Sh*t I Learned The Hard Way
By Liam Smith
Sh*t I Learned The Hard WayDec 18, 2020
SILTHW - E17 - Understanding Business Risk and Technical Risk
Understanding Business Risk and Technical Risk
Sh*t I Learned the Hard Way #SILTHW
If we have learned anything in 2020 it is that business risk outweighs technical risk. Notice how so many companies that found it much too risky to allow people to work remote all of a sudden had no problem with it when not having people work remote would have caused them to go out of business. Or notice how the companies that had looked past the technical risk and had enabled remote work excelled quickly during the pandemic? Technical risk is a component of business risk and not the other way around. In this episode I talk about the relationship between the two and how maybe 2020 has taught us a lesson.
SILTHW - E16 - How to Measure Performance - Personal Edition
How to Measure Performance - Personal Edition
Sh*t I learned the Hard Way (SILTHW)
Performance measurement feels like something that belongs in the business and sports world. But using the concepts can help you define and think about your own personal performance and come up with ways to measure it that help you stay focused and on track.
Se more at https://www.youtube.com/silthw
SILTHW - E15 - How to Measure Performance - Business Edition
How to Measure Performance - Business Edition
Sh*t I Learned the Hard Way (SILTHW)
There are tons of resources on measuring performance. So why do so many businesses get it wrong? In this episode I look at how to distinguish between metrics and KPIs and give some real-world examples, and look at how leading and lagging indicators are different and how overly focusing on lagging indicators can make it difficult to measure performance until a large amount of time passes. I call out one of my favorite books and really recommend it!
How to Measure Anything
This book is key for understanding KPIs and Metrics. Critical for value delivery!
https://amzn.to/329oywy
Please note I may earn a small commission if you purchase this book, but it does not effect the price in any way.
SILTHW - E14 - 3 Ways to Identify the Leaders in Your Organization
3 Ways to Identify the Leaders in Your Organization
Sh*t I learned the Hard Way (SILTHW)
If we know the characteristics of a leader, why are there so many executives and managers that aren't leaders? Without diving deep into Organizational Psychology, maybe it is because leadership is often portrayed as a "philosophy" and it is hard to tie results to leadership. In this episode I explore 3 outcome-oriented ways you can identify leaders in your organization, whether they are people managers or not.
🆕 New Episodes Every Week! 🆕
SILTHW - E13 - Two skills that are holding you back professionally
Sh*t I Learned the Hard Way (SILTHW)
E13 - Two skills that are holding you back professionally
Do you have a great idea? Something meaningful to say? Something groundbreaking or life-changing to talk about? Then let's hope you can communicate it well. Because written and verbal communications are two skills that can either help you accelerate your career, or that are holding you back professionally. The problem is, most of what we learn in school about how to speak and write has little applicability to business communications. You are going to have to invest in you if you want to grow!
SILTHW - E12 - Help people value and respect their coworkers (Culture Part 3)
Sh*t I Learned the Hard Way (SILTHW)
E12 - Help people value and respect their coworkers (Culture Part 3)
People that get along with others are productive people. People that respect their coworkers are a joy to work with. How does an organization cultivate value and respect for coworkers? This episode covers 5 things organizations can do to help people value and respect their coworkers.
Youtube: www.youtube.com/silthw
Twitter: @silthw
SILTHW - E11 - Help People Love and Trust the Organization (Culture Part 2)
Sh*t I Learned the Hard Way (SILTHW)
Episode 11 - Help People Love and Trust the Organization
Part of loving your job is having love and trust in the organization you wok for. But how does an often faceless organization build love and trust? And how do the do so with integrity, because employees are quick to figure out when something an organization does is for the Public Relations boost over a genuine desire to help employees love and trust the organization.
New episodes weekly!
YouTube: www.youtube.com/silthw
Twitter: @silthw
Web: www.silthw.com
SILTHW - E10 - Help people excel at their job (Culture Part 1)
Sh*t I Learned the Hard Way (SILTHW)
Episode 10 - Help people excel at their job (Culture Part 1)
In the last episode I introduced a model for organizational culture. It starts with the idea that no one wants to hate their job. I introduced 3 parts:
- Help people excel at their job
- Help people love and trust the organization
- Help people value and respect their coworkers
This episode talks through five key elements to help people excel at their job. It talks about 5 people-centric things that help people understand their job, provide incentives to do their job, and provide support to help them excel at their job.
