the art of giving a shit
Interesting and readable account of one person's experience of approaching leadership as a service to those you are leading.
(PDF) How to Build Pride in the Workplace?
The question of "pride" in relation to the employee/employer relationship comes up a lot in internal surveys, in my experience. This paper seems to seek to take a fairly technical approach to understanding the importance and impact.
It does raise the more general question though: what does it really mean to be proud of your employer?
Agile and the Long Crisis of Software
"The Agile Manifesto paints an alluring picture of workplace democracy. The problem is, it’s almost always implemented in workplaces devoted to the bottom line, not to workers’ well-being. Sometimes those priorities align; the manifesto makes a strong case that businesses’ products can be strengthened by worker autonomy. But they’re just as likely to conflict, as when a project manager is caught between a promise to a client and the developers’ own priorities."
Pretty good article that covers many of the concerns I have with "Agile".
Our Subtle Habit of Misusing Managerial Authority
Quote that sums up something that’s been bugging me for months: “When we use managerial authority as the easy way out of an uncomfortable situation—whether we do so in the absence of skill, to save time, or to avoid unpleasant emotions—we do so at the expense of earned trust between ourselves and our employees.”
It's Time to Stop Giving Unsolicited Advice
While not the best-written article (it seems to want to appear to be knowedgable, but also seems to do the common misuse of "passive agressive") it does cover some helpful examples of why unsolicitied advice is a shitty thing to provide.
Unsolicited advice is always criticism
Toot that's an image of a capture from Twitter, or something. The content is good though. What's even better is the unironic near-meltdown of some of the replies and the way they totally miss the point, pretty much thereby demonstrating it.
(PDF) Humanism in Business – Towards a Paradigm Shift?
Management theory and practice are facing unprecedented challenges. The lack of sustainability, the increasing inequity and the continuous decline in societal trust pose a threat to ‘business as usual’ (Jackson and Nelson, 2004). Capitalism is at a crossroad and scholars, practitioners and policy makers are called to rethink business strategy in light of major external changes (Hart 2005, Arena 2004). In the following we review an alternative view of human beings that is based on a renewed Darwinian theory developed by Lawrence and Nohria (2002). We label this alternative view ‘humanistic’ and draw distinctions to current ‘economistic’ conceptions. We then develop the consequences that this humanistic view has for business organizations, examining business strategy, governance structures, leadership forms, and organizational culture. Afterwards we outline the influences of humanism on management in the past and the present, and suggest options for humanism to shape the future of management. In this manner we will contribute to the discussion of alternative management paradigms that help solve the current crises.
Taking responsibility - why UK PLC needs better managers
A report from YouGov and CMI on the state of leadership and management in UK businesses.
Team management tips: 10 ways to kill a team
Yup, I've been on the receiving end of some of these all too often.