Three signs you have a management problem. And that problem might be you
Great point here: "One simple jewel of advice given to me by one of our senior software engineers, Joseph, was that if we shared our motivations as decision makers (e.g. "We're working on this project to generate revenue in the short term, instead of infrastructure improvements because we're trying to hit a short term revenue goal
of X") it helped him understand why he was working on a project, and which aspects of that project to spend time thinking about improving."<p>Sources of Power by Gary Klein[1] is a great read about decision making and there's a whole chapter about communicating intent and motivation.<p>"When you communicate intent, you are letting the other team members operate more independently and improvise as necessary. You are giving them a basis for reading your mind more accurately."<p>The U.S. Army actually uses a Commander's Intent statement, which was streamlined into:<p>- Here's what I think we face.<p>- Here's what I think we should do.<p>- Here's why.<p>- Here's what we should keep our eye on.<p>- Now, talk to me.<p>Obviously this can be applied to any organization. It's always in your best interest to tell someone why they should be doing something and not just what they should be doing.<p>[1] <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sources-Power-People-Make-Decisions/dp/0262611465" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Sources-Power-People-Make-Decisions/dp...</a>