No Fear

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself...

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5 Tiny Leadership Habits You Can Do in Under 5 Minutes for Massive Results

Management is complex, but it doesn’t need to be overwhelming.

If you have read James Clear’s book Atomic Habits, you know that small actions can lead to massive results.

A recent study found that 58% of employees trust a stranger more than their boss. Surprising, right? But what if changing that perception took less than 5 minutes a day?

The truth is that great leaders aren’t made from grand promises or speeches. They’re built through consistent, tiny habits that strengthen trust, communication, and connection day in and day out.

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Which is the MOST Effective Agile Meeting?

I remember working at a startup where every day began with meetings. Planning on Monday, follow-ups on Tuesday, status on Wednesday, dependencies on Thursday, and retros on Friday.

The team spent more time justifying their work than doing it.

That’s when I learned something I’ve never forgotten as a CTO: an unnecessary meeting is a silent tax on time and energy.

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Transform Team Trust In Five Seconds

The Honest Stop

Instead of pretending you’ve got it all figured out (no one believes that anyway), just stop.

Say: “I’m stuck here” or “I’m not sure about this.”

It’s like admitting you have no idea how to pronounce that new artist’s name. (We’ve all been there). And that’s what You Tube is for right?

The Power Flip

Instead of trying to be the all-knowing boss, flip the power dynamic.

Ask, “What am I missing?” or “How would you handle this?”

The Real Response

Here’s the crucial bit — when they speak, shut up and listen. Like, properly listen.

Not the “nodding while checking TEAMS “ kind of listening.

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Leadership IS Language!

The words we use matter.

You may not think much of using terms like “resources” rather than “people” or “I” vs “we” but at a subconscious level these words start to infiltrate our minds. For both the person using them and those hearing it.

Perhaps you’re thinking, ‘I have tough skin’ or ‘I don’t mind when people use these terms’ but even if that’s true, that’s not the case for everyone and it sets a tone. It influences the fabric of culture.

As the old adage goes: “‘Watch your thoughts, as they become your words; watch your words, as they become your actions.”

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Why Our Family Is "Different"

My hunch is that if you know us, you are already aware of this development...

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MVP is Dead!! We Should Focus on MLP Instead!

MVPs sound great in theory, but too often, they result in forgettable, uninspiring products. Instead of focusing on minimum viability, focus on minimum loveability – because a product that people love will always win.

So, the next time someone tells you to build an MVP, ask them:

“Would you rather date someone who’s ‘viable’ or someone who’s lovable?”

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Remove From Your Process as Often as You Add To It - Mike Cohn

Can you imagine being so angry about a team doing something wrong that you institute a rule for them to follow for the next 100 years? Literally 100 years.
Queen Victoria was that angry.
One day in 1894, the Queen went to the Horse Guards building expecting her Household Cavalry to be ready to escort her back to Buckingham Palace. She instead found the guards either asleep, drunk, or gambling.
Infuriated, she commanded that an inspection of the Guards be held at 4:00 p.m. every day for the next 100 years.
I’m guessing the Guards got the message to stop sleeping, drinking, and gambling on duty long before 100 years. The 4:00 p.m. inspection could have stopped after perhaps a year or two. Maybe sooner.
Things that become part of a team’s process sometimes stay there too long, like that inspection of the Queen’s Horse Guards.
This happened in a company that had a large database that was shared by multiple applications. When one team changed the database, they screwed up the change and left other teams scrambling to quickly change their code in production.
They held a multi-team retrospective and agreed that each team would produce a Database Impact Report every sprint. The report would describe how a team’s work would affect the database.
This doesn’t sound horrible yet, except it was rare for most teams to do any work at all in a sprint that would affect the database.
These teams were still expected to complete a Database Impact Report each sprint that basically said:

• No impact
• No impact
• No impact

These no-impact Impact Reports were emailed to all other teams.
After opening a PDF every two weeks that said “no impact,” recipients stopped bothering to even read the reports that were still being generated.
Stop. Just stop.
These reports were probably useful for a period. They may have helped identify a risk. They certainly made people more aware of the impact a database change could have on other teams.
But after a while, they should have been removed from the teams’ process, especially once the teams who actually did routinely alter the database had found better ways of communicating potential impacts.
In retrospectives, it’s always tempting to look for new things to add (“Let’s start using AI to inspect our code!”).
But make sure you also reserve time in retrospectives to look for things to remove.
Unless your team members are all drunk, gambling, or asleep at 4:00 p.m., you can probably find something to remove from your process.
A barely sufficient process with unnecessary actions and rules removed will help you succeed with agile

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