Welcome to the It Depends / Nimble Autonomy newsletter
Happy New Year!
Hello and welcome to the It Depends / Nimble Autonomy newsletter. Here, you will get articles, links, updates about technical leadership and management, and career development advice for current and future technical leaders.
My name is Kevin Goldsmith; I've worked in technology for over thirty years as a developer, lead, architect, Engineering Manager, Director, VP, and CTO at massive companies like IBM, three-person early-stage startups, and everything in between. Today, I'm the CTO of DistroKid, the world's largest digital music distributor. I'm also the founder and principal of Nimble Autonomy (hence part of the newsletter's name).
Since 2004, I've written a blog called "Puppies, Flowers, Rainbows and Kittens." I have also written for other publications about organizational design, technology startups, data science, agile software development, and technical leadership. My first book, It Depends (hence the other part of the newsletter's name), will be released in March 2024. I'll share chapters from the book in this newsletter over the coming months.
Please ask me questions if you have them. I will answer some in future messages.
What does the name mean?
One of my biggest pet peeves is when speakers, podcasters, or bloggers present one-size-fits-all advice. If my experience has taught me anything, the context of your company, team, or yourself will determine the correct answer to your problems. I won't tell you what to do, but I will give you things to consider to help you find the correct answer for your situation. Hence, I would probably say the two most common words in response to a question are "It Depends."
I have been a proponent of Agile software development since 2000. However, "Agile" can be a loaded word for many people. Many companies have adopted poor software development practices, thinking they were "doing agile." While the most essential aspect of good agile teams is continuous improvement, the value is that teams can adapt and change quickly. They are nimble.
I have also been a leader of multiple technology startups that have grown quickly; I've found that the most effective way to grow a company without losing the core aspects of the company's culture is to build systems and processes that grow team autonomy.
Hence, It Depends / Nimble Autonomy.
Welcome again! Please share your feedback, questions, and ideas. If you find value in this newsletter, please share it!
Something to start your year, a personal strategy offsite! This is chapter 5 from the book and was originally posted here: https://blog.kevingoldsmith.com/2020/05/03/the-personal-strategy-off-site/
The Personal Strategy Off-site
Originally published on May 3, 2020
The Whirlwind
In the whirlwind of day-to-day work, it is often hard to carve out time for something that does not have a specific deliverable. Working from home can be even more challenging because of the additional pressures of helping your family. A familiar dictum of strategic thinking is the criticality of taking the time to think and plan.
The Personal Strategy Day
Liminal spaces are the transitionary spaces between things. In the liminal space between working from home to being back fully in the office environment, you can try something new—a personal strategy day.
Block out a day in your calendar as people return to the office. There will be some turbulence then as everyone is transitioning. It is the perfect time to start thinking about what you want to accomplish for yourself and your team before the whirlwind begins again.
The Personal Off-site
Companies schedule off-sites to get away from the distractions of the office. If you can find a “third place” (a place that is not your office or your home) where you can focus, that is ideal. If not, book a secluded conference room in your office, or find an empty desk far from where you usually sit. If you are still at home, let your family know you are working and need some blocks of focused time.
Focus
Don’t read your e-mail. Don’t take any meetings. Your job on that day is to think and plan. To help me focus, I usually print out supporting materials and work on paper to avoid the lure of notifications and other electronic distractions. Think of this as a gift of time and focus that you are giving yourself.
Figure 15 - My preparation for my personal strategy off-site
What to Consider
Think of the time before the lockdowns began. You may have just been starting on your 2020 commitments and deliverables. What was going well then? What were your concerns? Now think through what you have learned about your team, the work, and yourself during the lockdown. What do you want to keep, and what do you want to discard as you return to the office? What is it about the industry you are in and the world at large that has changed? What new pitfalls and opportunities are there? Now think ahead to the rest of the year. What new goals should you have for yourself and your team?
Take notes. Write things down. You will want to refer to them as you go through the year to revisit or remind yourself of your thinking.
Now create a plan. Not too detailed because the world is going to keep changing. Detailed enough, you feel you have something against which to execute. Write that down, also with milestones, if possible.
Finally, think about the process you just completed. Did it work for you? Would you do it again? If so, what would you change next time?
Retrospect and Revisit
This process may take anywhere from a couple of hours to an entire day. Don’t be too preoccupied with the length of time you spend. You are starting to build a practice of taking time for strategic thinking, so this is about taking more time than you have before.
If you find this valuable, you may want to plan your next strategy day for six or twelve months from now. Again, block it out in the calendar early and protect that time!
You may also find that scheduling smaller blocks of time, weekly or monthly, is suitable for revisiting your plan, tracking progress, and adjusting. These blocks of time are strategic thinking too!
Conclusion
Building a structured approach like a personal strategy day may help you create a practice if you struggle to keep time for strategy. Using the liminal times, like transitioning from lockdown back to whatever comes after, is an opportunity to block and protect time. The liminal times are also crucial for strategy because your past assumptions are likely no longer correct, and there may be some opportunities or challenges that weren’t visible before.
Some resources
I’ve spent the last several years building a structured personal strategy process for myself. So many people have inspired my practice. Their suggestions may inspire you as well.
· When I worked at Microsoft, I always remembered the lead-up to Bill Gates’ Think Weeks and the output from them. It was an amazing practice. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/26/bill-gates-took-solo-think-weeks-in-a-cabin-in-the-woods.html
· This talk from Maria Gutierrez at the Lead Dev conference was a massive help in my strategic planning.
· The planners from the Ink+Volt team helped me build some structure around my strategy and plan regular times to revisit and update it. Kate Matsudaira provides useful, structured planning and strategic thinking documents in her newsletter and on their blog. https://inkandvolt.com/blogs/articles
· In Pat Kua’s LevelUp newsletter, the issues near the end and the start of the year included many planning and strategy resources. https://levelup.patkua.com/#archive
Thanks,
Kevin