I have learned silence from the talkative, tolerance from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.
- Kahlil Gibran
The Delta File
This cast recommends keeping an ongoing Delta File of changes you will make in the future.
One of the things Mike and Mark have noticed over the years is how differently we all see ourselves depending upon the role we're in. It's amazing the significance we give to context - that is, what seems completely normal to one person in one role looks frankly crazy to someone else in a different role. Sadly, when many of us become managers we're VERY likely to do the very same things our managers did to us.
Most of you would probably argue that last point - no, no, you say, I won't visit the sins of MY boss on MY team someday, when *I* become a manager. We're glad you feel that way... but frankly, there's not a lot of evidence of that. Managers are generally behaving in the same ineffectual and often disrespectful, uncommunicative, and domineering ways they used to. It's been this way for years, and if it were a LOT different, we'd be talking about it.
What CAN we do about it? Vow to change things when we have managerial power. And that starts with keeping track of what you'd change, with a Delta File.
1. What is a Delta File?
2. What goes in it?
3. How do I keep one?
- Manager Tools, The Delta File
