managing using intuition and rules of thumb 050113
DESCRIPTION
Presentation to the IEEE Technology Management Council, Santa Clara Valley /San Francisco ChapterTRANSCRIPT
Managing using
Intui+on and Rules of Thumb
Mickey W. Mantle May 2, 2013
Two Books
Intui+on
Rules of Thumb
Managing – an audience survey
• Everyone who is a manager, please stand • Please sit if you have never had any management training
• Please sit if your management training was acquired aIer you began managing people
• Those who remain standing actually had some management training before they started managing people
Managing, A Defini+on
managing programmers – making sure the right stuff happens!
Using Intui+on
Audience Survey
• Those who use intui+on oIen (at least daily) in managing others please raise your hand
Malcolm Gladwell1
1Source: gladwell.com/blink
Example Cited by Gladwell
Nega+ve Example Cited by Gladwell
Instant Conclusions
• Intui+on, or Gladwell’s instant conclusions, can be very important to the success of a manager and leader
• Intui+on can be improved using Gladwell’s techniques
• Decisions have to be made, oIen without enough facts to support a decision
• A great manager relies upon his experience and intui+on to bridge the gap between facts and making the right decision
Using Rules of Thumb
Rule of Thumb
• A general guideline, rather than a strict rule; an approximate measure or means of reckoning based on experience or common knowledge
• A way to borrow experience in a concise fashion
Example Rules of Thumb
• A s+tch in +me, saves nine • If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it • For any soIware project, it will likely take twice as long and cost twice as much as you originally es+mate to really finish the project
Audience Survey
• Those who use rules of thumb oIen (at least once a week) in managing others please raise your hand
Rule of Thumb
Managers must manage – Andy Grove, Intel President, CEO, Chairman 1967-‐2004
Rule of Thumb
Not to decide is to decide – Anonymous
How to make a decision
• What if you can’t defer a decision and don’t have enough facts to decide?
• Mickey’s method: – Flip a coin! – But listen to yourself, not the outcome of the coin flip…
• Also be prepared to change your decision as soon as the facts demand it
Rule of Thumb
Leading by example occurs whether you like it or not. – Jateen Parekh, Founder and CTO of Jelli Crowdsourced Radio
Rule of Thumb
I praise loudly; I blame soIly. – Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia 1762 -‐ 1796
Rule of Thumb
We have two ears and one mouth. Use them in this ra+o. – Kimberly Wiefling
paraphrased from Epictetus, a Roman slave and philosopher (55-‐135 A.D.) who said “We have two ears and one mouth so we may listen more and talk less”
Rule of Thumb
Communica+on is the inverse square of the distance domes+cally and the inverse cube of the distance interna+onally. – David C. Evans, Founder and CEO, Evans & Sutherland Computer CorporaTon
Corollaries: You cannot over communicate. Never underes+mate the value of proximity.
Rule of Thumb
A collocated team will always outperform the equivalent distributed team. – Mike Cohn, Agile and Scrum “Thought Leader”
Rule of Thumb
Trust but verify. – Ronald Reagan (and others)
Rule of Thumb
A’s hire A’s, B’s hire C’s. – Steve Jobs, Apple and Pixar
Rule of Thumb
When it comes to gecng things done, we need fewer architects and more bricklayers. – Colleen C. Barre[, President Southwest Airlines
Rule of Thumb
Gecn’ good players is easy. Gecn’ ‘em to play together is the hard part. – Casey Stengel, Manager New York Yankees
Rule of Thumb
No one ever jumped ship who wasn’t standing close to the rail. – Jim Hollingsworth
Rule of Thumb
Manage salaries as if you had to post them outside your office door. – M. W. Mantle
There are always salary inequi+es. – M. W. Mantle
Rule of Thumb
Genius is one percent inspira-on, ninety nine percent perspira-on. – Thomas Alva Edison
Rule of Thumb
There's just a tremendous amount of craIsmanship in between a great idea and a great product. – Steve Jobs, from "Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview", 1995 television
interview with Robert X. Cringely
Rule of Thumb
All you have to do is draw a picture. – John Warnock, Co-‐founder Adobe Systems
Rule of Thumb
Priori+ze. Some+mes, it is urgent to wait. – Phac le Tuan, VP of Engineering, CEO
Rule of Thumb
Adequacy is sufficient. – Adam Osborne, Author, Publisher, Computer Designer, and Founder, Osborne Computers
An update on Voltaire’s “The perfect is the enemy of the good”. A common flaw in programmers.
Rule of Thumb
Don’t boil the ocean. – Anonymous
Rule of Thumb
There is no reliable rela+onship between the volume of code produced and the state of comple+on of a program, its quality, or its ul+mate value to a user. – Sco[ Rosenberg
Rule of Thumb
SoIware is hard. – Donald Knuth
Rule of Thumb
SoIware isn’t released, it’s allowed to escape. – Project Management Lay Wisdom
Rule of Thumb
Hofstadter’s Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take Hofstadter’s Law into account. – Douglas Hofstadter
Rule of Thumb
The hardest single part of building a soIware system is deciding precisely what to build. – Fredrick P. Brooks Jr.
Rule of Thumb
Customers will grade you more harshly on poor quality than on missing features. – Mark Calomeni, VP of Engineering, Accept Soaware
Rule of Thumb
Under promise and over deliver. – Anonymous
Rule of Thumb
Brooks' Law: Adding manpower to a late soIware project makes it later. – Fredrick P. Brooks Jr.
Ques+ons or Comments?
www.managingtheunmanageable.net
Thank you! Mickey W. Mantle Founder & CEO Wanderful interac+ve storybooks [email protected] www.wanderfulstorybooks.com +1 415-‐223-‐1155, x201 (o) +1 800-‐823-‐0637, x201 (o)