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Career Composting
This post is about me turning over dead and dying material, old habits, and patterns to feed the soil. It’s time to compost. Dear reader, only you know what is best for you in your life and career. And even if you are not sure what’s best for you, I hope you choose what feels…
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Sideways Feedback is Golden
Image: A lucky rabbit patch I recently bought to mend cold weather gear. I’ve been lucky to have managers who practiced Radical Candor. I’ve been equally fortunate to experience just how golden sideways feedback is when offered in that same spirit of Radical Candor. In this post, I share how a friend and colleague shined…
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Part 2: Learning Culture – Retrospectives: An informal guide for remote & hybrid teams
I’ve been reflecting on my last 9 years on global remote teams and the elements of a learning culture. Today, I’ll focus on retrospectives, “retros,” as we call them. No matter your team’s delivery cadence or project methodology, a steady heartbeat of team retrospectives goes a long way in team learning and continuous improvement, personal…
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Icebreakers Connect
In the absence of a physical office, do you feel disconnected from your teammates? What did you do for lunch? How was your weekend? How are your kids feeling about going back to school? What are you looking forward to this weekend? Easy water cooler banter for some. Possibly more challenging if you are…
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Part 1: Learning Culture – Blameless Postmortems
I believe in fostering a culture rooted in transparency and safety. Building and maintaining a psychologically safe environment requires a steadfast commitment to learning. To nurture this growth mindset, we need team practices that promote continuous improvement. In this post, I’ll explore one of two practices that are part of a kaizen culture: the blameless…
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Next-level Leadership with AnitaB.org
I wholeheartedly believe that leadership is not based on a title. Leadership is how we show up for one another daily and how we conduct ourselves. My early teenage days in the band, as a clarinetist, and later as a drum major in the Foley High School band sparked my lifelong obsession with this topic.…
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Free Agent
I am grateful for my experiences at IBM, but it is time to let go. In February, I chose to stay where I am rather than comply with a “return to office” (RTO) mandate, or forced move, for managers and executives. I was part of high-performing, fully distributed/remote teams for nearly nine years. I was…
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Speak! Key Phrases to Use When Stunned
Have you ever witnessed appalling comments or behaviors at work? Do you have trouble finding words to respond to the moment? Perhaps you freeze, you shut down, you go numb. The figurative rug you stand upon is swiftly and violently pulled out from under your feet; you blank out and lose your sense of up…
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Let’s Be Honest
Tina, the scrum master, noticed her long-time developer teammate, Roger, seemed dispirited lately. She asked him if he wanted to chat. He did. Here they are in a 1:1. “Look, I am just here to collect a paycheck,” he says. Roger’s comments confirm the behaviors she has observed for quite some time; she is inwardly…
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We Walk the Floor
Site Reliability Engineer (SRE): Whoops, tomorrow is Friday and I forgot to tell you I am going on vacation for two weeks starting next week. Full Stack Developer: No big deal, I know how things work. And also everything is in slack #walk-the-floor In our team everyone is considered DevOps. We all “Walk the floor”. …
TestNess
… Lanessa's musings on tenacity & discovery in software engineering
TestNess 