Many teams might have a "strategy," but it is never something that has a practical effect on the work. By working to create such strategic alignment, you can enable rapid growth and improvement. In this episode, we discuss the steps to create strategic alignment and your responsibility as the leader to create it. Sign up to my newsletter for tech executives: https://avivbenyosef.com/newsletter/ Reach out with any questions or comments: aviv@avivbenyosef.com...
Jun 09, 2020•10 min•Ep. 42
Having heroes in your team might feel nice but it is an unhealthy crutch. It harms ownership and autonomy of other people around and can be a cover for a lack of coaching skills. In this episode, we cover these issues and lay out the path to change things up. Engineering Force Multipliers episode . Sign up for Aviv Ben-Yosef's Change Catalyst™—a weekly newsletter for tech executives. For any questions hit me up: aviv@avivbenyosef.com...
Jun 02, 2020•9 min•Ep. 41
Two months later, are you still sitting on your hands? Seeing a drop in performance due to remote work, but hoping "it will blow off soon"? Now is not the time to be dilatory. Here's the evidence you needed to understand remote works, now let's move on and fast. My previous episode about hybrid organizations is available here . Sign up for The Change Catalyst™ newsletter for tech executives. For any questions, hit me up: aviv@avivbenyosef.com...
May 26, 2020•6 min•Ep. 40
Every effective leader has to be able to execute change initiatives quickly. That requires talking about the issue from the right perspective, gathering strategic alignment, and doing your homework. All that and more on this week's episode! Join me and hear my talk on the Dev First Tech Leadership Conference ! Subscribe to The Change Catalyst newsletter for tech executives. Contact me: aviv@avivbenyosef.com...
May 19, 2020•11 min•Ep. 39
A product vacuum means that R&D might be stepping up to compensate for an issue and trying to fill the void. Since many engineers have their product gauges not calibrated in alignment with business needs, you need to learn how to spot these and provide them with the right framework to work with. That and more in this week's episode! Product Mastery episode Sign up for The Change Catalyst™ newsletter with exclusive insights for tech executives. For questions, reach out to me at aviv@avivbenyo...
May 12, 2020•8 min•Ep. 38
When the crisis shelter-in-place situation started, you might have been worried about effectively working from home. Right now, companies globally are transitioning into a hybrid model which is tougher to manage. Start planning now. Subscribe to the Change Catalyst™ newsletter for tech executives . Contact me at aviv@avivbenyosef.com
May 05, 2020•7 min•Ep. 37
When I hear someone claim their team is doing great and needs no help, I ask these questions to quickly realize whether that's truly the case or whether leadership has stopped pushing for better. Follow along. Engineering Force Multipliers episode Product Mastery episode Sign up for The Change Catalyst™ newsletter with three exclusive insights for tech executives every week. Contact me about Sentient Strategy® for a special rate before the offer goes up on my site....
Apr 28, 2020•13 min•Ep. 36
Engineering force multipliers exist on several levels: you, as the executive, your management team, and the individual contributors. Cultivating these requires different measures for each group, which we delve into in this episode. Notes: Failing Spectacularly episode Peter Pan Employees Product Mastery episode Subscribe to my Change Catalyst newsletter for tech executives . For any questions hit me up: aviv@avivbenyosef.com...
Apr 21, 2020•16 min•Ep. 35
Managing up is the big kids game, where you get to have sway that will allow you to gain leverage and have a more impactful organization. How do you position yourself to get there? Replay of my Creating Leverage webinar from last week Managing Politics episode Sign up for The Change Catalyst newsletter If you have any questions, reach me at aviv@avivbenyosef.com...
Apr 14, 2020•18 min•Ep. 34
Tech people turned leaders too often shy away from politics in a way that harms their team. Let's fix that. Premature Optimization episode Failing Spectacularly episode Subscribe to my Change Catalyst newsletter For any questions, feel free to contact me directly: aviv@avivbenyosef.com...
Apr 07, 2020•12 min•Ep. 33
Failure is a necessity if you are trying to do anything novel. Learn how to cultivate a culture where placing bets is safe and a learning opportunity. Free webinar: Creating Leverage: Leadership Operating System for Growth in Crisis and Instilling Lasting Productivity Through Focus Sign up here: https://bit.ly/aviv-leverage-webinar You will get a link to a recording of the webinar. Subscribe to my weekly newsletter for tech executives: The Change Catalyst For any questions, email me: aviv@avivbe...
Mar 31, 2020•14 min•Ep. 32
Tough conversations are a vehicle to drive progress in your organization. Without exercising your candor muscle, you'll cultivate a culture of stagnation and low standards. This episode covers how to do these well. This podcast was selected on top ten lists for CTOs: https://blog.feedspot.com/cto_podcasts/ https://leocode.com/development/our-favorite-11-podcasts-for-ctos/ Subscribe to my newsletter: https://avivbenyosef.com/newsletter/ Any questions? Shoot me an email: aviv@avivbenyosef.com...
