Some good pirate ship techniques in a Navy submarine.
The first non-bullshit book about culture I've read
21–30 of 156 posts
Re: The first non-bullshit book about culture I've read
#22All good points, although "rather than just punishing, he spent 8 hours discussing with his team"...? There needs to be less punishment as methodology out there, but an eight-hour discussion IS a form of punishment in my book. And for everyone else, too.
Re: The first non-bullshit book about culture I've read
#23All good points, although "rather than just punishing, he spent 8 hours discussing with his team"...? There needs to be less punishment as methodology out there, but an eight-hour discussion IS a form of punishment in my book. And for everyone else, too.
They discussed for 8 hours because they had to figure out how to avoid a repeat in a practical way. The discussion was not with the offender, but among the leadership team.
Re: The first non-bullshit book about culture I've read
#24I had my hopes up, but this is about Team Culture (not Culture)
Re: The first non-bullshit book about culture I've read
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
I gave “Leaders eat last” a try, but found it unreadable. It starts with SEALs in Afghanistan, because of course it does, and then the author loosely strings together a bunch of unconvincing anecdotes to support his core idea. The worst part is his constant reference to various hormones and fight or flight responses in a superficial way that would make even TEDx feel ashamed. Edit: there is absolutely no doubt in my…
If your looking at the military for examples I would suggest you have a read of a conventional leadership manual like what the MOD put out for Sandhurst. http://www.ceptm.iue.edu.ar/pdf/ADR002383-developingLeaders.... Obviously office work isn't the Army and you really shouldn't frame your work like a battle but generally. Everyone has a job, they are the one doing it so they are best to do it. Be professional, respe…
Thanks! Will do.
Re: The first non-bullshit book about culture I've read
#26Does anyone have book suggestions on leadership and management which aren't just pop-business BS?
I like books which are sort of lessons within a biography format. Points pulled from real experience. For me, this adds context and makes a book readable. If you don't learn anything, then at least you might get to read a good story. The hard thing about hard things, by Ben Horowitz The Score Takes Care of Itself, Bill Walsh (49ers Coach) Creativity, Inc, Ed Catmull (Ran Pixar) To Pixar and Beyond, Lawrence Levy (CFO…
> I like books which are sort of lessons within a biography format.
How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life (Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert) also fits this description.
Re: The first non-bullshit book about culture I've read
#27Does anyone have book suggestions on leadership and management which aren't just pop-business BS?
If I may ask for something a bit more radical: workable suggestions on leadership of diverse teams? The military-based ones tend to be a bit too macho for applicability outside that environment.
Even more so for leadership within loose and/or voluntary organisations such as open source projects.
Re: The first non-bullshit book about culture I've read
#28I had my hopes up, but this is about Team Culture (not Culture)
Ferengi Rules of Acquisition #239: Never be afraid to mislabel a product.
Also, exquisite irony serving up a "non-bullshit" book with the requisite amount of bullshit to make up for it. After all, the total amount of bullshit in the universe can never be reduced, only increased.
Re: The first non-bullshit book about culture I've read
#29This reads like a commercial, but I'm not going to downvote it. I read the book and liked it, along with about a hundred other books on culture over the years. There is a similar pattern: a problem, an old way of doing things, a hero, a change, and a beautiful sunset with our hero riding off.
I think there are really, really good things in these kinds of books, especially if you identify with the problem and hero. At the same time, having gone through a bunch, there's a tendency for them to be like self-help or diet books: lots of great feelings while you're consuming them, energetic talking about the ideas with your friends, then a slow die-off until the next book.
Years ago I started collecting news articles and bits of information on culture. (IT culture). It's a fascinating topic because it intersects hype and measurable reality. Unlike a self-help book that promises "Be a happier you in 3 weeks!", your job is something that either gets better or doesn't.
For what it's worth, my best choice so far is "The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups" I read this book and thought "That son of a bitch! He's stolen all of my research material!" There is a bunch of anecdotes, stories, and research in there. I am still thinking over many of the ideas in the book I hadn't considered before.
This is important stuff. If it's something you're concerned about, don't give up. Read as much as you can. Just step back a bit from the hype cycle as you do so.
Re: The first non-bullshit book about culture I've read
#30This book has had the single biggest influence on how I motivate and lead engineering teams[1]. It's an easy read, and the main thought on delegating decisions down hold very well for software engineering, and on how to create a culture of high-autonomy, high-performance.
[1] https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/a-team-where-everyone-is-...