No leader is an island
Where does leadership come from?
I watched a video of the keynote presentation from the NIODA Symposium of 2020. Dr James Kranz covered various ideas I agreed with and some I found more challenging.
One that has stuck with me was that leadership lies not in the individual but in the system. Leadership is not innate alone. It is not individual traits, behaviours, beliefs and attitudes. It is an emergent property of the organisation's dynamics.
This is counter to everything society taught me. Ever since my primary school made me Deputy House Captain in Year 6. Through my Army officer training. Into my career as a software engineering leader.
But it makes sense. Context makes leadership visible. Am I leading my team while I hang the washing before a remote meeting? Am I leading them while I commute to work? Dr Kranz states that systems thinking has leadership as an output of the system, not an input. I'll be reflecting on that for a while.
The other idea that struck me was that enrolment is more valuable than empowerment. Don't 'free' people to perform leadership. Join them deeper to our shared purpose. And we do that through conversations.
Work and learning happen more often through conversation and relationships. Embrace that. Focus on leadership of ideas instead of leadership of individuals.
Without purpose our work is hollow. It loses meaning. Tie work to purpose through conversation. Use meaningful relationships to fuel passion and connection. That's leadership.
~ Lachlan
What’s been happening?
Leading engineering teams workshop
Our next public engineering leadership workshop is coming up soon: August 25-28th. We only run small groups: get your ticket before we sell out!
“This is the best leadership course out there on the market. Super specific, no fluff and incredibly impactful.”
Join us to increase your leadership effectiveness and impact! Do you aspire to a management or a leadership role? Would you love to scale your leadership, by bringing your promising ICs and/or team leads up a level in capacity? Are you tired of webinars or courses that are dry and boring?
Check out: https://blackmill.co/coaching-training/workshops/leading-engineering-teams
What are we reading?
- Quality is a trap — Eric Bailey explains how we use quality as "a proxy phrase, often born of an inability or unwillingness to articulate other concerns."
- Are developers slowed down by AI? Evaluating an RCT and what it tells us about developer productivity — Dr Cat Hicks takes us through the infamous METR study to help us truly understand the results behind the headlines.
- The dawn of the posthuman age — Noah Smith asks, "Have computers and in particular, the Internet, caused humanity globally to fall into a inescapable decline and possible end to life as we know it?"
- Is this the most transformative metaphor for systemic change? — Dr Shereen Daniels explains the "groundwater approach" metaphor that can be used to explain systemic issues related to racial inequality.
A cuppa with Justin Warren
1. What do you do? And what do you like about your work?
I am the founder and principal consultant at PivotNine, so I wear many hats.
My client-facing work is mostly about helping people understand how the pieces of a socio-technological system fit together, and helping make those systems do more of what they’re supposed to be doing. There’s a lot of troubleshooting, and a surprising amount of coaching and therapy. The technology is much easier to figure out than the humans.
I really enjoy working with capable people, where we all play a part, and the whole thing feels challenging but achievable. Those sorts of projects are fairly rare, so I treasure them when they happen.
I like the variety of consulting. I like learning new things, and reading what other people have tried so I hopefully don’t make the same mistakes. Even if the challenge is broadly the same, the details are always different at each client, so I get to apply my experience in new ways.
I enjoy the days when I feel like I know what I’m doing and I can look back with some pride in a job well done. I’m my own worst critic, so it’s nice when I can pat myself on the back a little bit.
2. What aspect of your work do you find most challenging?
Wielding the Pointy Poker of Progress™, and accepting that sometimes there wasn’t anything I should have done differently.
On nagging/reminders: There’s an art to checking in with people to keep things moving without irritating them so much that they end up resenting you. Some project managers make it look effortless and I wish I was that good. It’s a skill, which takes practice if you want to improve, even when you don’t really feel like it. A lifelong struggle.
On responsibilities: I like to say that “everything is my fault” at PivotNine, as I am nominally in charge. However, as a leader, my job is to ensure that things get done, not to personally do everything. Mostly I focus on improving systems.
On self-compassion: Sometimes I feel like I should have foreseen things that I couldn’t have, or that I should have known to do things a different way at the time, when that wasn’t actually possible. I have to remind myself to give myself a break.
3. What are you passionate about?
Having systems that do what we intended them to do. That the mediocre is the enemy of the actually good. That maintenance, the care of things, is important.
I hate it when people and institutions abuse their power instead of using it to help people. I have no patience for people who say “but we didn’t mean for it to do that” and then do nothing to fix it. It is endlessly frustrating when the people who were completely and utterly wrong about something, get to do exactly the same thing again, while all the people who were proven right are forced to watch them get it wrong again.
It could be different, and I’m trying to make it happen, even if only by a little bit.
4. What are recent accomplishments you are happy with?
I gave a talk about sustaining open source software at Everything Open and Drupal South earlier this year that came out pretty much as I wanted it to, and people seemed to like it. I’m (hopefully) finally getting a handle on how to talk to people about the unifying themes of my career. It’s all about about maintenance and the care of things, and that the purpose of a system is what it does.
Winning in the Federal Court against the Australian Government over a very niche bit of freedom of information law related to Robodebt. That was pretty sweet. I will never stop being mad about Robodebt.
5. What is one mistake that you will never make again?
I’m not so bold as to think that I might never make the same mistake again. And wow, so many mistakes to choose from.
