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Navigating Difficult Conversations: Insights from the Building Better Developers Podcast

2025-01-30 •Youtube

Detailed Notes

In a recent Building Better Developers podcast episode, hosts Rob Broadhead and Michael Meloche delve into the art of handling difficult conversations. This episode serves as a follow-up to their previous discussion on fostering discussions, providing valuable insights into managing tough topics professionally and personally.

Read More: https://develpreneur.com/navigating-difficult-conversations-insights-from-the-building-better-developers-podcast/

*The 7-Day Challenge for Difficult Conversations*

To encourage listeners to apply these principles, the hosts present a 7-day challenge:

* Each day, identify a difficult conversation you need to have. * Schedule it as soon as possible rather than postponing it. * Observe how your assumptions compare to the actual outcome. * Reflect on how addressing these conversations impacts your productivity and relationships.

*Additional Resources*

* Honest Communication Is Critical For Consultants (https://develpreneur.com/honest-communication-is-critical-for-consultants/) * Sam McNeill – Difficult Conversations and Building a Culture of Teamwork (https://develpreneur.com/sam-mcneill-difficult-conversations-and-building-a-culture-of-teamwork/) * Difficult Conversations With Clients (https://develpreneur.com/difficult-conversations-with-clients/) * Setting Realistic Expectations In Development (https://develpreneur.com/navigating-realistic-expectations-in-software-development/)

*Follow-us on:*

* https://develpreneur.com/ * https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZOuFN_LhczvGyT2KSItH_g/featured * https://facebook.com/Develpreneur * https://twitter.com/develpreneur * http://linkedin.com/develpreneur

