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"Everybody in the team needs to understand how winning looks like"... my favorite quote from this podcast. So simple and so true. It's insane how many companie

"Everybody in the team needs to understand how winning looks like"... my favorite quote from this podcast. So simple and so true. It's insane how many companies hire and build teams around visions their teams don't understand well at all. That's certainly where most killer companies win. Their force doesn't need to be extremely proficient and efficient to move the needle because everyone understands what moving the needle means and has a clear path to take small decisions without looking at a spec or consulting another party. The best managers are certainly the ones that make an effort to enable learning around what is being build and why. That allows people to build agency and criteria to make decisions that are in the best interest of the company.

bloqs 5y ago
How winning looks like may be a typo
vosper 5y ago
> It's insane how many companies hire and build teams around visions their teams don't understand well at all Conversely, it’s also insane how many companies hire and build teans around visions the teams know won’t work. The knowledge is there (perhaps distributed), but it never congeals, and everyone just plows ahead.
- twh270 5y ago
  Hah, this is me right now. Architects sold the business on a pie-in-the-sky grand vision, and teams are now busy implementing it even though its value is almost certainly a net negative. (Replacing something currently working with a highly over-engineered "platform" solution-for-all that will end up requiring heavy customization for each client.) On the plus side, it keeps me employed.
  - uglygoblin 5y ago
    We are either all on the same project or this is a common outcome ;)
    - WrtCdEvrydy 5y ago
      This is the most common outcome from people wanting to make their resumes look "good".
      - twh270 5y ago
        The unfortunate situation is that continued employability in this industry almost requires a certain amount of resume-driven-development. It's much harder to get $newJob when your resume is full of stale tech from $currentJob.
plutonorm 5y ago
If you want teams to think for themselves you need to provide an incentive. Independent thought requires effort, if I am going to use my energy in pursuit of the company goals, what is in it for me? You can't just expect people to go above and beyond because you encourage them to and pat them on the back for it. Sooner or later it will dawn on them that this is not a reciprocal arrangement. You need to offer genuine promotion opportunities. Real financial incentives. Real autonomy, which means freedom from the quarterly demand for metrics. I've worked at precisely 0 companies in my time that have offered career opportunities that offer the kind of incentive that I would need to go all in and give a job all my attention.
- thedevilslawyer 5y ago
  > if I am going to use my energy in pursuit of the company goals, what is in it for me? Salary? Isn't the above definition of employment?
  - nicklarsennz 5y ago
    They all offer a Salary, so what makes me stick around (and want _this_ company to do better)?
    - falcor84 5y ago
      A sense of belonging to a social group. With anything from families, to local sports teams, to nation states, humans have a natural (and quite rational) desire for their own (current) group to succeed. This desire for belonging, and often 'identity', is quite powerful and it typically requires some really bad circumstances for a person to decide to switch groups.
      - hn8788 5y ago
        Not everyone sees their company as their group. Companies like to talk about how they treat their employees like family, but it's just a way to manipulate them into doing extra work. Once you see it for what it is, it's easy to start thinking of jobs as something you just do for a paycheck, not something you do because you care about what happens to the company.
k__ 5y ago
The problem is often, the managers themselves don't know it. I've seen so many managers cargo culting what they read somewhere, and force their teams to do it.

bloqs 5y ago

How winning looks like may be a typo

vosper 5y ago

> It's insane how many companies hire and build teams around visions their teams don't understand well at all Conversely, it’s also insane how many companies hire and build teans around visions the teams know won’t work. The knowledge is there (perhaps distributed), but it never congeals, and everyone just plows ahead.

twh270 5y ago
Hah, this is me right now. Architects sold the business on a pie-in-the-sky grand vision, and teams are now busy implementing it even though its value is almost certainly a net negative. (Replacing something currently working with a highly over-engineered "platform" solution-for-all that will end up requiring heavy customization for each client.) On the plus side, it keeps me employed.
- uglygoblin 5y ago
  We are either all on the same project or this is a common outcome ;)
  - WrtCdEvrydy 5y ago
    This is the most common outcome from people wanting to make their resumes look "good".
    - twh270 5y ago
      The unfortunate situation is that continued employability in this industry almost requires a certain amount of resume-driven-development. It's much harder to get $newJob when your resume is full of stale tech from $currentJob.

plutonorm 5y ago

If you want teams to think for themselves you need to provide an incentive. Independent thought requires effort, if I am going to use my energy in pursuit of the company goals, what is in it for me? You can't just expect people to go above and beyond because you encourage them to and pat them on the back for it. Sooner or later it will dawn on them that this is not a reciprocal arrangement. You need to offer genuine promotion opportunities. Real financial incentives. Real autonomy, which means freedom from the quarterly demand for metrics. I've worked at precisely 0 companies in my time that have offered career opportunities that offer the kind of incentive that I would need to go all in and give a job all my attention.

thedevilslawyer 5y ago
> if I am going to use my energy in pursuit of the company goals, what is in it for me? Salary? Isn't the above definition of employment?
- nicklarsennz 5y ago
  They all offer a Salary, so what makes me stick around (and want _this_ company to do better)?
  - falcor84 5y ago
    A sense of belonging to a social group. With anything from families, to local sports teams, to nation states, humans have a natural (and quite rational) desire for their own (current) group to succeed. This desire for belonging, and often 'identity', is quite powerful and it typically requires some really bad circumstances for a person to decide to switch groups.
    - hn8788 5y ago
      Not everyone sees their company as their group. Companies like to talk about how they treat their employees like family, but it's just a way to manipulate them into doing extra work. Once you see it for what it is, it's easy to start thinking of jobs as something you just do for a paycheck, not something you do because you care about what happens to the company.

k__ 5y ago

The problem is often, the managers themselves don't know it. I've seen so many managers cargo culting what they read somewhere, and force their teams to do it.