Stories by Paul Glen

Paul Glen: Geeks love problems, so give them some

The most elegant thing you can do to motivate geeks is to define a problem that your team will want to solve.

Paul Glen: The secret to keeping processes vital

As long as a problem seems present, gnarly and intractable, we enjoy following the process that solves it. But once the problem has been solved, it's not so interesting to us anymore.

Paul Glen: How to deal with a toxic team

Five warning signs can warn you that your project team has turned toxic.

Paul Glen: The hazards of literal listening

Geeks are often told that they are annoyingly literal, which they find confusing and unfair. But their colleagues have another way of listening.

Paul Glen: Even if you can't measure it, you still must manage it

There are no metrics for measuring the quality of your relationships. For metrics-loving geeks, that's a problem.

Build relationships, and career opportunities will follow

Your future success in the IT industry depends on embracing one simple, but hard-to-accept idea: There are no more jobs. I don't mean that there's no more work to do. Of course there is. Nor do I mean that you won't get hired to do things. Of course you will.

Paul Glen: Being right vs. not being wrong

To a lot of people, it seems as if we geeks are always battling for supremacy in the Always-Need-to-Be-Right Club.

Paul Glen: Rogue IT, and power as an obstacle to influence

We in IT have a decision to make: Do we want to be powerful, or do we want to be influential?

Paul Glen: How CIOs can become more influential

The first step is to expand what, for those in IT, is a limited understanding of what influence is.

Paul Glen: Check your work, or else

We geeks must transform our eagerness to please users into eagerness to help. There's a big difference.

Paul Glen: Assess your surroundings from 2,000 feet above

You can tell a lot about what matters in a community from the vantage point of a small plane. That's figuratively true of all organizations.

Paul Glen: Truth and project time estimates

Geeks are devoted to Truth, with a capital T. The question 'When will it be done?' feels like a request to lie. Insider; registration required)

Edgy Communication

We techies need to take the edge off once in a while.

Fixing the Technology Isn't Always Enough

Every IT person has had one of these situations. A user comes to you with a problem. You fix it and announce, "Problem solved" or "Case closed." But you're met with a long, uncomfortable silence or a blank stare. It's an awkward moment that you can end only by

Words Are First Hurdle for New Tech Managers

New managers struggle. They also don't get much help -- or sympathy. My last column elicited a lot of heartfelt reader emails about the difficulty of, and lack of support for, the transition from technical work to management. My conversations with those