This episode turns Little’s Law from theory to practice. In under five minutes, we show how WIP = Throughput × Cycle Time explains stalled portfolios, why capping work-in-process reliably shortens delivery time, and how pull policies, small batches, and a weekly Flow Council lifts throughput and on-time quality across functions. Expect cross-industry evidence and a simple, measurable actions list you can run this quarter.

References:

1) A Proof for the Queuing Formula L = λW: https://doi.org/10.1287/opre.9.3.383

2) Factory Physics: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/133247684-factory-physics-3rd-third-edition-by-wallace-j-hopp-mark-l-spearman?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=gRn7JtYQg0&rank=2

3) The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6278270-the-principles-of-product-development-flow

4) Rapid-Fire Fulfillment: https://hbr.org/2004/11/rapid-fire-fulfillment

5) Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8086552-kanban

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library.

In this episode, we turn delivery data into leadership insights. We unpack what DORA actually measures, why elite performers ship faster with fewer failures, and how to wire those indicators into enterprise KPIs without trading away reliability. Expect practical moves you can brief to the board today including SLOs and error budgets, lead-time instrumentation, and decision velocity rules. Additionally, a simple actions list to baseline and improve your metrics.

References:

1) Accelerate State of DevOps 2021: https://cloud.google.com/resources/state-of-devops

2) Accelerate: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35747076-accelerate

3) Service Level Objectives: https://sre.google/sre-book/service-level-objectives

4) Implementing SLOs: https://sre.google/workbook/implementing-slos

5) Embracing Risk: https://sre.google/sre-book/embracing-risk

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library.

This episode takes aim at the “speed kills quality” myth with hard evidence. In five minutes we connect DORA’s data on elite performers, Little’s Law for small batches, Google SRE’s SLOs and error budgets, EnterpriseJoy’s discipline, and Netflix’s chaos engineering. You’ll see why faster feedback exposes blind spots sooner, improves stability, and raises your quality bar … because good things, shouldn’t take time.

References:

1) Accelerate State of DevOps 2021 (DORA): https://dora.dev/research/2021/dora-report

2) Accelerate: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35747076-accelerate

3) A Proof for the Queuing Formula L = λW: https://doi.org/10.1287/opre.9.3.383

4) Service Level Objectives: https://sre.google/sre-book/service-level-objectives

5) Implementing SLOs: https://sre.google/workbook/implementing-slos

6) Toyota Production System: https://global.toyota/en/company/vision-and-philosophy/production-system/index.html

7) Chaos Engineering: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1702.05843

8) Chaos Engineering Upgraded: https://techblog.netflix.com/2015/09/chaos-engineering-upgraded.html

9) EnterpriseJoy Philosophy: https://www.youtube.com/@EnterpriseJoy

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library.

We close this week with a practical, evidence-backed reset for your calendar: the L.E.D.G.E.R. Reset. In 15–20 minutes you’ll label where your time really goes, check equity on non-promotable work, tighten decision hygiene, add guardrails for collaboration, pulse psychological safety and leader inclusiveness, and re-allocate/recognise hidden load. Anchored in CEO time-use studies, interruption research, and Andy Grove’s leverage playbook, this wrap turns invisible work into a repeatable operating system you can tune every month.

Reference:

1) High Output Management: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/324750.High_Output_Management

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library

In this episode, we separate the signal from noise in the unseen side of leadership. You’ll hear what counts and what should stop when it comes to invisible work. With clear rules you can codify today, scale what actually moves clarity, quality, and speed.

References:

1) 2017 Letter to Shareholders: https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/2017-letter-to-shareholders

2) Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System: https://hbr.org/1999/09/decoding-the-dna-of-the-toyota-production-system

3) American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13132620-american-icon

4) Collaborative Overload: https://hbr.org/2016/01/collaborative-overload

5) Gender Differences in Accepting and Receiving Requests for Tasks with Low Promotability: https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20141734

6) Stop the Meeting Madness: https://hbr.org/2017/07/stop-the-meeting-madness

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library

In this episode, we unpack how culture becomes a force-multiplier for your systems: why teams with psychological safety learn faster and perform better, how leaders actually shape culture through Schein’s “embedding mechanisms” (what you fund, schedule, reward), and what Netflix’s “freedom & responsibility” shows about rituals that make candor travel. Expect practical moves that wire values into day-to-day execution, so your operating system runs without you pushing it uphill.

