Let's Do Lunch.....Leadership and Career Growth in Silicon Valley » professional development

Is the Job Market Beginning to Turn Around?

Devin — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 02:06:53 +0000

The job market has been dismal for a couple of years now and job seekers have become weary and have even stopped looking. Fortunately, over the last quarter there has been a large increase in job postings. I have several friends and colleagues that have decided its time for a change and have been working . . . → Read More: Is the Job Market Beginning to Turn Around?

Burnout: Things are Just Going Wrong

Devin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:04:24 +0000

Burnout is rough. You know that feeling when you’re sitting on the couch in the evening and dread going to work in the morning. Or the Saturday that you tell yourself that the weekend is almost over and you’re that much closer to having to go to work. You’re burned out and need to find . . . → Read More: Burnout: Things are Just Going Wrong

The Plural of Anecdote is Not Data

Devin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:47:15 +0000

The most common corporate buzzwords that I’ve been hearing over the last year are “transformation and “disrupt”. Companies are focusing on how to create a competitive advantage in this tough economic downturn. Markets have been shrinking during this 22 month recession and any advantage must come from focusing on business infrastructure in the reduction of . . . → Read More: The Plural of Anecdote is Not Data

Death By PowerPoint

Devin — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:12:14 +0000

We’ve all sat through long presentations that left us wondering how to get that fraction of our lives back. You know, those “FYI” presentations that are often more self aggrandizing than informative. During this economic downturn, I have seen an increased number of internal company business communications that have made me wonder who the target . . . → Read More: Death By PowerPoint

The Pecha Kucha Experiment

Devin — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:31:56 +0000

When I first heard about the modified Pecha Kucha exercise that I was invited to participated in (see Pecha Kucha on Summer Vacation) I wondered “what kind of nonsense is this?”. I first had to look on Wikipedia to figure out what it was. I’m not one for gimmicks, and this seemed like a gimmick. . . . → Read More: The Pecha Kucha Experiment

Leaders Ask Rather Than Direct

Devin — Tue, 20 May 2008 03:39:47 +0000

I was in a series of leadership offsites this week and had some interesting observations about communication. All the leaders around me were the best that I have ever worked with. They understand business and how to lead. Each leader has their own style and strengths which create their own organizational culture. Some would ask . . . → Read More: Leaders Ask Rather Than Direct

The Most Dangerous Business Assumption

Devin — Wed, 07 May 2008 22:38:15 +0000

One of the biggest traps that we fall into in technical companies is we assume we know what customers want or need. Silicon Valley companies grew up building engineering products for engineers. This means that we started by making products for ourselves and assumed that customers needed the same stuff too. Fortunately, we were right . . . → Read More: The Most Dangerous Business Assumption

Leading: Turning Conflict Into Conversation

Devin — Fri, 02 May 2008 16:10:00 +0000

People hate to fight. Its human nature to avoid conflict and we all want to be liked. Unfortunately, people often mistake confrontation for aggression. The reality is that conflict can be positive and constructive. Confrontation does not have to, and shouldn’t, be personal nor does it have to be mean. Direct conversations are productive and . . . → Read More: Leading: Turning Conflict Into Conversation

The Business Is Never About You!

Devin — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:47:10 +0000

I was chatting with a member of my management team in the hallway the other day and something she said really stuck in my head. We were talking about the organizational performance turn around that we were in the midst of and she said, “You’ve really added simplicity and definition to what we need to . . . → Read More: The Business Is Never About You!

The Consultant’s Mindset

Devin — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:39:04 +0000

Working for a large company makes it very easy to get comfortable. You wake up and go to the same office, work with the same people, and do relatively similar things consistently. It’s easy to get lulled into the pattern. In Silicon Valley, that pattern became a lifestyle. The internet bubble has passed and those . . . → Read More: The Consultant’s Mindset