Plous, Scott, We Want the Best
point of view/verb tense (in stories), The Shape of Stories
popularity contests, The Popularity Contest
powercultural reactions to, Enlisting Everyone Brings Up Cultural Differences
working with power structures, Cross Cultures, Don’t Overthrow Them
Power Distnce Index, Enlisting Everyone Brings Up Cultural Differences
The Power of Onlyness: Make Your Wild Ideas Mighty Enough to Dent the World (Merchant), Leading Teams Toward Trust
prescriptive objectives, avoiding, Be Descriptive, Not Prescriptive, Overly Prescriptive Direction
progress, tracking, Share Plans to Set Expectationsmaking progress visible, “More Is Less” Communication
protagonist (in stories), What a Character!
prototyping, Fidelity Mattersfeedback on, The Big Reveal Belly-Flop
The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making (Plous), We Want the Best
R
RACI models, RACI Models for Stakeholders and Supportersrotating roles in a team, So what can I do?
Radical Focus (Wodtke), Developing Good Objectives, Tell the Story
real estate tours of the solution, Conclusion
real-world problems, solving, Ground Objectives in Solving Real-World Problems
recaps of work, emailing, Be Transparent in Multiple Modes
Reeves, Blair, Enlist Everyone to Reduce Risks, Leading Teams Toward Trust, Transparency Supports Collaboration at Scale
remote work, Working with Virtual Spaces(see also virtual spaces)
and debate over working synchronously or asynchronously, Working with Virtual Spaces
resistance-driven people, Dealing with Difficult People in Teams
resolution (in stories), Elements of Storytelling
respect, Enable Trust and Respect
responsible (RACI), RACI Models for Stakeholders and Supporters
responsible, accountable, consulted, informed (see RACI models)
retroactive continuity (retconning), Note-Taking Supports Storytelling
reversal and foreshadowing (in stories), The Shape of Stories
riskscomplications vs. risks, mapping out, Plan to Experiment and Reduce Risks
connecting to experiments and launches, Plan to Experiment and Reduce Risks
in determination of timeframes, How Many Cycles Do I Need?
managing, example plans for, Example Plans to Manage Risks and Consequences-High Risk, High Consequenceshigh risk, high consequences, High Risk, High Consequences
high risk, low consequences, High Risk, Low Consequences
low risk, high consequences, Low Risk, High Consequences
low risk, low consequences, Low Risk, Low Consequences
reducing by enlisting everyone, Enlist Everyone to Reduce Risks
valuing certainty over risk, We Want the Best
Robinson, Ken, The Shape of Stories
roles, Give Everyone a Role-Key Takeawaysfor close collaborators, Roles for Close Collaborators-The Facilitatorcritics, Critics
drivers, The Driver(s)
facilitator, The Facilitator
navigator, The Navigator
importance of, Give Everyone a Role
levels of contribution, Levels of Contribution
RACI models for stakeholders and supporters, RACI Models for Stakeholders and Supporters
troubleshooting issues with, Troubleshooting Roles-So what can I do?assumed hierarchy in a team, Assumed Hierarchy in the Team
roles being ignored, Roles Get Ignored
Rosenberg, John, Have a Sense of Urgency, When Learning Is the Objective
Rutter, Kate, What’s Collaboration? And What Isn’t?
S
Sachlichkeit, Make Tension Productive
safety-driven people, Dealing with Difficult People in Teams
sales pitches, avoiding, So what can I do?
Salesforce, Enlist Everyone to Boost Engagement
sample size, Be Disciplined About Gathering Feedback
satisficing vs. optimizing, Satisficing Versus Optimizing
school classroom projects to teach collaboration, Make a Plan
setting/place (in stories), The Shape of Stories
sharingbeing disciplined and intentional about, Be Disciplined and Intentional About Sharing
in challenging situations, Share Especially in Challenging Situations
sharing work and ideas early and often, Share Early and Often
what happens, not what matters, Sharing What Happens, Not What Matters
Simpkins, John, Communicate Transparently
Sippey, Michael, Set Clear and Urgent Objectives, Use the “Whitepaper Approach”
space, Make Spacetoo much togetherness, Too Much Togetherness
troubleshooting physical and virtual space issues, Troubleshooting (Physical and Virtual) Space Issues-So what can I do?lack of engagement in remote meetings, Lack of Engagement During Remote Meetings
large meetings not feeling collaborative, Large Group Meetings Don’t Feel Collaborative
no consistent space available, No Consistent Space Available
virtual spaces for collaborators separated by time, Virtual Spaces Aren’t Just for Distributed Teams
working with physical space, Working with Physical Space
working with virtual spaces, Working with Virtual Spaces
Sprint (Knapp), The Driver(s), So what can I do?
sprints, High Risk, High Consequences(see also cycles)
determining number of, How Many Cycles Do I Need?-How Many Cycles Do I Need?
