career
Several months ago, a great mentor and friend of mine recommended I read the book Finding a Job You Can Love by Ralph Mattson and Arthur Miller (here's a page on Arthur Miller's site about the book). As part of his recommendation, he acknowledged that the
lessons-learned
I love technology, and have switched back and forth between Windows and Mac computer operating systems over the last few decades. I recently enjoyed the new M2 Mac Mini for about a year, and was reminded of some of the things Macs do so well, and some areas that aren&
leadership
When you're interviewing a candidate for a job, it's good to focus on if they're aligned with the needs of the specific job, but it's easy to forget that a huge component isn't just relevant hard skills (e.g., Are
leadership
It's tempting when you're talking about an big initiative, or individual tasks to list a few names of people who will advance something. But something I learned many times, especially during the high-growth times at Halfaker and Associates, is that responsibilities need exactly one owner. When
lessons-learned
I recently watched the season finale of the wonderful TV series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel with my wife, which was a great series, but I found it jarring, because we didn't realize we were watching the finale. I wish streaming shows would have some screen as the last
CIO
I recently presented to Academy Investor Network's AINVentures on principles and some recommended software tools by technology category for early stage companies. AIN is a great pre-seed and seed-stage focused venture fund, with a focus on connecting U.S. Military Academy graduates and investing in dual-use (Government and
lessons-learned
Yeti Tumblers (coffee to-go mugs) are so great at keeping hot drinks hot drinks and cold drinks cold (I'm a huge cold brew coffee fan, year-round), but an important tip is that you have to disassemble the tops occasionally and clean them, as mold can build up inside
leadership
When you're welcoming a new team member, make it easy for them to quickly get up to speed. It's tempting to think that you are so busy that you don't have time to welcome them well, but that's a high-risk maneuver, as
leadership
Interviewing candidates effectively is so hard -- you only get a few hours to determine if this person has the right skills, experience, temperament, cultural alignment, leadership style, etc. to fit into this specific role in your organization. A few tips about structuring the interview event: * Schedule sufficient time, such
lessons-learned
It's easy to look at email as something that you have to keep up with, so you can get back to work, but so much actual work gets done in email (and so much potential working time is taken away by email wrangling). If you think about emails
leadership
Skip-level 1-on-1s are the concept of you, as a leader of multiple teams, of meeting directly with people who report to people who report to you. This is sometimes a very delicate topic, because you may make your direct reports, or the people you're meeting with (who work
leadership
Fundamental, tactical skills like email management, schedule/calendar management, and making documents and presentations are sometimes overlooked by leaders when they consider how to keep their teams aligned. If things aren't running smoothly, there's value in reflecting on these fundamentals, both for yourself (Are these tactical,