Raw Signal Group

Not every piece of workplace feedback lends itself to 100pt font. www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

Luck is a very small part of the very big story of how you build great teams. www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

What’s funny is that there was no need to be this wrong. www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

Most bosses develop an intuition for when something’s brewing. www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a... from @rawsignal.ca is worth reading. there's an expression 不順手 that encapsulates this concept of using the wrong tool, or using it poorly. like using a screwdriver at a tilted angle, or a hammer instead of screwdriver. a system works efficiently (順手) or it doesn't.

Feeling this quote as a fairly new manager. “Management is nearly unique as a discipline in that most people doing it were trained to do something else, promoted because of that other skillset, and given little to no guidance on how to do their current job”

As a manager, it's hard to look at these two columns and not ask yourself where your people would place you. www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

Team @rawsignal.ca is in @theglobeandmail.com talking dead rats in frying pans and transformation www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/...

This is the trick when your job is thinking big thoughts. www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

That this passes for visionary leadership and is rewarded by the market is the surest sign we're into some totally upside-down-face corporate groupthink. www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

This is a "what matters is what matters" newsletter. www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

There's a massive difference between what a lot of workplaces THINK they're asking of their people re: using AI... And what's actually happening. @shappy.bsky.social and @johnathan.bsky.social talked about that difference with @theatlantic.com recently:

@shappy.bsky.social and @johnathan.bsky.social are on @theatlantic.com's Galaxy Brain with @cwarzel.bsky.social to talk about AI 🤝 management. And this part pretty much spells out one of the loudest conflicts going on at work right now:

This is what it sounds like when grown-ups talk about AI. Johnathan and Melissa are absolute legends. (this is a @rawsignal.ca stan account) youtu.be/ncmuXQGGqBM?...

On this week’s “Galaxy Brain,” @cwarzel.bsky.social talks with Johnathan and Melissa Nightingale, two experts in management and leadership training, about AI hype and what’s actually happening in offices. Listen here:

Johnathan and Melissa Nightengale are two wonderful people who work to try and make work more humane by getting inside orgs with managers who don’t know how to manage. They talked about what AI is really doing to jobs and bosses (and workers). No hype, just what is happening & what we stand to lose

jobs are weird atm. lots of stagnation, lots of fear, lots of ai-pilled CEOs trying to force llms into work, lots of people automating their work, no clear productivity gains lots of concern about job loss/career tracks. I wanted to have a convo w/ ppl on the ground to sort out what’s happening

The most accurate description of the job market right now.

What if you just abandon the front door entirely and find another way? www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

Yes! This! “…management is a specifically human practice that seeks to get the best from a group of people by aligning their individual talents, motivations, and creativity with clearly communicated goals and opportunities. Good management centres the humanity of each employee…”

Here are three, quick ways to spot AI bullshit in the wild: www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

Re: RTO: “Proximity isn't the same as connection. Doing work near other people doesn't automatically recreate serendipity, collegiality, and collaborative spirit. Never mind what your CEO/HR team might have said when they rolled out the policy.” From @rawsignal.ca: www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

This is a five-alarm fire in terms of human connection. www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

Is this just another hype cycle you can ignore until it dies off? Maybe. But our sense is that this one's gonna be different. www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

How do you check power that's not-presently-checked? www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

If you manage people, and you don't read @rawsignal.ca's newsletter... well, that's probably fine but you definitely should start. On managing teams when you don't have the relevant expertise: "The tools are getting faster but the core issue was never that you were bullshitting slowly."

We need to acknowledge that the fake-it-and-hope-no-one-notices approach to management is having a real moment right now. www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

Even as we're setting up something ambitious, we can often spot the things lurking in the shadows that are going to get in the way. www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

If your org is on your seventh layoff or Lord-have-mercy, your 82nd re-org, we suggest that it's time to take a hard look at your underlying planning issues... www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

"Capitalism isn't skipping 1:1s, giving toxic feedback, or changing goals frameworks every quarter — fucking Mike is doing that." (Mike was a great boss though.)

If we want work to be better, we need possibility, not futility. www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

The real test for an org is not whether you ever bet wrong. The question is, when the results start to come in, what do you do now? www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

Betterboss, day 1. 🫶

It’s hard to push decision-making to the edges if we're not sure how the edges are making decisions. www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

I really enjoyed this post by @rawsignal.ca against the pressure (in industry, but also very true for academia 🧪🔭) to overwork at the cost of having time to think, breathe and yes, be creative (it is related). mailchi.mp/rawsignal/yo...

Pictured: @shappy.bsky.social trying to get out of the way of the photo. Also pictured: @johnathan.bsky.social well, uh, doing the exact opposite. Also also pictured: new window art at the bank (our HQ is a restored bank if you’re new here hi 👋)

You can drop a lot of frogs in that pot and very few will feel their feet get warm. www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

Folks who study meaning at work have three buckets. We love a good three-bucket framework. Let's go. www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

The first and easiest gut check in terms of whether your workplace surveillance is helpful or harmful is this. www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

The shift in this model is that we're no longer talking about a cofounder or a bestie or work spouse. www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...

Speaking of which, I encourage you all to read @rawsignal.ca's newsletter today: www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a... "[Eric Schmidt thinks] automating away the humans is righteous b/c it will reduce dependence on entitled employees, and produce appropriate level of fear/obedience in ones who remain."