Letters Remain

Tag: management

  • Why Software Development Estimation is Hard: Sea Lions, and Coastal Paths

    Among the many valid responses to the Quora question of why software development task estimations are often off by a factor of 2ā€“3, Michael Wolfe, CEO of Pipewise, describes exactly why this is without once mentioning ‘software’ or ‘project’. Instead, Wolfe eloquently provides undoubtedly the best analogy I’ve ever heard for explaining the difficulty in…

  • Random Promotions Beat the Peter Principle

    TheĀ Peter Principle states that “in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence” (discussed previously). This principle is typically observed when promotions are rewarded based on an employee’s ability in their current position and provided there is sufficient difference between the two positions. In such circumstances, is there a simple way…

  • Scheduling and Non-Hierarchical Management

    These two essays have been doing the rounds of late, and for good reason: Paul Graham’s comparison between the schedules of Managers and the schedules of Makers (creatives). The gist? A manager’s day is divided into hour-long blocks of time, makers work in much longer, relatively unconstrained and non-discrete units of time. The problem is…

  • On Good and Bad Managers

    Charisma, confidence and being vocal are key to being perceived as a leader, Time suggests after summarising some research on what makes people persuasive leaders. Social psychologists know that one way to be viewed as a leader in any group is simply to act like one. Speak up, speak well and offer lots of ideas,…

  • Deconstructing Managers

    Today and tomorrow I’ll be posting a few links I’ve saved on managing: on being a manager, dealing with managers, and how to be a better one. To begin, a six-part series from Rands in Reposeā€”Deconstructing Managers. There Is Evil, Your Manager’s Job I trust that, like me, you’re an optimist and you believe that…