Overcoming Bias

Setting Up A New Remote Team

This article discusses the challenges of setting up an offshore development center in Taiwan for a Singapore-based company. The company took steps to ensure their remote team worked well, such as sending people from Taiwan to Singapore and vice versa, and stationing senior staff in Taiwan for a few weeks. This allowed them to observe and report back on any issues the remote team was facing.

How to Handle Cultural Differences on Your Team

An engineering manager in the Philippines faced a challenge when tasks and projects came in from the US. Filipinos have a different level of assertiveness than Americans, and this lack of assertiveness led to the engineering team becoming burnt out and not meeting deadlines. The manager realized that the behavior was due to cultural reasons, such as job security and not wanting to disappoint others, and held a meeting to align everyone and renew the company's trust in the Filipino engineering team. The lesson learned was that it is important to understand the cultural differences in order to solve the problem.

Developing and Sustaining Diversity Within a Company

This article discusses the importance of hiring a diverse team and outlines the steps taken to achieve this. It suggests having a diverse interview panel, avoiding terms that label candidates, creating a grassroots organization, and using social networks as a hiring resource. It also suggests having a template that represents real voices from within the company to create a welcoming impact.

Dealing with Difficult People

This article reflects on the author's experience working in dysfunctional companies, where decisions were made through confrontation, blaming and bullying. The author suggests that instead of fighting with those in power, it is better to make them feel listened to and to come to meetings prepared with data. The author also emphasizes the importance of creating a culture of accountability and open communication, where employees feel empowered to make a difference and are not afraid to speak their mind.

Making Product Decisions Based on One Large Customer

A large customer represented 40% of a company's revenue, but their wishlist was not necessarily reflective of what other customers wanted. The company took steps to prioritize development based on wide customer research, requiring courage and communication with the large customer. This experience taught the company that listening to the one large customer can skew their view of what the general customer wants, and that it takes courage and communication to prioritize development in a way that is beneficial to the growth of the company.

Resolving severe personality conflicts

Through personal therapy and psychology training, I have developed a set of techniques to help address personality conflicts between two individuals. By facilitating 1-on-1s with a third party present, the technique encourages each person to speak openly and be heard. This has been successful in transforming relationships, and has led to me being called the "Chief Therapy Officer" at my company. The lesson learned is that organizations can survive with dysfunctions, but those that can have employees listening to each other with empathy until they are truly heard are more likely to function without excessive bureaucracy.