References

1) Making It Safe: The Effects of Leader Inclusiveness and Professional Status on Psychological Safety and Improvement Efforts in Health Care Teams: https://doi.org/10.1002/job.413

2) Organizational Culture and Leadership: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222096.Organizational_Culture_and_Leadership

3) No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49099937-no-rules-rules

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library.

In this episode, we break down how leaders can reclaim their week from the invisible drag of coordination and decision churn by building leverage into their systems. From Amazon’s narrative memos that sharpen debate, to Bain’s RAPID framework that cuts decision ping-pong, to research on meeting-free days that protect deep work,  you’ll learn three evidence-backed moves to scale your leadership without drowning in the hidden load.

References:

1) Why do management practices differ across firms and countries? https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.24.1.203

2) How CEOs Manage Time: https://hbr.org/2018/07/how-ceos-manage-time

3) Who Has the D? How Clear Decision Roles Enhance Organizational Performance: https://hbr.org/2006/01/who-has-the-d-how-clear-decision-roles-enhance-organizational-performance

4) RAPID® Decision Making: https://www.bain.com/insights/rapid-decision-making/

5) Site Reliability Engineering: How Google Runs Production Systems: https://research.google/pubs/site-reliability-engineering-how-google-runs-production-systems

6) Stop the Meeting Madness: https://hbr.org/2017/07/stop-the-meeting-madness

7) The effects of meeting-free days on autonomy, communication, and performance: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-surprising-impact-of-meeting-free-days

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library.

In this episode, we turn the “soft stuff” into usable evidence: you’ll learn a simple seven-column Leadership Ledger to track invisible work, spot who’s carrying non-promotable tasks, and link your time to outcomes. Grounded research plus Indra Nooyi’s Performance with Purpose reporting discipline, you’ll leave with a 10-minute routine to make the unseen visible and improve it week over week.

References:

1) CEO Behavior and Firm Performance: https://www.nber.org/papers/w23248

2) My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57499853-my-life-in-full

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library.

In this episode, we pull back the curtain on the six categories of invisible work and show you how to spot them in your own calendar. You’ll learn why these unseen activities matter, how uneven loads create burnout risks, and a simple four-step scan to surface where your energy is really going.

References:

1) Sensemaking in Organizations: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/818257.Sensemaking_in_Organizations

2) Will AI Fix Work? Work Trend Index: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/will-ai-fix-work

3) Are You Taking on Too Many Non-Promotable Tasks? https://hbr.org/2022/04/are-you-taking-on-too-many-non-promotable-tasks

4) Being Glue: https://www.noidea.dog/glue

5) Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55339408-noise

6) Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63934894-creativity-inc-the-expanded-edition

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library.

In this episode, we dive into the hidden side of leadership, the work that never makes it to dashboards or OKRs but holds organisations together. From Karl Weick’s sensemaking to Linda Babcock’s research on non-promotable tasks, from Tanya Reilly’s “Being Glue” in engineering teams to Paul O’Neill’s safety-first turnaround at Alcoa, we explore how invisible work shapes trust, efficiency, and performance. 

References:

1) Sensemaking in Organizations: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/818257.Sensemaking_in_Organizations

2) Will AI Fix Work? Work Trend Index: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/will-ai-fix-work

3) Are You Taking on Too Many Non-Promotable Tasks? https://hbr.org/2022/04/are-you-taking-on-too-many-non-promotable-tasks

4) Being Glue: https://www.noidea.dog/glue

5) Alcoa’s Core Values in Practice: Paul O’Neill’s Safety Focus: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=26838

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library.