Beyond artificial deadlines
Most deadlines are human set for no real reason but trying to make sure work gets done.
Some deadlines are necessary. End of financial year is not a date we can move. Or when collaborating with other teams that rely on our work. But many deadlines are set by someone and with no real need for a deadline besides. They are a sign that leadership doesn’t trust the team and believe that work will only get done if we set a deadline. It usually tells me there are other issues at play.
The problem with setting too many deadlines, especially if they are unrealistic is that they lead to team desensitisation (if everything is a priority then nothing is a priority) and burnout 🔥
There are so many possible reasons why a team might not deliver or be productive. Slapping a deadline on it will not fix it.
But if you must set a deadline, then do it in consultation with the team. Sit down and discuss why we need a piece of work done, what is realistic, what dependencies should we consider, and if the date is set, what compromises should we make to ensure with hit the target date.
How do deadlines impact or inform your projects and roadmap?
~ Elle
What’s been happening?
CTO Gathering Sydney
Elle and Lachlan attended nDeva's quarterly Sydney CTO Gathering: Developer productivity in Sydney to watch two pairs of CTOs debate if developer productivity can be measured.
Paul Keen and Laura Haines did an excellent job for the affirmative, and got some excellent digs in at their colleagues. For the negative Paul Slade and Brendan Humphreys worked hard to keep the rivalry up and the laughs flowing.
In the end, despite the humour, the recitation of hand-picked research results, and the various allusions to unnamed companies someone may have worked at, it was clear what we probably all knew going in:
Metrics are important, but measuring them at an individual level leads to perverse incentives and less performant teams. Better to keep hard metrics to the team and org levels to encourage those teams to work together. And 'measure' individual performance by the contribution to that team and its goals.
Privacy webinar
Nicola attended the De-identification demystified for GRC, legal and privacy professionals webinar by Salinger. Her main takeaways from the session are:
- De-identified is a process, not an outcome. The outcome is impossible to guarantee.
- The degree of de-identification required is affected by context (the "5 safes").
- Consumers and businesses alike are naive about what 'de-identification' means. But businesses have an obligation under law to do it right.
- Law: identifiable: can I pick out an individual within the set of data, and track them through the data, even if I don't know who they specifically are.
Group coaching
We ran a group coaching program a few months ago, and received a bunch of feedback. And we wanted to pick and share some of that feedback with you. One of the questions we asked is: “What’s one thing you’ll do differently because of this program?” and what we got is:
- Helping others think about change in different ways
- Managing my own productivity so I have a better foundation of time and energy, to lead others.
- Always seek a group of external peers: I get a lot of energy, ideas and new reflections
If group coaching is of interest to you, we are going to run another cohort soon. Reach out to let us know you are interested or book an obligation free chat to explore your journey and your needs.
What are we reading?
- Just culture — Tom Geraghty unpacks Just Culture and the challenges of implementing it effectively and sustainably
- Need-to-know tactics for managing up successfully — Diego Quiroga with how engineering managers can establish a successful partnership with their boss to further themselves and their teams.
- The strategist’s compass: Diagnose before you decide using Cynefin – Helga Svendsen details a framework that helps leaders diagnose the kind of challenge they're addressing before they start looking at solutions.
- DDI's Global Leadership Forecast for 2025 – It's a big document and some of it doesn't feel applicable to the organisations we work with and in, but a lot of it seems very relevant.
What are we cooking?
Korean Vegetable Pancakes
Serves 4-6
A great way to use up any vegetables in the fridge! The veggies below are just indicative of the kind of thing and amounts that make sense.
I also shred tofu into it for protein.
Ingredients
Batter
- 250g plain flour
- 30g cornflour
- 10g cooking salt
- 500-600ml water
- Oil to fry
Vegetables
- 1 zucchini
- 1 carrot
- 1 small sweet potato
- 5 scallions
- 8 shiitake mushrooms
- 1 jalapeño
Dipping Sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 4 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp syrup (agave, maple, simple)
- 2 tsp gochujang
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix ingredients for the batter.
- Finely slice all vegetables and add to batter.
- Mix vegetables and batter to combine.
- Combine dipping sauce ingredients until you have a smooth sauce. I like to shake them in a jar, but a whisk works too.
- Spread a thin layer in a hot pan and fry until crispy on both sides.
- Cut cooked pancakes into quarters and serve with the dipping sauce.
I recommend serving them as each one is ready. If you hold them until they're all done, they'll lose their crisp crunchiness.
And we’re out
Thank you for showing an interest in our newsletter and we hope that you enjoyed the read. Feel free to contact us if you have any feedback, a burning question, or just a recipe that you would like to share.
Until next time, keep learning!
Everyone at Blackmill