John Coltrane: Lessons in Leadership

Transcript

1. John Coltrane: Lessons in Leadership @GordonDiggs Code Climate Summit 20190522
2. John Coltrane: Lessons in Leadership @GordonDiggs Code Climate Summit 20190522
3. –John Coltrane, writing about Rashied Ali in the liner notes of “Live at the Village Vanguard Again!” “The way he plays allows the soloist maximum freedom. I can really choose just about any direction at any time in the confidence that it will be compatible with what he's doing. You see, he's laying down multi-directional rhythms all the time. To me he is definitely one of the great drummers.”
4. –You, writing a performance review of one of your software engineers “The way she architects software allows others maximum freedom. We can really choose just about any future functionality in the confidence that it will be compatible with what she built. To me she is definitely one of the great software engineers.”
5. Hello.
11. A brief introduction to John Coltrane
15. •Dizzy Gillespie •Charlie Parker •Miles Davis
21. Four Themes to Discuss
22. Four Themes to Discuss 1. Synthesizing inspiration from others
23. Four Themes to Discuss 1. Synthesizing inspiration from others 2. Assembling the right team
24. Four Themes to Discuss 1. Synthesizing inspiration from others 2. Assembling the right team 3. Finding opportunities for others
25. Four Themes to Discuss 1. Synthesizing inspiration from others 2. Assembling the right team 3. Finding opportunities for others 4. Leading experiments with a team
26. Side 1: Synthesizing inspiration from others
27. Coltrane drew inspiration from the bandleaders he worked with
28. Also influenced by peers and contemporaries
29. –Bill Cole, “John Coltrane” “In the solo of ‘Ah-Leu-Cha,’… most of his lower register playing sounds like a polished Gene Ammons.”
30. –John Coltrane, Downbeat Magazine, September 29, 1960 "But now it seemed that [Miles] was moving...to the use of fewer and fewer chord changes in songs. ... In fact, due to the direct and free-flowing lines in his music, I found it easy to apply the harmonic ideas that I had."
31. We can also synthesize our influences
32. Learn from other leaders
33. Read books & blog posts
35. Join Slack groups
36. engmanagers.github.io
37. Go to meetups & conferences
38. Build on the way your managers work
39. Ask your team about their managers
40. Like Coltrane, don’t just copy other people’s styles
41. Side 2: Assembling the right team
42. Coltrane initially had a revolving door of band members
43. Once he had the group he wanted, it stuck
44. Each member brought something specific
45. –John Coltrane on Elvin Jones “Elvin was ready from the first time I heard him, you know. I could hear the genius there - but he had to start playing steadily, steadily, every night.”
46. Coltrane deliberately expanded his group at times
47. –John Coltrane “I had a sound that I wanted to hear...I wanted the band to have a drone. We used two basses...One bass plays almost all the way through. The other has rhythmic lines around it.”
48. What do your specific team members bring to the table?
49. What is your goal?
50. What skills will you need in the next 12 months?
51. Build a team of T-shaped members
52. A T-Shaped person has a broad set of general skills, with one or more areas of expertise
53. McCoy Tyner, a T-shaped pianist
54. McCoy Tyner, a T-shaped pianist Improvisation
55. McCoy Tyner, a T-shaped pianist Improvisation Chord progressions
56. McCoy Tyner, a T-shaped pianist Harmonization Improvisation Chord progressions
57. McCoy Tyner, a T-shaped pianist Harmonization Improvisation Chord progressions Music Theory
58. McCoy Tyner, a T-shaped pianist Harmonization Improvisation Chord progressions Music Theory Piano
59. A T-Shaped Software Engineer
60. A T-Shaped Software Engineer Python
61. A T-Shaped Software Engineer Python SQL Databases
62. A T-Shaped Software Engineer Flask Python SQL Databases
63. A T-Shaped Software Engineer Flask Python SQL Databases Computer Science
64. A T-Shaped Software Engineer Flask Python SQL Databases Computer Science React / Redux
65. T-Shaped Engineers > “Full Stack” Engineers
66. Shared understanding > Silos
67. Side 3: Finding opportunities for others
68. Coltrane had a major impact on younger players
69. –Bill Cole “Everything that he could think of teaching my friend he did.”
70. –Charles Moore “Coltrane's level was so inclusive...that he could have included a goat on stage.”
71. Found opportunities within his band
72. Trusted band members to find their way within a piece
73. An emphasis on improvisation requires trust
74. –Bill Cole “Each piece is developed around small rhythmic figures from which each member operates independently, creating sounds which will orally tell the nature of this band and its very intimate communications.”
76. –Nat Hentoff, Liner notes to “Best of John Coltrane” “Many young musicians have witnessed to the encouragement he gave them, the time he would take with them.”
77. Finding opportunities is a crucial leadership tactic
78. Find Opportunities • Use the context we have as leaders to give people chances to succeed • Use the clout we have as leaders to put people in positions for success
79. 1. Use the context we have as leaders to give people chances to succeed
80. Use our team members’ interests and strengths to find opportunities for them to thrive
81. Don’t just put the experts on a new project
82. Knowledge > Velocity
83. Solve bigger and bigger problems
84. 2. Use the clout we have as leaders to put people in positions for success
85. Mentor people on other teams
86. Mentor new folks in our industry
89. Use our networks to find jobs for people who benefit most from raised visibility
90. Finding opportunities feels good
91. Side 4: Leading experiments with a team
