Runs on PeopleSoftware and technology
Where Runs on People started: 20+ years of leading engineering, product and delivery teams.
The nine dimensions, in your world
What weak looks like here. Each one links to its playbooks.
Product and Operations
OutcomesFeatures ship every sprint and usage doesn't move.ReliabilityThe same engineer is paged for every serious incident.MeasuresVelocity charts in every review, and the roadmap never changes.Playbooks, in your terms
My 1:1s have turned into status meetingsThe 1:1 playbookPeople · Trust→One resignation would take a whole system with itPeople debtPeople · Capability→Nobody follows the process we agreedProcess is an agreementProcess · Agreements→We keep saying yes and missing everythingHow to say noProcess · Clarity→The same person fixes every incidentStability without heroesProduct and Operations · Reliability→There's a conversation I keep putting offRunbooks for humansPeople · Trust→Priorities always end up being whatever the boss wantedPrioritisation that survives the loudest voiceProduct and Operations · Outcomes→Every planning session is engineering vs productEnding the engineering vs product tug of warProcess · Cadence→Leadership has a vision. My team has no idea how their work connects to it.From vision to the graduate's first dayProcess · Clarity→We have dashboards everywhere, and decisions still come down to opinion.Using data to make decisionsProduct and Operations · Measures→How do I know if I'm actually a good manager?Good manager, good leader: how to know you're bothProduct and Operations · Measures→I got promoted for being good at the job, and now I'm managing people doing itYou've been promoted. You're a beginner again.People · Capability→My team seems less capable when I'm in the room than when I'm notMultiply, don't diminishPeople · Capability→My manager never tells me how I'm really doingGetting the steer you needPeople · Trust→My manager micromanages, or disappears, and I don't know how to handle itWorking with each kind of managerPeople · Trust→I'm doing great work and nobody seems to noticeGetting noticed, without the networking malarkeyPeople · Capability→I want a promotion but don't know what it actually takesThe promotion conversationPeople · Capability→We run engagement surveys every year and nothing changesSurveys that change somethingProduct and Operations · Measures→My team is good, but I want it to be excellent and I can't say what the difference isGood vs excellentProduct and Operations · Outcomes→My team has lost its way and I need to reset itHow to reset a teamProcess · Cadence→Every week feels the same and the team has stopped caringGroundhog Day: when every week feels the samePeople · Energy→