Mar 24, 2020•11 min•Ep. 31
As more and more companies are moving to work from home, here are a few tips to get the process started and become productive faster. If you have any specific questions, feel free to contact me: aviv@avivbenyosef.com Subscribe to my weekly newsletter for tech execs: https://avivbenyosef.com/newsletter/
Mar 17, 2020•9 min•Ep. 30
Debugging code is a no brainer when compared to debugging processes that span over dozens of engineers, and pinpointing where exactly the bottlenecks are. In this episode, I cover how you can add "debug prints" and step through phases of your organization's processes in order to spot issues and address them effectively. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://avivbenyosef.com/newsletter/ For any questions or comments, email me: aviv@avivbenyosef.com...
Mar 10, 2020•14 min•Ep. 29
Join me for a quick thought experiment–can you suddenly free up hundreds of hours and heaps of allocated budget and get more impact? Subscribe to my newsletter: https://avivbenyosef.com/newsletter/ For any questions or remarks, send me an email: aviv@avivbenyosef.com
Mar 03, 2020•8 min•Ep. 28
Should you, as the person in charge of R&D, default to saying "yes" or "no?" How much should you pushback on ideas? This episode covers that and more. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://avivbenyosef.com/newsletter For comments, send me an email: aviv@avivbenyosef.com
Feb 25, 2020•8 min•Ep. 27
Research shows that people can learn to become helpless and pessimistic, just as they can learn to become optimistic. Those who are inculcated with helplessness then get into a vicious, negative cycle. These things are even shown to work across groups and teams. There are common patterns in startups that cause these. In this episode, we learn how to notice these, how to stop it, and what you should do. Executive Mindset Subscribe to my weekly newsletter with exclusive insights: https://avivbenyo...
Feb 18, 2020•9 min•Ep. 26
As your team grows, its operating system needs to update to accommodate for the change in hardware. The speed with which the upgrades are done is your speed of change . In this episode, I list out the three components to start seeing improvements in your Speed of Change immediately. If you have any comments, feel free to send me an email: aviv@avivbenyosef.com Subscribe to my newsletter to get exclusive insights: https://avivbenyosef.com/newsletter/...
Feb 11, 2020•9 min•Ep. 25
First times are inflection points, or can be used as such. How many first times are there in your organization every week? Are you making good use of them? For questions, reach out: aviv@avivbenyosef.com Sign up for my weekly newsletter with exclusive insights for tech executives: https://avivbenyosef.com/newsletter/
Feb 04, 2020•8 min•Ep. 24
In an environment with so many different people, from diverse backgrounds and cultures, you can't hear only one side of the story. Gather the evidence! Get exclusive insights on my weekly newsletter here
Jan 28, 2020•9 min•Ep. 23
A few quick assessments to see whether you're growing fast enough along with your team, and how to decide what you should change. The Executive Mindset Subscribe to my newsletter , weekly exclusive insights for tech execs My email for questions: aviv@avivbenyosef.com
Jan 21, 2020•11 min•Ep. 22
In the current state of the industry, small startups might feel a feudal society. You have to give lordships (titles) and lands (teams) to each person that's been there for a couple of months for them to feel like they're progressing. Stop it.
Jan 14, 2020•9 min•Ep. 21
A big chunk of running a tight engineering organization consists of keeping a handle of your feedback loops and tightening them as needed. For exclusive weekly insights, subscribe: https://avivbenyosef.com/newsletter/ Feel free to contact me: aviv@avivbenyosef.com
Jan 07, 2020•9 min•Ep. 20
Was being a tech exec in 2010 that different than it is today? What are the core themes behind the changes in the day-to-day?
Dec 31, 2019•12 min•Ep. 19
Following up on my latest article exploding on Hacker News, this week we dig into the mechanics of providing negative feedback. Reminder to join the newsletter ! Feedback Timeliness Question of the week: Give me your best feedback stories! Send answers for the question, and whatever comments/questions you have: aviv@avivbenyosef.com...
Dec 24, 2019•13 min•Ep. 18
How adding some slack time to your organization can make things drastically better, and the approaches you can take to start trying it out. My email is aviv@avivbenyosef.com - send me your answers to the question of the week! And as always, if you're finding this valuable, subscribe to the newsletter for more content and share!
Dec 17, 2019•14 min•Ep. 17
How your typical week should look. Previous episode about making time Plan for about 35 hours a week 1:1s - 3 hours 1:1s with skips - 1-2 hours Thinking time - 5 hours Hiring - 3 hours Syncs - 8 hours Shaping - 6-7 hours Question of the week: What’s one thing you’ve done weekly that you find helps with getting more done? Send me a 5-word email with your answer: aviv@avivbenyosef.com...
Dec 12, 2019•12 min•Ep. 16
We spend so much effort into hiring, only to fumble it in ridiculous ways sometimes. Here are a few common pitfalls I regularly see with consulting clients so you can learn to avoid them. Don't forget to signup for the newsletter here . And as always, remarks and questions are welcomed at aviv@avivbenyosef.com
Dec 03, 2019•12 min•Ep. 15
What do you, as a leader, should do to be able to get more done across the organization, and how does that empower everyone else? As usual, feel free to drop me an email at aviv@avivbenyosef.com Get my exclusive insights newsletter at https://avivbenyosef.com/newsletter/
Nov 26, 2019•9 min•Ep. 14
Product Mastery is a key tenant of highly productive organizations. Why are you lacking in it, and how can you establish it in your existing culture?
Nov 12, 2019•17 min•Ep. 13
