Happy Halloween
Happy Halloween, everyone! I hope those of you who were out and about with your own little ghouls and ghosts had a safe Halloween this year.
Halloween costumes were pretty creative again this year at Magnet Forensics. I tried going with my own Horse Lime attempt, but it’s difficult when not many people know what the Horse Lime actually is. Regardless, my awesome mother put together the lime portion of my costume, and I was extremely grateful for that (and yes, I’m in my mid 20’s. No judging). I think it turned out pretty damn good.
This year, Saige won our Halloween costume contest. As Old Gregg, it was hard for that to not be a sure-fire win. Complete with Bailey’s in hand, I think the only thing that could have made it better was a set of watercolours to go with it. Absolutely awesome job.
On behalf of Team Magnet, Happy Halloween!
Articles
- Kenneth Cole’s 10 Keys to Success: In this article by Teresa Rodriguez, we get a list of 10 tips from Kenneth Cole on success. While I don’t think there’s anything groundbreakind about them, I do think they’re all relatively straight forward. My main take aways are being innovative, being passionate about what you do, and create value. This article also has a bit of background on Mr. Cole that I wasn’t even aware of, so that was pretty interesting.
- Community is Everything: How to Build Your Tribe: This article was kind of unique. It doesn’t necessarily apply directly to startups or business, but I see lots of parallels. Miki Agrawal writes about creating a “tribe” or a community of people around you. It’s really about placing positive people in your life, or go-getters in your business for the parallel. Again, no monumental secret tips in here, but it’s a great topic.
- Performance Recognition: Cutting the Cost of Disengagement: This one is an infographic (and not really an article) about engagement and performance recognition. There are a lot of stats in there, but regardless of whether or not I trust the accuracy, I think the general points made are sound. Essentially, there are a lot of disengaged employeed in the global work force and it hurts productivity. By creating a culture of recognizing performance, you can help boost engagement which has all sorts of positive effects.
- Code Review Like You Mean It: The first programming article for this week. Phil Haack discusses how to actually code review effectively. One of the key topics is taking breaks from long code reviews so you can maintain focus. Another is forgetting about the author when reviewiing and focusing solely on the code. Phil even put up his own code review checklist and suggests you have your own. Personally, I think I’ve kept a mental one but it probably would help to have it solidified.
- Converse, Don’t Complain: This article by Hiroshi Mikitani had the most buzz from the things I shared this week. It really seemed to hit home with people, and I imagine it’s for a couple reasons. First of all, if you’re honest with yourself, you probably complain. You probably chat with at least one colleague you’re really close with and just flat out complain with them. You both don’t like something, so you vent. That’s definitely a comforting activity, and sometimes we need it. The flip side is you have authority or responsibility over something that people have problems with. Nobody is voicing any concerns to you (since they are just complaining among themselves) and if they are, there aren’t solutions being brought forward.The first of this two part solution to this is instead of whining, start coming up with potential solutions. It doesn’t matter how big or small your ideas are, start thinking about what a solution might be. The second part is communication. If you want something to get resolved, you need to bring your concerns with potential solutions forward. If you only complain and vent to one person, your concerns won’t be heard. If you only ever whine about something not being correct, then you’re doing a half-assed job at trying to come to a solution.
- Lead by Example and Emulate Ideal: This one is a plug for my own article. I decided I’d write about why leading by example is actually more powerful than some people think. You have a lot of eyes on you as a leader, and you may not realize it. By leading by example and emulating the attributes you consider ideal, people will catch on to it.
- Keys to Productivity: I’ve sort of noticed this through my own experiences so far, but early morning and late at night are great times to be productive. When there are a lot of stresses on you during the day, sometimes it feels like you’re not being productive. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you aren’t, but it’s your own perception. Getting a head start on the ay by getting into the office early, or staying up late for your own creative endeavours can prove to feel really rewarding.
- Build Trust Through Training, Transparency and Trials: I’ve shared articles from this series by Jake Wood before, but this is another standout one for me. Trust isn’t something you can just put into your company values or your mission statement. Trust is something you have to live out each and every day in your organization. We can all say we value it, but if you aren’t willing to live it out, then it’s not something you truly value. One quote I really like from the article is:
Transparency cannot happen unless your leadership regularly visits the “front lines,” wherever that may be in your business.
- Here Is What Smart Companies Get That Others Don’t: The first of the three points offered in this article is that smart companies think differently. They are leaders and not followers when it comes to everything they do. The second is that they sell their culture. Their culture is actually core to their business and their organization, not some after thought. The third is that they help others become smarter. Provide value and become something that other people and business want and need to use.
- Why Good Strategies Often Fall Apart: Ron Ashkenas highlights a few reasons why strategies that look great sometimes just don’t work. The first two points he makes in his article are the ones I want to highlight. The first is passive aggressive disagreement. Not everyone is going to be on board with all parts of all changes, so you’re going to have people that disagree. If the culture does not actively embrace people being able to voice their concerns, it’s difficult to carry out a successful strategy. Individuals might complain, but they wont end up doing anything about it. The second is something along the lines of “being too nice”. Trying to avoid confrontation because you’re afraid of it is a recipe for disaster. If you actually encourage open communication and trust, then being able to have hard discussions about something can be really powerful.
- Three Things that Actually Motivate Employees: This probably isn’t new to a lot of people, but money (after a certain point) isn’t the driving force for employee motivation. The three things outline in this article are mastery, membership, and meaning. Employees want to be able to mastery their skill sets, learn, and get better at the things they do. Individuals within the organization want to have a sense of community. They want to feel like they align with the people they work with and their working toward a common goal. Employees also want to work on something that has meaning. Work that has a large positive impact is extremely motivating.
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