One of your many jobs as manager is information conduit, and the rules are deceptively simple: for each piece of information you see, you must correctly determine who on your team needs that piece of information to do their job. Rands More Quotes by Rands More Quotes From Rands A milestone is less date and more definition. Rands milestone bloggers definitions I am a firm believer that you need a well-defined leadership role to deal with unexpected and non-linear side effects of people working together. You need someone to keep the threads untangled and forming a high-functioning web rather than a big snarl of a Gordian knot. Rands working-together people needs Snark from nerds is a leading indicator that I'm wasting their time and when I find it, I ask questions until I understand the inefficiency so I can change it or explain it. Rands inefficiency indicators nerd Managers tell you where you are, leaders tell you where you're going. Rands managers where-you-are leader Innovation is not born out out of a committee; innovation is a fight. It’s messy, people die, but when the battle is over, something unimaginably significant has been achieved. Rands innovation fighting people You have no idea if your idea matters until you share it. Rands matter share ideas Good design isn't about making decisions for your users, it's about making those decisions irrelevant. Rands irrelevant design decision Start with something messy, get to the point, get an editor, and make it good. Rands messy editors I believe email-based status reports are the clearest and best signs of managerial incompetence and laziness. Rands email laziness believe A toxic person kills, and by kills I mean totally destroys teamwork. Rands toxic teamwork mean If we're 15 minutes into a lifeless, redundant, status-based 1:1 and I don't have anything sitting in my back pocket, I'm going to turn it into a performance review. Rands minutes pockets sitting When the Vent begins, you might confuse [it] for a conversation. It's not. It's a Vent. It's a mental release valve and your job is to listen for as long as it takes. Don't problem solve. Don't redirect. Don't comfort. Yet. Your employee is doing mental house cleaning and interrupting this cleaning is missing the point. They don't want a solution, they want to be heard. Rands house jobs long Your work speaks for you. Rands speak Watch with awe and amazement at how quickly an engineer will become totally annoyed by inefficiency. Rands awe annoyed watches Criticism is the best sign you're onto something. Rands entrepreneurship criticism business
