Travis, Nick, and Brandon discuss a tough-but-frequent listener question: "How do I coach senior developers and tech leads to work better with each other when they have opposing personality types or passions?" They explore the personality types of "ship it" vs. "perfect it". Brandon talks about what happens in the 1 out of 5 times when the conflict is ego- and control-driven rather than just slightly different values (hint: it's not great news). They discuss techniques to draw out the benefits of these personality differences to lower drama, build trust, and balance a team's ability to focus on outcomes with technical and product excellence.Notes:Your high bar is wrecking your teamhttp://brandonhays.com/blog/2018/06/19/your-high-bar-is-wrecking-your-team/

Nick pays homage to one of his heroes, Captain Al Haynes, who saved hundreds of lives by managing a crisis during a famous airplane crash. Captain Haynes demonstrated one of the canonical examples of Crew Resource Management and "just culture". They ask why we still adhere to the "unquestionable captain" myth and point out some of the (very public) disasters that created. Nick talks to the group about how he pivots into "questions/curiosity" mode from "assumptions/making a point" mode. They discuss the impact and legacy of Captain Haynes and how that's impacted the way we choose to lead and live.Notes:Capt Al Hayneshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_HaynesCrew Resource Mgmthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_resource_managementUnited 232https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_232United 173https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_173Tenerife airport disaster (worst air disaster)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenerife_airport_disasterTurn the Ship Around!https://www.amazon.com/Turn-Ship-Around-Turning-Followers/dp/1591846404

Travis, Nick, and Brandon talk about vacations after a summer full of them. When is it OK for managers to take vacations? How do you set things up to actually let yourself relax? What if something breaks while you're gone? Nick talks about the power of asking "When's the last time you took time off?" and how to clearly set the cultural expectations in "unlimited PTO" policies. The group discusses vacations as part of an overall self-care strategy. Notes: Nick's "self care" Twitter thread https://twitter.com/nmeans/status/1161331494406840320

There is a healthy and active debate in the management community around Manager READMEs. Are they self-indulgent excuses for asking people to "deal with" your shortcomings? Or an essential tool to guide future conversations? Nick and Brandon explore the nuance in there and how their views about Manager READMEs have evolved (and continue to evolve) as they're exposed to more examples of them in practice. Notes: Jay Desai's Indespensable Guide for the Modern Manager https://firstround.com/review/the-indispensable-document-for-the-modern-manager/ Calmille Fournier's I Hate Manager READMEs https://medium.com/@skamille/i-hate-manager-readmes-20a0dd9a70d0

A thread on the "orange website" got Nick thinking: What are signs a manager is succeeding? What are red flags that they're on the wrong track? They ask the big question: How do you know when you are doing a good job? Are there any actual, useful measures you can use to know a manager is effective? And once you have an idea of what success looks like, how can we help scale that across an organization? Notes: The original HN thread about "What are the signs that you have a great manager?": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20230133 Brandon's reply https://twitter.com/tehviking/status/1142480785733234689

Nick, Travis, and Brandon explore trust as a pillar of successful teams. What does a high trust environment look like? How do you build trust? How do managers accidentally lower trust on their teams? How do you build (or rebuild) trust between a team and the rest of the organization? They relay the "marble jar" metaphor and explore what that means for teams. Show notes: John Cutler's trust flowchart https://twitter.com/johncutlefish/status/1144292646120120320 Turn the ship around https://www.amazon.com/Turn-Ship-Around-Turning-Followers-ebook/dp/B00AFPVP0Y No Hard Feelings https://www.amazon.com/No-Hard-Feelings-Embracing-Emotions/dp/0525533834 The Power of Vulnerability (Seminar) https://www.amazon.com/Power-Vulnerability-Teachings-Authenticity-Connection/dp/B00D1Z9RFU

This week, Nick, Travis, and Brandon respond to a listener's question about when and how to successfully use performance reviews. Nick shares the idea of using "pattern matching" as a basis for evaluating performance. They discuss whether to tie performance to raises, and how to gather and provide feedback outside the performance review process. Notes: Listener question: I just had a fairly junior engineer ask in our 1:1 for something like a performance review. This is not something I - or my company - have done before. How do I provide good feedback for eager juniors and jaded seniors? How do I set clear expectations and give small feedback regularly in 1:1s so there are no surprises? How do I keep my experience/perspective from having too much influence? Is it a bad idea to tie raises to just one evaluation? Is there a way to give periodic bigger-picture evaluation and advice to those who want it without doing formal reviews? Thanks!

Nick, Travis, and Brandon explore how they've tried to improve at assessing the technical abilities of potential hires during the interview process. They talk take-home tests, pair programming exercises, and Nick shares a technique that has worked better for his teams than either of those. Notes: Yahtzee problem http://codingdojo.org/kata/Yahtzee/ Trek Glowacki: "Tired: Engineering Interviews; Hired: Engineering Auditions" https://medium.com/@trek/tired-engineering-interviews-hired-engineering-auditions-5f9f00147a57 Kevin Goldsmith: The right ingredients for your perfect team https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnCYxM9z1dEp Kevin Goldsmith: Let's build a product development organization (workshop) https://www.slideshare.net/kevingoldsmith/lets-build-a-product-development-organization

Travis, Nick, and Brandon talk about Rule #1 in running software teams: The Software Must Ship. How much of that is on you, the manager? They explore that question and talk about their experiences managing work backlogs, delivery cadences, and giving teams slack to help them go faster. Ron Jeffries's tweet: https://twitter.com/RonJeffries/status/1120486947569446914 Accelerate by Nicole Forsgren, et al. https://www.amazon.com/Accelerate-Software-Performing-Technology-Organizations/dp/1942788339

Nick, Travis, and Brandon talk about the vast array of "priorities" that can overwhelm a manager. The group talk through strategies they use to wrangle the "manager's calendar" and reclaim control over your time. Nick talks about how useful procrastination can be as a signal, and the group talks about using focus to make an impact in the face of "busy-ness". Notes: Effective DevOps https://www.amazon.com/Effective-DevOps-Building-Collaboration-Affinity/dp/1491926309 Managing Oneself by Peter Drucker https://www.amazon.com/Managing-Oneself-Peter-Ferdinand-Drucker-dp-1633694836/dp/1633694836 Possible Minds by John Brockman https://www.amazon.com/Possible-Minds-Twenty-Five-Ways-Looking/dp/0525557997 Deep Work by Cal Newport https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/dp/1455586692 Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_urban_inside_the_mind_of_a_master_procrastinator