I (now) try to avoid taking on roles that involve significant organisational change without making sure I have the resources, power, and political support required to succeed. Without those things, you will lose, and it will suck the entire time you are losing. You will end up exhausted and demoralised, and the system will remain unchanged.
Stable systems resist change; that’s what stable means. Change is usually slow and gradual. Rapid change is possible, but it requires destabilising the system first, breaking some aspect, and then remaking it to become a different system. It’s a risky, confrontational, and somewhat violent activity. Pretending it’s not is a mistake I hope not to make again.
6. How do you manage stress?
Physical exercise helps, annoyingly. Going for a stupid mental health walk does actually improve my mood, but that doesn’t mean I have to like that it works. Lifting weights is more fun than cardio. Getting ready to lift weights or do cardio is not.
I like to read, almost as much as I like to collect things that I would like to read. TV shows and movies are fun. Computer games are also fun, especially RPGs where I can pretend to be someone else. Cooking can be quite meditative, and you get something tasty to eat at the end so it has a built-in food reward.
Anything that gets my brain to shut up and leave me alone for a while really.
7. What is the best advice you can give?
The purpose of a system is what it does, not what you intended it to do.
Stable systems resist change; that’s what stable means.
What people do is a better indication of what they truly believe in than what they say.
You are what you repeatedly do. Decide who you want to be and do it on purpose.
Being kind is not the same as being nice.
Trust, but verify.
Find something or someone to care for, and let someone else care for you.
8. What one thing would you change about our society?
I would limit wealth inequality to some maximum multiple of the median wealth, say 10x. Once you reach that limit you get a certificate that says “Congratulations on winning capitalism. New game?” and half of your wealth gets redistributed to everyone else. The certificates have a little picture of a guillotine on them to remind everyone why we have the certificates.
9. What are your goals or aspirations for this year?
I’d like to spend more time working with Australian clients. After over a decade working with clients mostly in the USA and Europe, I’d like to use what I’ve learned to improve things here. There’s a lot that we could learn from how things are done elsewhere. Combining what Australia is good at with the best aspects of other ways of thinking and doing could be really beneficial.
Making the world a little bit better than I found it. Actually figuring out what I want to be when I grow up might be nice.
And finding somewhere local that makes a proper pain au chocolat. Paris has ruined me.
What are we cooking?
Moroccan Stew
The key to this dish is the ras el hanout spice blend! It works best served family style with communal dishes, but you can portion it out individually as well. It keeps well in the fridge or freezer, so you can double the quantities and have pre-made meals for later.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp of ras el hanout spice blend
- 1-2 tbsp of vegetable oil
- 500g of skinless chicken breast or thighs, diced
- 1 medium onion, diced finely.
- 2 tsp minced garlic. Be generous with the garlic. Yes, more than that.
- 1 stick of celery, diced finely. (optional)
- 2-3 medium-sized carrots, chopped into bite-sized chunks.
- 2-3 medium-sized zucchinis/corgettes, chopped into bite-sized chunks.
- 1 tin (250g) chickpeas, drained.
- 1 tin (250g) of chopped tomatoes.
- 1 cup (250ml) of chicken or vegetable stock.
- Roughly chopped mint, to serve. (optional)
Instructions
- Just cover the bottom of the pot with vegetable oil and bring it to a medium heat.
- Add the garlic and fry gently for about one minute. If it starts to spit, turn the heat down, otherwise the garlic will burn. Add the diced onion and sweat it until clear, about 2-4 minutes. Add the celery and fry it gently for 2-3 minutes.
- Now add the ras el hanout and stir it in. Let the mixture fry to release the flavours of the spices into the oil. (I forgot this step once and tried putting them in later; it wasn’t as good.)
- Add the diced meat and stir to coat it in the spices. Fry gently for about five minutes, stirring occasionally to brown it evenly. This adds a umami flavour to the sauce and stops the meat from getting dry as it stews.
- Add the chopped tomatoes from the tin and stir. The liquid of the tomatoes will help to deglaze anything stuck to the pot. Let the liquid start to bubble, then add the stock and bring to a simmer.
- Keeping the mix at a simmer, add the ingredients one at a time, pausing after each one to keep the simmer up. Start with the ingredients that are slowest to cook. Carrots, then chickpeas, then zucchini.
- You can vary the vegetables. Beware of the varying liquid content of different vegetables, though, as they will affect the thickness of the stew (Think zucchini vs potato).
- Cover and simmer on low for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Adjust salt and spices to taste. If the liquid level is dropping, add more water or stock. If the sauce is really wet, take the lid off and simmer uncovered for the last 15 minutes or so to reduce the sauce. Cooking longer is no problem: you just end up with softer veg.
- Serve with couscous or rice. Optional: garnish with chopped mint.
Ras el hanout
This is from a recipe book called Spice It! The recipe is extremely forgiving, so adjust to taste. This makes 2 tbsp: enough for the stew. If you make extra, it will keep for a month in an airtight container.
- 2 tsp coriander
- 2 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp cardamom
- ½ tsp fennel
- ½ tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp hot paprika
- ¼ tsp salt
To cheat: use pre-ground spices, and just mix everything together. I often do this, and it's fine.
For the super-fresh blend: use whole seeds instead of ground spices. Put the seeds and peppercorns in a small frying pan and dry fry for one minute, until aromatic. Tip into a mortar and pestle (or food processor) along with the turmeric, paprika, and salt, and grind until evenly mixed.
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