One of the most popular management books of all time Is Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. I have recommended this book to many first-time managers as I think it helps explore some important concepts. That said, it is a book that has some significant issues. I won’t waste a lot of time poking holes in the inanity

Stop doing horrible 360s. Most 360s that I have encountered in organizations are poorly designed. They ask the reviewer to provide objective, holistic feedback on an individual. They ask things like, “Is this person a great coach and mentor for their team?” And asks the reviewer to rate the person on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 meaning

A recent HBR articlebrought up the idea that leaders need to be able to transition from an “exercise of authority” mode to a “flat” mode. They claim data back this up, but the article doesn’t share the data that guide their findings. It is important to note that the studies were specific to temporary teams and virtual teams competing to

There are differences between how experts make decisions and how novices do. Gary Klein has studied decision-making, and his results have been somewhat counter-intuitive. (All of the quotes in this article are from his book Sources of Power) Before we did this study, we believed that novices impulsively jumped at the first option they could think of, whereas experts carefully

I have often said that as a manager, you aren’t responsible for having an answer to every question or making every decision. That doesn’t mean your expertise and experience don’t matter. They do, especially when you are mentoring others earlier in their careers. If you are hiking on an easy trail, having someone a few feet ahead of you is