Transcript Text
[Music]
all right
and we will click record and we are
back um we're going to dive right into
this one because we did fostering
discussions last episode um we're GNA
get into difficult conversations this
time I think this will be a
fun followup to it nice little like
pairing and and stuff like that so hey
do you have slack up I do have slack up
uh throw this one out there uh breaking
or opening up and listening right
breaking up uh opening up conversations
and listening because we just talked
about having uh you know opening up the
conversations but we and we've talked
about Focus before but I think we a good
habit is how to listen like listening
skills yeah as I cut you off
yes yeah I don't have any listening
skills so we'll have to figure I'll have
to learn some between now and when we do
that so
actually I've got actually that's a
slight side notice that yeah I
I'm I developed a listening skill years
ago that ticks Natalie off to no extent
and so I've had to like figure out how
to adjust that a little bit and it is
sort of and I like I this is one of
those that's interesting it's like I
guess this is pre-b bonus material um
it's an interesting thing because one of
the things I developed a while back was
to avoid the bullet point thing you know
like suddenly I've got like eight
different things um and actually more
importantly for me because once I start
building out that list I'm like I start
getting drawn into that list and now I'm
not listening I'm not catching enough
stuff so I'll miss things and so what I
will do um and I do this all the time is
I will like I will stop somebody I'll
even like I'll I will if I'm on like in
I will like give them a timeout like
wait I need talk about that point
because sometimes it's a minor point but
sometimes it's something where it's like
I realize that that is going to trip me
up I am not like it I know it's a red
flag to me that I am not going to be
listening to you for whatever you say
because now I'm stuck on this thing and
my mind is not I cannot process I cannot
move off of that point until we talk
about that point and so I will stop
people I'll be like hold on stop I need
to talk about that and I will interrupt
people and stuff if they're on a roll
I'll be like okay or sometime be like
you know I will say like hey can we talk
about this now and try to stop them
unless they and I know it could be
frustrating some people because they're
like trying to get through stuff but
it's like to me and this is me I'll be
like well then don't say something that
throws me off the rails at the beginning
of the conversation but it is it could
be seen as uh you know being rudely
interrupting somebody where to me it's
like no I'm like it's part of my
conversations I want to talk about each
of those points as we go instead of give
you a whole list of bullet points so
there's things like that that's like and
so and it's worked with a lot of people
there's some people that really have
appreciated that I've had customers have
talked to me about like how they like
how it is a discussion and not lecturing
each other when we talk about stuff uh
but other people don't so it's where you
have to like sometimes you have
different approaches for different
people and I think that's what we're
going to talk a lot well we'll get into
that if not this but I think the
listening skills is a is one that um is
going to be an interesting one to get
into so that's an awesome you know soft
skills kind of thing to get into that
being said let's get into this one we're
going to talk about fostering
discussions and we're going do our
little three and a two and a one well
hello and welcome back we are building
better developers we are in the middle
of actually towards the end of the the
sunset the fall of the season on
building better habits getting towards
the end of this this episode we are
going to talk about ult conversations
one that is not a difficult conversation
is me introducing myself so this is
building better developers this is a
develop andur podcast which originally
was develop andur mood to building
better developers now that seems to be
more like we're switching our uh
headliner and our you know secondary
title as things go on but my title is
always has been for a long time Rob
Broadhead I am one of the founders of
develop andur also a founder of RB
Consulting Where We Are are a what do
they call a boutique consulting company
we go in we help organizations utilize
technology better whether it's what they
have whether it's what is out there U
you know sort of reigning in their
technology sprawl because we have too
many devices too many options too many
applications there's an application for
that becomes ad nauseum at times and so
through simplification automation
Innovation integration and lots of other
shuns that are out there we find ways
for you to make the best use of
Technology we help craft a recipe for
success for you that is specific to your
business so that's why we sit down we
talk about what are your goals what are
your your plans where you at where do
you want to be and then we help you find
the best tools the best approach for
that even the best team we can help you
wherever you are at we meet you where
we're at and we help like jump in the
car with you for that ride into the
future good things bad things uh let's
see oh bad ah this is some people think
this is a good thing bad thing because
of temperatures and my wife was sick for
Stuff a while and stuff like that this
year has started with us eating out a
lot we've done a lot more we've gotten
back into this sort of habit like ah
we'll just get something quick we'll get
something quick we'll get something
quick it's not really a good thing
because I've like now I'm not where I
was weightwise and healthwise and a
couple other things the good part of
that is now I am craving like I don't
know a piece of celery or something
that's not like fatty gross type of
stuff I will still have my slice of
pizza and stuff like that but also
there's a part of me that my body is
like I would love just a nice simple
home-cooked meal again so that kind of
stuff just tastes really good to me
right now so I think that would be the
good thing in the world of
habits I would like to say there's so
many out there that have been that been
really good and I'm going to take them
as a as a whole because last episode I
talked a little bit about how the the
joyful one like doing the stuff that I
enjoy very much has sort of uh overlaps
the the Automation and and some of that
kind the process Improvement challenge I
would say like this almost like a little
mini challenge is take a look back at
this season and look at all the
challenges that we've got and try to
like combine them to roll them up to
summarize them because there's a a lot
of that that I have done I've taken a
lot of these because we're now you know
we've got 20 plus habits and challenges
that we've talked about but if you look
at it you can actually find a way to
condense those down to a few changes
here and there and as I look at my
schedule that's what I've done there's
probably only you know an impact of a
half hour to an hour a day that I've
done that has dramatically changed stuff
and that hour I've earned that back
easily is like the ROI on that invested
time is more than and worth it so I I
would just say like take a look at
what's out there and see where you can
maybe combine two or three of those into
one step and just really like
turbocharge your your better habits and
becoming a better
developer now I'm just going to go toss
this one off to Michael let him
introduce himself hey everyone my name
is Michael M I'm one of the co-founders
of building better developers otherwise
known as developer I'm also the founder
of Envision QA where we help businesses
understand what they have for technology
if you find yourself looking at your
business and struggling with your
business because the software you're
using makes your business or makes your
tasks more difficult come talk to us we
will help you figure out a better way to
do things we will help you streamline
your business and make the technology
work for you not against
you good and bad good uh and I'm
actually going to combine our habits
with my good and bad so the good is
because I've been able to kind of break
things down a little bit and stick with
kind of doing things that I enjoy I have
finally completed probably 95% of the
books by Brandon Sanderson over the
course of a year and a
half it has taken a very long time to
get through it but about an hour a day
especially the last book that came out
in November was 65 hours for an audio
book that is massive for when you
consume books that are typical audio
books of eight hours a book this is
eight books crammed into one I it was
massive but I couldn't stop listening to
it so all through the holidays I it's
like listen listen
listen finally got through it almost
I've got like two books left of what
he's written and then it that that's
kind of the bad thing now it's like now
