Contents

Along with the contents of the book, I have included some sample frustrations and solutions from each section of the book. Feel free to share them with friends that might be interested.

Introduction: Frustrated? So Was I    1

Personal: Helping Yourself Succeed    5

Frustration #1: Doing Too Much    7

Solution #1: Set Goals And Priorities

Frustration #2: Impromptu Status Meetings And Updates    10

Solution #2: Weekly Status Reports

Frustration #3: Need More Data    13

Solution #3: Don’t Put Off Today What You Will Regret Tomorrow

Frustration #4: The Constant “What’s Going On?”    16

Solution #4: Have One-On-One’s

Frustration #5: Being Micromanaged    18

Solution #5: Managing Your Boss

Frustration #6: Changing Requirements    20

Solution #6: Don’t Track the Needle

Frustration #7: Can’t Get The Straight Story    22

Solution #7: Work on Listening

Frustration #8: Email Overload    25

Solution #8: Have An Email Policy

Organizational: Organizing For Success    29

Frustration #9: Analysis Paralysis    31

Solution #9: Risk Mitigation Plans

Frustration #10: Problems Take Forever To Solve    34

Solution #10: Problem Solving Skills

Frustration #11: Morale Is Low    39

Solution #11:Pay The Pig – Silly Traditions, Awards and Punishments

Frustration #12: Feature Creep    41

Solution #12: Have A Process, Any Process

Frustration #13: Making The Same Mistakes    47

Solution #13A: Lessons Learned

Solution #13B: Checklists

Frustration #14: Cross Functional Meltdowns    49

Solution #14: Watch Out For Interfaces

Frustration #15: Re-solving Fixed Problems    52

Solution #15A: Tribal Knowledge Capture

Solution #15B: Where Your Group Works

Frustration #16: Projects Take Forever    57

Solution #16: Know When You Hit The Wall

Frustration #17: Too Busy For 1-1’s    62

Solution #17: Small Focused Teams

Emotional: Developing Interpersonal Skills    65

Frustration #18: Overly Negative Interactions    67

Solution #18: Tell the Whole Truth

Frustration #19: Information Hoarding    70

Solution #19: Know When to Blow Up

Frustration #20: Problem Employees    73

Solution #20: Understand The Root Of Employee Issues

Frustration #21: Staff Motivation    76

Solution #21A: Understand Peoples’ Strengths and Weaknesses

Solution #21B: Understand Peoples’ Work Habits

Frustration #22: Brilliant Person But A Total Asshole    84

Solution #22: Assholes Need Not Apply

Frustration #23: Finger Pointing    89

Solution #23: Treat Everyone The Same But Different

Frustration #24: Downsizing    91

Solution #24: Doing the Same With Less

Frustration #25: Group / Company Shutdown    96

Solution #25: Dealing With The 30 Foot Crater

Frustration #26: Clueless Senior Managers    98

Solution #26: Telling the Emperor He Has No Clothes

Frustration #27: Contentious Discussions    101

Solution #27A: Deal with Conflict When it Arises

Solution #27B: Don’t Take It Personal, Don’t Make It Personal

Frustration #28: Work / Life Balance    104

Solution #28: Understand That People are Messy

Managerial: Helping Others Succeed    107

Frustration #29: Overwhelmed Recently Promoted Manager    109

Solution #29: Know The Characteristics Of A Good Technical Manager

Frustration #30: Assigned Tasks Take Forever    114

Solution #30: Don’t Micromanage

Frustration #31: Lack Of Resources    117

Solution #31: Understand Features, Schedule and Budget

Frustration #32: Predicting Schedules Is Impossible    119

Solution #32: Unravel The Lies Gantt Charts Tell

Frustration #33: Promotion Passover    125

Solution #33A: Train Your Replacement

Solution #33B: Managing Different Levels

Frustration #34: Politics Is A Waste Of Time    129

Solution #34: Learn The Full Contact Sport

Frustration #35: Burn Out    132

Solution #35: Take Your Time But Hurry Up

Frustration #36: Reorganization    135

Solution #36: Resistance Is Futile, So Embrace Change

Frustration #37: Mergers and Acquisitions    137

Solution #37A: Realize, You Have a New Boss

Solution #37B: Realize, You Also Bought the Culture

Frustration #38: Consumed With Trivial Decisions    142

Solution #38: Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

Sustaining: Remaining Frustration Free    145

Skill #1: The Platinum Rule We Don’t Even Know    147

Skill #2: Spend Time With People    149

Skill #3: Look Out For Your Staff    151

Skill #4: Remember the Little Things    154

Skill #5: Respect the Dead    157

Skill #6: Focus on the Incremental Solution    160

Skill #7: Wait for Something to Happen    163

Skill #8: Wins the Battle, War and Peace    165

Skill #9: It Takes A Village Without The Idiots    168

Skill #10: Failure Is Always An Option    172

Skill #11: Practice, Practice, Practice    174

Afterword    177

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