451 Posts found for Source: First Round Review

Too many people believe that speed is the enemy of quality. To an extent they’re right — you can’t force innovation and sometimes genius needs time and freedom to bloom. But in my experience, that’s the rare case. There’s not always a stark tradeoff between something done fast and done well. Don’t let you or your organization use that as a false shield or excuse … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Dave Girouard | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Innovation, Management, Organizational Behavior

The untrained mind has a weird way of defaulting to serial activities — i.e. I’ll do this after you do that after X, Y, Z happens. You want people working in parallel instead.

Content: Quotation | Author: Dave Girouard | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

The art of good decision making requires that you gather input and perspective from your team, and then push toward a final decision in a way that makes it clear that all voices were heard. […] I wouldn’t call it consensus building — you don’t want consensus to hold you hostage — but input from others will help you get to the right decision faster, … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Dave Girouard | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Decision Making, Management, Organizational Behavior

Specific people operate with details and sequences. They cannot see the overview. They say “exactly,” “specifically,” and supply details and chronology. General people focus on the overview or big picture. If they handle details, it’s for short periods. The language they use includes “essentially,” “the important thing is,” and “in general.” Every great team needs a mix of more specific-minded people and big-picture folks. But … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Khalid Halim | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Organizational Behavior

“Toward” people are motivated to achieve and attain goals. They have trouble recognizing problems, and are adept at managing priorities. They frequently use words such as “gain,” “obtain,” and “achieve.” “Away from” people are motivated to solve problems. They focus on what may be going wrong. They frequently use words such as “avoid,” “steer clear of,” or “exclude.” To decode ‘toward’ versus ‘away from’ people, … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Khalid Halim | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Organizational Behavior

Communication is not just about what you say, it’s about the reaction it causes in the listener. Often we think delivering a message is enough without checking to see if it was actually received.

Content: Quotation | Author: Khalid Halim | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Communication, Management, Organizational Behavior, Personal Development

Integral theory encourages you to look at the world through the lenses of the “It,” the “We,” and the “I.” The It refers to your tasks and your role at work: Your goals, achievements and the stuff you’re getting done. The We is about your relationships, the quality of your interactions — which too few people think about. And the I is about the attitudes … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Chris Holmberg | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Organizational Behavior, Personal Development

Coaching is about looking beyond solving short-term problems and instead training people to uncover their own self-limiting mental habits, because only then is true, long-term transformation possible.

Content: Quotation | Author: Chris Holmberg | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior

We underestimate our teams when we assume that they will demand all the facts or an ironclad plan. People are often just looking for signs of a caring culture — that we’ll be here for them and that, if something’s wrong, we’ll create an avenue for them to share that.

Content: Quotation | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

The best leaders ask questions they genuinely want to know the answers to. To do that, stop and check in with yourself: Why am I asking this question? Do I genuinely want to hear from this person or am I trying to make sure that I don’t look bad? Am I checking a box or am I trying to truly engage?

Content: Quotation | Authors: Massella Dukuly, Vanessa Tanicien | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Leadership, Management

People-pleasing is one of the deepest forms of manipulation that exists. You’re essentially figuring out how to get people to like you in a way that’s disingenuous to yourself, creating distance between ‘work you’ and the person that you see yourself to be.

Content: Quotation | Author: Vanessa Tanicien | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Organizational Behavior, Personal Development

We humans default to, “Who do I trust here?” or “Who do I have a good relationship with?” or “Who am I sitting next to?” and then pull those people into rooms for conversations to solve problems or share info. All these tiny micro exclusions add up without us even realizing. This tendency to lean on the people we already know and like is amplified … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Vanessa Tanicien | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Organizational Behavior

As humans, our brains are wired for bias. This means that we have to be intentional and systematic about welcoming diversity and establishing equity and inclusion. You can’t just assume inclusion will sprout organically once you’ve introduced more diversity.

Content: Quotation | Author: Massella Dukuly | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Diversity, Human Resources, Organizational Behavior

When it comes to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategies, companies tend to concentrate their energy on hiring and sharing reports about “diversity data” instead of examining the existing dynamics within their own walls. Since the former deals in numbers, and the latter involves squishier concepts like belonging, the “I” in the acronym is too often left out. And that has a real impact on … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Diversity, Human Resources, Organizational Behavior

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I love Adam Grant’s tactic for interviewees to learn about an organization’s culture: A job candidate can ask, “Tell me a story about something that would only happen here.” It’s a neat trick for candidates, but when you’re a manager, and by consequence an arbiter of the company’s culture, you should be asking yourself that, too. What’s that story for your company? Does it involve … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Liz Fosslien | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Culture, Organizational Behavior

The best managers ask questions and invite specific, meaningful feedback. Ask your direct reports, “What is one thing I can do to improve?” or “ Is there a roadblock I can remove for you?,” Finally, if you ask for feedback, follow through on it. If your direct reports give you feedback and then get radio silence in return, they’re never going to give you feedback … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Liz Fosslien | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Management

Make an observation, not a generalization. A colleague interrupts you at a meeting. You could say, “Hey, you’re rude,” but that’s going to be interpreted as an attack on their character. Instead, be specific and constructive: “You interrupted me in that meeting. It made me feel like I wasn’t a valuable part of the team. I’d appreciate it if you let me finish speaking next … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Liz Fosslien | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Communication, Organizational Behavior, Personal Development

Like any relationship, that of the manager and their report is a two-way street. Whether you’re taking on your first direct report or you’re a seasoned leader looking to sharpen your skills, there’s plenty of advice to go around when it comes to managers. But when the focus shifts to those who are being managed, many of those concrete tactics and strategies get decidedly less … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Career, Personal Development, Productivity / Work Tips

The most important reason not to pre-screen [job candidates] is that it removes a huge source of initial bias. Many incredibly talented candidates won’t have the education or experience recruiters are trained to look for. This not only means you lose out on great candidates, but you’re also going to be competing furiously for those few candidates that look good on paper — everyone else … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Jeremy Stanley | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Hiring, Human Resources