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