92. Coltrane was constantly trying to find his sound
93. –John Coltrane, 1966 “I figured I could do two things: I could have a band that played like the way we used to play, and a band that was going in the direction [that I am now].”
94. Experiments in personnel
96. “Ain't no one coming?” [Ali] said to Coltrane “No, it's just you and me.” “What are we playing? Is it fast? Is it slow?” “Whatever you want it to be. Come on. I'm going to ring some bells. You can do an 8-bar intro.”
99. We’re not as lucky as John Coltrane
100. We can even experiment with experimentation
101. Lunch and Learns
102. Lunch and Learns • Monthly meetings
103. Lunch and Learns • Monthly meetings • Topics do not have to be work related
104. Lunch and Learns • Monthly meetings • Topics do not have to be work related • Topics do not have to be technical
106. Lunch and Learns • Monthly meetings • Topics do not have to be work related • Topics do not have to be technical • Important just to share our excitements
107. Lunch and Learns are a great place to try public speaking
108. Lunch and Learn experiments can feed back into daily work
109. Some good Lunch and Learn topics • A talk about standards for git commits • A talk about Chrome Dev Tools
110. 10% Time
111. 10% Time • Every other Friday, people can work on things outside of their sprint priorities on projects that they think will improve our work
112. Efficiency Friday projects
113. Efficiency Friday projects • Speeding up our CI builds
114. Efficiency Friday projects • Speeding up our CI builds • Automating a repetitive process
115. Efficiency Friday projects • Speeding up our CI builds • Automating a repetitive process • Learning a new editor or tool
116. Other companies are doing this
117. Don’t go all in at once
118. Technology Radar
120. –My team members “Can I use this technology?”
122. “Why should we try this technology?”
123. “Why should we try this technology?” “Are we using it elsewhere?”
124. “Why should we try this technology?” “Are we using it elsewhere?” “How easy is it to hire people who work in this technology?”
125. Tech Radar Rings • Adopt: our core technologies • Trial: technologies we have in flight that we think are viable • Assess: technologies that we want to try or learn more about • Hold: technologies that we want to move away from, or stay away from
126. Tech Radar Quadrants • Techniques • Tools • Platforms • Languages & Frameworks
128. intersection.github.io/smart-cities-tech-radar
129. How can you experiment?
130. Ascension
132. Synthesizing inspiration
133. Assembling the right team / Finding opportunities
134. Experimentation
136. Recap of Lessons
137. Lead like Coltrane
138. Lead like Coltrane 1. Synthesize influences
139. Lead like Coltrane 1. Synthesize influences • Read, listen, learn, experience others, and apply that to our leadership style
140. Lead like Coltrane 1. Synthesize influences • Read, listen, learn, experience others, and apply that to our leadership style 2. Assemble the right team
141. Lead like Coltrane 1. Synthesize influences • Read, listen, learn, experience others, and apply that to our leadership style 2. Assemble the right team • Assess what skills would complement our team well, and either develop those skills within our team, or bring others in who will do that
142. Lead like Coltrane 1. Synthesize influences • Read, listen, learn, experience others, and apply that to our leadership style 2. Assemble the right team • Assess what skills would complement our team well, and either develop those skills within our team, or bring others in who will do that 3. Find opportunities
143. Lead like Coltrane 1. Synthesize influences • Read, listen, learn, experience others, and apply that to our leadership style 2. Assemble the right team • Assess what skills would complement our team well, and either develop those skills within our team, or bring others in who will do that 3. Find opportunities • Set our team members up for chances to succeed at solving new problems, and use our position as leaders to help others gain traction in the industry
144. Lead like Coltrane 1. Synthesize influences • Read, listen, learn, experience others, and apply that to our leadership style 2. Assemble the right team • Assess what skills would complement our team well, and either develop those skills within our team, or bring others in who will do that 3. Find opportunities • Set our team members up for chances to succeed at solving new problems, and use our position as leaders to help others gain traction in the industry 4. Foster experimentation
145. Lead like Coltrane 1. Synthesize influences • Read, listen, learn, experience others, and apply that to our leadership style 2. Assemble the right team • Assess what skills would complement our team well, and either develop those skills within our team, or bring others in who will do that 3. Find opportunities • Set our team members up for chances to succeed at solving new problems, and use our position as leaders to help others gain traction in the industry 4. Foster experimentation • Try things, and see what happens. Let's lead by example by failing in front of our teams, and learning
 from it
146. Sources • John Coltrane, by Bill Cole • Coltrane on Coltrane, Edited by Chris DeVito • Coltrane: The Story of a Sound, by Ben Ratliff • Liner notes of John Coltrane LPs
147. Questions? Thanks to:
 
 Alex Bell, Leslie Borrell, Kavita Chaudhry, Chelsea Crisafulli, Jen Dary, Alyssa Diggs, Christina Diggs, David B. Diggs, Grace Diggs, Dorian Ellerbe, Michelle Fogerty, Paul Gasbarra, Brian Gempp @ Record Grouch, Jack Hayford, Jazz Record Center, Taina Larosiliere, David Mitchell, Ayesha Rahim, Shira Schuster, Stephen Thomas. Alex Tran, Fernando Velasquez, Patrick Way, Julie Yang @GordonDiggs