stakeholder alignment, Choose the Right Problem and Moment
stakeholderscommunicating with about unsolved challenges, The Trough of Despair
communication with, Ineffective Communication Causes Conflict
developing a plan to align stakeholders, Plan to Experiment and Reduce Risks
handling critical stakeholder who won’t engage, Handling a Critical Stakeholder Who Won’t Engage
highly interested, Levels of Contribution
sharing plans with to set expectations, Share Plans to Set Expectations
status reporting, “More Is Less” Communicationtemplate for, “More Is Less” Communication
Story Proof: The Science Behind the Startling Power of Story (Haven), Why Stories Are So Powerful
elements of, Elements of Storytelling-The “Oh Shit!” Momenttemplate for creating simple stories, Elements of Storytelling
laddering, Laddering
mechanics of stories, The Shape of Stories
note-taking for, Note-Taking Supports Storytelling
“oh shit!” moment, The “Oh Shit!” Moment
power of stories, Why Stories Are So Powerful
shape of stories, The Shape of Stories-The Shape of Storiesstory-decorated update, The Shape of Stories
story-driven struggle, The Shape of Stories
troubleshooting, Troubleshooting Storytellinginconsistent audience, Inconsistent Audience
no struggle in the story, No Struggle to the Story
structure, providing for teams, We Start with Unclear Objectives and Structures
struggle or failure (in stories), Elements of Storytelling, The Shape of Stories, No Struggle to the Story
successdefining partial success, So what can I do?
success criterialaying out core concepts against, Manage Tension by Framing the Argument
laying out refinements of core concept against, Manage Tension by Framing the Argument
modeling, Manage Tension by Framing the Argument
not working in dicision making, Success Criteria Aren’t Helping
suspense (“oh shit!” moment), The “Oh Shit!” Moment
swoop and poop, The Swoop and Poop-So what can I do?
T
team member spread too thin, managing, Managing Someone Who Is Spr
ead Too Thin
tense (in stories), The Shape of Stories
tension, Make Tension Productive(see also conflict)
in stories, Elements of Storytelling
thinkingabilities in assignment of roles, RACI Models for Stakeholders and Supporters
expansive, by drivers, The Driver(s)
Thinking Hats framework, Democratize Discussion, Not Decisions
timeboxing, Timeboxing Over Deadlines
timeframes, examples for efforts of different complexities, How Many Cycles Do I Need?
togetherness, overdoing, Too Much Togetherness
Torsten, Borek, So what can I do?
transparency (see communication)
traveling salesman, So what can I do?
trough of despair, The Trough of Despair
trust, Enable Trust and Respect-Key Takeawaysadvantages of in teams, Try It, You’ll Like It
building through vulnerability, Building Trust Through Vulnerability
enhancing by planning together, Plan to Experiment and Reduce Risks
experience producing trust, Trust Comes from Experience
protecting when things go wrong, Protect Trust When Things Go Wrong
troubleshooting issues with, Troubleshooting Trust Issues-So what can I do?micromanagement from above, Micromanaging from Above
no history or experience together, No History or Experience Together
U
U.S. government, power structures, Cross Cultures, Don’t Overthrow Them
unknown unknowns, Choose the Right Problem and Momenthelping teams solve problems with, We Start with Unclear Objectives and Structures
urgency, sense of, in objectives, Have a Sense of Urgency
usersconducting user research, Be Disciplined and Intentional About Sharing
definition of a good solution, So what can I do?
V
Vasarhelyi, Elizabeth Chai, Enable Trust and Respect, Try It, You’ll Like It, Tell the Story
videos of demos, posting, Be Transparent in Multiple Modes
Villarreal, Alberto, Trust Comes from Experience
virtual spaces, Working with Virtual Spaceslack of engagement during remote meetings, Lack of Engagement During Remote Meetings
supporting those separated by time and space, Virtual Spaces Aren’t Just for Distributed Teams
voting blindly (on ideas), So what can I do?
vulnerability, building trust through, Building Trust Through Vulnerability
W
“When Ideas Have Sex” (Ridley), Taming Complexity
whitepaper approach to creating objectives, Use the “Whitepaper Approach”
“Why I’m an architect that designs for social impact” (TED talk), The Shape of Stories
wikis, sharing work on, Be Transparent in Multiple Modes
Wilco (band), The Path to Great Isn’t Straight
Wiley, Jon, What About When Constraints Are Real?
Wodtke, Christina, Give Everyone a Role, Developing Good Objectives, Tell the Story, The Shape of Stories, Conclusion
workarounds, So what can I do?
working backward, Working Backward, Thinking Laterallytemplate to work backward from an idea, The Path to Great Isn’t Straight
to define success, So what can I do?
“Working with Story” (Wodtke), The Shape of Stories
Ws (who, what, when, where, and why), Be Descriptive, Not Prescriptive
Y
yeah-buts, The “Yeah-Buts”
Yeh, Chris, Engaging Employees
Yun, Wesley, Manage Tension by Trading Perspectives
About the Author
Gretchen Anderson consults with clients to inform their product strategy and improve team collaboration skills. She spent the first part of her career in design consulting at firms like frog design, Cooper, and LUNAR. She was Head of Design at PG&E, California’s largest energy company; she has led the design of the hardware and software of a next-generation surgical system; and served as VP of Product at GreatSchools.org. Gretchen is a Bay Area native who left only long enough to get a bachelor’s degree from Harvard in History & Literature.
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The cover illustration is by Randy Comer. The cover fonts are Helvetica Condensed and Guardian Sans. The text font is Scala Pro and the heading font is Benton Sans.