Kijana Woodard, the mind behind kaizen.io, shares insights on creating fulfilling work environments. He discusses the irony of IT managers lacking real decision-making power, likening it to not even being able to buy a pizza for their team. Kijana also humorously critiques the term 'senior' in tech, shedding light on the vast skill gaps it masks. His anecdotes about project management inefficiencies and the pressures of corporate structures offer a refreshing take on navigating chaos in the tech world.
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Agile Before Agile
Nick Suresh and Kijana Woodard discuss the chaotic yet effective "agile before agile" development style at True.com.
Despite seeming chaotic, this approach prioritized rapid iteration, A/B testing, and quick decision-making.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Trial by Fire at True.com
Kijana Woodard describes his trial-by-fire experience at True.com, where developers were expected to push code to production on their first day.
This chaotic yet agile environment fostered resilience and a rapid iteration cycle.
insights INSIGHT
Trial by Fire Builds Resilience
Kijana Woodard reflects that the intense pace at True.com built resilience and a tolerance for perceived "fires" at other companies.
This experience shaped his perspective on what constitutes a true crisis in software development.
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High Output Management is a seminal book by Andrew S. Grove that outlines his management and productivity concepts developed during his tenure at Intel. The book introduces the 'management by objectives' approach, also known as the objectives and key results (OKR) framework. It covers techniques for creating highly productive teams, methods of motivation, and the importance of measurable processes, performance reviews, and training. Grove emphasizes the role of managers in leading and motivating teams, and his book is praised for its practical advice and timeless relevance in various professions and industries.
The Phoenix project
Lambeth London Borough Council
In this novel, Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford tell the story of Bill, an IT manager at Parts Unlimited, who is tasked with turning around the company's failing IT department. The book delves into the challenges of IT management, the importance of DevOps practices, and how these practices can lead to significant improvements in efficiency, reliability, and customer satisfaction.
Radical Focus
Achieving Your Most Important Goals with Objectives and Key Results
Christina Wodtke
Radical Focus tackles the OKR movement and better goal setting through the story of Hanna and Jack's struggling tea startup. When they receive an ultimatum from their only investor, they must learn to employ OKRs with radical focus to achieve their goals. The book, written in the form of a fable, pulls from Wodtke's experience with Silicon Valley companies to teach how to inspire a diverse team, stay motivated despite setbacks, and create a framework for regular check-ins and key results. The second edition includes new material to help OKR users in larger companies create, grade, and manage OKRs effectively.
This episode is one that I've been super excited for - it's with Kijana Woodard, who runs kaizen.io! Kijana reached out to me a few months ago to talk about some writing, and we've been talking ever since. We're spiritually aligned on what fulfilling work looks like, and had a fantastic time talking.
Today's topics range from how it's terrible that I.T has three-year seniors to how most actual decision-making authority looks like it's distributed, but in reality most managers don't have the ability to buy their team a pizza.
Kijana also tells me one of the funniest stories I've ever heard in the tech space in the last three minutes.
As always, feedback at nik.suresh@hermit-tech.com is welcome, especially on audio quality. I think I did a lot better this time, but I have listened so many times that I feel like I've lost the ability to even tell what's good anymore.
Does A Frog Have Scorpion Nature? 