New episodes every week!
Episode fixed! Sorry for posting a duplicate!
SILTHW - Behind the Scenes 1 - People-Centric Culture
Sh*t I Learned the Hard Way (SILTHW)
SILTHW VLOG 2 - Why People-Centric Culture - Behind the Scenes I
n this episode I go behind the scenes and talk a bit about the thinking behind choosing People-Centric Culture as the main focus for my block on culture. It stems from a lot of my personal experiences with what works and doesn't work as a manager and as an employee. Comments and feedback are always welcome.
SILTHW - E9 - Ways to improve corporate culture (INTRO)
Sh*t I Learned the Hard Way (SILTHW)
Episode 9 - Ways to Improve Corporate Culture (Intro)
If you can't define it, you can't fix it. And "Corporate Culture" is really hard to define. How about starting with a simple idea? People don't want to hate their job. So maybe a company or organization's culture is the collection of things they do to help employees like their job. Too vague? I'm going to introduce you to the model I've developed that focuses on 3 elements: (1) How do you help your employees excel at their job? (2) How do you help your employees love the organization? (3) How do you help your employees love their coworkers? This is the introduction. The next 3 episodes will explore each focus area in detail.
New episodes every week!
SILTHW - E8 - Assessing Maturity vs Assessing Gap
Sh*t I Learned the Hard Way (SILTHW)
Episode 8 - Assessing Maturity vs Assessing Gap
Assessing maturity (vs Assessing gap) has become a sales and marketing tool. Sadly, assessing gap is probably more valuable for most organizations. This episode focuses on why maturity models and maturity assessments usually provide little value other than to identify the products and services you should buy. Most maturity models fail the basic test for being a maturity model. Gap analysis is a much more useful tool for most organizations.
Also, you can actually apply these concepts to your professional development!
New Episodes every Week!
SILTHW - E7 - The Mentor - Mentee Relationship
Sh*t I Learned the Hard Way (SILTHW) Episode 7 - The Mentor - Mentee Relationship! The core of a mentor-mentee relationship is the trust built between the two parties. In this episode, I'm joined by Samantha Vrcic, my mentee and friend. Together we share what both sides of the relationship look like. Included are the characteristics of a good mentor and a good mentee, expectations from both viewpoints, and how to ensure a mentoring session is valuable for everyone involved.
Check out Samantha's channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfa60hLFY9Ew_VTaTKO8fZQ
SILTHW - E6 - Offering an Opinion with Self Confidence vs Ego
This episode is about offering an opinion that people want to hear, being confident in your opinion, and not getting your ego hurt when people don't listen to your opinion.
New Episodes every Week!
SILTHW - E5 - You don't need an IT strategy
There is corporate strategy. There is IT strategy. One of them is important. The other isn't. I've often been asked to help companies create a digital transformation strategy. But most companies only have one strategy and everything else is about enabling that strategy. Do you need an IT strategy? Probably not.
New Episodes every week!
SILTHW - E4 - TTI shut all employees out of their desktops
Well, the channel is about lessons hard learned, so here is one. I once shut every employee of a big 3 automaker out of their systems. For about 30 minutes. You see I failed at both change management and release management. This episode is the story, lessons-learned and how overcoming failure required a bit of "outside of the box" thinking. And spoiler - I had to re-learn this lesson later!
New Episodes every Week!
SILTHW - E3 - You don't know who your stakeholders are!
In this episode of Sh*t I Learned the Hard Way - If you are working on an IT project and feel like someone on the Information Technology team is your stakeholder, either your project is the wrong project or you have targeted the wrong stakeholder! We talk a bit about stakeholder analysis and why your stakeholder is likely in a part of the business you haven't considered.
New Episodes every Week!
SILTHW - E2 - Why Failure is Critical
On this episode of Sh*t I learned the Hard Way - Failure sucks! Or does it? Learning to fail well is a life skill most people have failed (ha!) to master. And mastering it can mean the difference between long-term success and a stagnant career. How good are you at recovering from failure?
New Episodes every Week!
SILTHW - E1 - Motivation vs Discipline
In this episode of Sh*t I Learned the Hard Way I talk about Motivation vs Discipline, a frequently discussed subject. But rather than defining the two concepts, I talk about how to apply discipline over motivation to increase your productivity and creativity. That's right, discipline increases creativity!
New Episodes every Week!