sometimes feel as if I’m not the smartest guy in the room even when I’m alone.

I bring this up today because I came across a study that I found interesting and thought you might as well.  It’s about how we evaluate one another as well as how we represent ourselves (hence the above interview question).  It’s in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology which I don’t make a habit of reading but the study popped up in my news feed.  Here is the abstract:

When people seek to impress others, they often do so by highlighting individual achievements. Despite the intuitive appeal of this strategy, we demonstrate that people often prefer potential rather than achievement when evaluating others. Indeed, compared with references to achievement (e.g., “this person has won an award for his work”), references to potential (e.g., “this person could win an award for his work”) appear to stimulate greater interest and processing, which can translate into more favorable reactions. This tendency creates a phenomenon whereby the potential to be good at something can be preferred over actually being good at that very same thing.

In other words, we much prefer hearing job candidates talk about how they are empty vessels capable of greatness than about how many deals they’ve closed.  I think that’s why I used to ask the “smart” question – it gets to a candidate’s potential.  The thing is that the raw intelligence – the potential – has to be married to a respect for the intelligence of those around you.  No matter how smart you may be, you need to seek out people smarter than you are to keep yourself growing.  If you can’t find an individual, the odds are that the collective wisdom of co-workers and peers can serve the same purpose.

You think that’s smart?

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August 10, 2012 · 8:37 am

Non Troppo

It’s hard to know what topic to choose for Foodie Friday in the middle of Summer.

English: Insalata caprese, made from mozzarell...

Insalata caprese, made from mozzarella, tomatoes, olive oil and basil.(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After all, there is no other time of the year when a cook has so many great ingredients from which to choose. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, zucchini and (it seems) just about everything else are near or at their peak season now. It becomes hard to choose a topic just as it is to choose which to use for dinner.
Of course, the ingredients themselves are a theme we’ve hit before. I’ve written about being choosy and not settling for an inferior product, either in the kitchen or in the office.  Today I want to write about the corollary to great ingredients: not getting in their way.

Obviously you can’t put basil fresh from the garden next to a perfect tomato and buffalo mozzarella and expect a brilliant caprese salad to put itself together.  You still need to do some work and add a bit (and only a bit) of salt, acid, and great olive oil.  But, as the italian phrase goes, non troppo – not too much.  Overdressing or over seasoning the great basics just gets in the way of their flavors.  You want to bring those flavors out, not hide them.  Slices of zucchini and other summer vegetables perfectly sliced and roasted can be a fantastic meal.  Bake them in layers and cover them in cheese and you might get a tasteless, soggy mess of a gratin.

It’s the same with your team.  Find the best people, educate them on your goals, help fill in their skill set where necessary, and then get out of the way.  You want to manage them but non troppo – not too much.  How many of us have worked for a micro-manager who wants things done his or her way even if they’re wrong?  How often are you sitting around having drinks after work with your peers and the discussion uncovers widespread unhappiness with how the team is being used?  The better that team is the more likely that they have skill sets in certain areas that are superior to those of their supervisor in those areas.  As managers, we want those people on our team.  They’re not threats – they’re our salvation.

I love cooking in Summer since there’s less I have to do.  It’s more about the shopping than it is the cooking.  Great managing is that way – it’s almost more about the hiring than it is the managing.  You need to manage, but non troppo.  You with me?

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