#had two excellent 1-2-1s my team leader was lovely and my coordinator made me feel so much better about that new procedure

[ghosts-of-love]

everyone say well done charlie for going into the office twice this week!!

[weienw]

Book Notes: Nine Lies About Work

Nine Lies About Work, by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall

Lie #1: People care which company they work for

Truth: people care which team they’re on

8 Predictors of team performance:

I am really enthusiastic about the mission of my company.

At work, I clearly understand what is expected of me.

In my team, I am surrounded by people who share my values.

I have the chance to use my strengths every day at work.

My teammates have my back.

I know I will be recognized for excellent work.

I have great confidence in my company’s future.

In my work, I am always challenged to grow.

1/3/5/7 are “we predictors”

2/4/6/8 are “me predictors”

“What distinguishes the best team leaders… is their ability to meet these two categories of needs for the people on their teams.”

Lie #2: The best plan wins

Truth: The best intelligence wins

Liberate as much information as you possibly can.

Watch carefully to see which data your people find useful.

Trust your people to make sense of the data.

Plans are overly generalized and quickly obsolete. Coordinate your team in real time, relying on the intelligence of each team member.

This is an argument for weekly 1:1s. “Frequency trumps quality.” If you can’t do weekly 1:1s, you have too many people.

Lie #3: The best companies cascade goals

Truth: The best companies cascade meaning

In the real world, there is work. In the theory world, there are goals.

“Cascade meaning through our expressed values, rituals, and stories… We should let our people know what’s going on in the world, and which hill we’re trying to take, and then we should trust them to figure out how to make a contribution.”

Lie #4: The best people are well-rounded

Truth: The best people are spiky

See also: Lionel Messi’s left foot.

Competencies are impossible to measure.

Excellence is idiosyncratic.

Lie #5: People need feedback

Truth: People need attention

Ignoring a team led to 1:20 ratio of engaged:disengaged

Negative feedback (focus on fixing shortcomings) led to 2:1 ratio of engaged:disengaged (40x improvement to ignoring)

Positive feedback (attention toward what employees do best) led to 60:1 engaged:disengaged (30x improvement to negative feedback)

Feedback is a kind of attention

fMRI scans show that negative feedback triggers fight or flight and impairs learning.

Tell the person what you experienced when they had a moment of excellence. What you saw, and then:

How it made you feel, or

What it made you think, or

What it caused you to realize, or

How and where you will now rely on them

Lie #6: People can reliably rate other people

Truth: People can reliably rate their own experience

“Running out of 4s,” forcing the curve

In order to add precision to Potential and Performance, orgs create lists of competencies…

But it doesn’t work. Adding performance review training doesn’t help. 54% of variation in people’s scores can be explained by the personality of the rater (Idiosyncratic Rater Effect).

Recommendation: ask questions that produce data that are Reliable, Variable, and Valid. Good questions generate a bell curve of responses. Bias is inevitable so we’re best off framing questions around the rater’s personal experience of working with someone.

Four example questions: (⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ )

Do you always go to this team member when you need extraordinary results?

Do you choose to work with this team member as much as possible?

Would you promote this person today if you could?

Do you think this person has a performance problem that you need to address immediately?

Lie #7: People have potential

Truth: People have momentum

Truly people-maximizing exercise:

What’s your actual dream job, irrespective of company, industry, or line of work?

Find that job on LinkedIn. Look at the skills/experiences/qualifications listed. Figure out the gap. Make those skills/experiences/etc part of your current job.

Lie #8: Work-life balance matters most

Truth: Love-in-work is what matters most

List which parts of your work fall into “loved it” vs “loathed it”

Follow the red threads, weave them into your work. The “loved it” bits are your strengths.

Lie #9: Leadership is a thing

Truth: We follow spikes

The leaders we love don’t actually exhibit a list of leadership qualities.

You can’t practice the qualities (inspirational, visionary, strategic, good at execution, good at decision-making, innovation, executive presence, etc.) and thereby grow your leadership.

No two leaders create followers in the same way. We follow a leader because they are deep in something.