[Pdx-pm] Ask For It

Randall Hansen randall at sonofhans.net
Thu Jan 15 22:36:09 PST 2009


On Jan 15, 2009, at 4:24 PM, Daniel Johnson wrote:

> When I mentioned my mentoring efforts at the meeting Allison Randal  
> said that mentoring made a big difference for her when she was  
> learning.


yes, this is critical.  organizations must want to change, and must
encourage real mentorship.

an explicit part of my job is making sure our people are put to their
highest and best use, and helping them to define that themselves.  i
meet most weeks with most developers, just for this purpose.

it isn't aimed at the women on our team:  it's a committment to human
beings generally.  pragmatically it benefits our company because we
absolutely refuse to have a revolving door.  ethically i enjoy it
because it feels like The Right Thing.

almost by virtue of being able to read this email, we all live in
luxury literally unimaginable in most places and times, and for most
people.  organizations must decide to spend some of those resources to
care for the human beings in their sphere of influence.

so from that perspective the "Ask for it" advice strikes me as somewhat
hollow[1].  first we must create a good environment for our people.  to
the extent that someone on our team feels the need to aggressively ask
for something that is their right, i feel like i have failed.

r

----

1. clearly, i hope, no criticism is intended.  there is no single
     solution, and being more forthright or aggressive can certainly
     help.



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