I got to figure out what the heck I want
to listen to next uh because I'm running
out of content because he hasn't
finished the next round of books the
other bad thing was he ended the current
book with oh by the way this was book
five 6 through 10 will continue the
story it's like it took you like a year
and a half two years to write this last
one come on five more books it's like
Stephen King's Dark Tower series that
took forever and we almost never got the
end of that so anyway that's my good and
bad ah I will follow up real quickly on
that one is like yes I just finished I
think I talked about that I finished the
Shar a series like of 40 something books
or whatever earlier this year and it was
really odd for me to like okay now I got
to find another big series to get into
before I started into the Shar books
this is something that's like I think
half the books are out of print but
there is a um I it was the guys the guy
in a gal I think there was a guy in a
gal that did way back in the day did the
dragon Lance series of stuff this is uh
originally came I think in the 80s and
then into the 90s and stuff they also
did one called the death gate cycle
which
uh is an interesting it's a seven book
series which was really interesting the
way they did it because the first four
books basically set up the last three
books and so it was like it was really
it's like it's four books full of like
Universe building stuff World building
stuff and then the final three was the
actual story so it was like an
interesting little thing uh very
different a lot of little different kind
of Concepts some interesting characters
it was uh so it's one of those if you
want like a short series of you know
seven books Go For It audio
bookwise um if you ever want to do like
if you want to have like an enjoyable
but like take a couple years is actually
go through the audio books of the Harry
Potter series the guy that does that
Dale what's his name I can't think of
his last name is the best I of all the
audio books he is the best of doing uh
non or doing fiction audio books does a
great job with it they are long it is I
don't know it's probably
200 hours of stuff or something like
that there's a lot there but they're all
in a bridged and it it really is uh it's
a good series now let's get back on
track because we've had some easy
conversations we're going to talk about
difficult conversations this time
around what is a difficult conversation
I will say a difficult conversation is
anything that gives you pause anything
that makes you feel a little stress when
we talk about getting things done and
being productive we talk about eating
the Frog we talk about that thing that
you don't want to do if a conversation
is that thing you don't want to do that
you're worried about that you're not
sure how it's go all of those kinds of
stressors then that is a difficult
conversation now some difficult
conversations are difficult for
everybody things like having a raise or
you know getting married or getting
divorced or having children or uh a lot
of time money if it's like a negative
you know kind of money conversation if
it's a like how do I pay this bill
because can't pay that bill uh it may be
um conversation around like exercise
because you're out of shape and you need
to figure out a way to get into shape or
some we all have our our things we like
and the things we don't like difficult
conversations are going to be more
around what we don't like or where we
assume that something is going to be
that it's going to be a difficult
conversation that it's going to be push
back that we're going to be have some
emotional aspect to it or something like
that now the first first thing in
difficult conversations that I want to
say is that we assume that is a very key
thing that I have found in the difficult
conversations and actually even in the
difficult jobs that we have on our plate
is that a lot of times we think we
assume we presuppose that it's going to
go a certain
way sometimes that is not the case for
example you may be sitting there going
gosh I have got to talk to my boss about
getting a raise I haven't gotten a raise
I need a raise I need to talk to them
and you're thinking gosh I'm going to
have to go in there I'm going to have to
like build a case for it they're going
to push back I'm going to have to like
haggle about where we get it and all
this kind it's going to take me days to
go through this conversation with them
and that could be the case or it could
be the case that you go in and you say
hey I'd like a raise and your boss says
you know what you're right I we haven't
gotten you a raise yet we will put it in
the next paycheck and it's a 10% raise
or whatever it is I have had those
things go that way I've had
conversations where I'm like really
worried about this and it goes great I I
will I will be totally transparent most
uh demo calls with a customer when I'm
going to demonstrate software when I'm
showing them like here's where we're at
a status call and stuff like that most
of those I have some level of
trepidation because I'm like ah they're
not cuz they're going to see it like I
do I think and they're going to be like
oh there's that little bug or there's
that little thing or there's I look at
it as where was all these places that I
could have done it better for them and
very often like over nine times out of
10 probably 99 times out of 100 we get
out of it and they are very pleased
they're like yes this is like this is
where we want to go we're on track you
know all of that good stuff and it's not
that I'm freaking out or losing sleep
over it but it is the stuff where it's
like I don't think this is necessarily
going to go super smooth and usually it
does and not only does it go super
smooth a lot of times it's like hey and
here's some additional stuff that we
want to do and here's how we're going to
move forward and so it really like it
unblocks things it frees me up to start
into the next phase of stuff and that's
a key thing about difficult
conversations is usually they are
blockers usually you have to go through
that conversation to get to something
else so for
example uh a difficult conversation you
may be selling a project to somebody or
selling somebody on a side hustle or
going to an interview and getting a job
like you can't get the job without going
through the interview process and so
sometimes that you know that like that's
a difficult conversation and there's
things like that where it's like I'm
going to have to go uh change the scope
of this because we missed something I
have to I have to say that hey we we
have a hole in the design and we've got
to make some adjustments to the customer
well we can't move forward until we've
notified them and we can move forward on
it so difficult conversations while they
are being stresses they're also things
like I think this is key as the two
things are realize you're assuming that
it's not going to go bad so it may
actually not be that bad but more
importantly these are blockers you have
to go through it it will stop you until
you have that conversation and now I'm
blocking Michael right now so I'm going
to let him talk about this for a little
bit before we swing back around on the
challenge yeah so it's funny this
actually kind of gets back around to our
uh anxiety uh and
stressor conversation we had a couple
weeks ago is this is kind of what drives
a lot of people's what ifs this drives
people's anxiety because you get in your
head and you come into um conversations
or you come into situations with a pre
assumption as to what the conversation
is going to be about or how it's going
to go or you think it's going to go one
way so you plan for another
way it's very hard to kind of break out
of that and have that conversation uh
you
know for instance you know what if you
lose a job how do you come home and tell
your family if you're married that you
know you don't have an income anymore
how how are you going to handle the
situation and interestingly enough the
antidotes to a lot of these situations
like the difficult conversations are
almost similar to dealing with anxiety
you you want to walk into some of these
difficult conversations with more of an
open mind less of a preconception of how
it's going to go but but in order to do
that you have to kind of self-check
yourself it's like oh make a list of
what it is that is hard for you what is
it that's bugging you what's on your
mind that you can't seem to talk about
because a lot of times when you dwell on
these things and when you're thinking
about it it it's usually one or two
things you know it could be money hey
how am I going to pay the bills this
month or hey you know it's cold so the
electric BS up $100 or $200 because he
had to run the heat more so now it's
like where are you going to cut the uh
the fat sometimes he there's nothing you
can do about it's like okay hey we just
need to cut back a little bit or where
can we pivot but what you do is instead
of coming in with problems com in with
Solutions it's like hey I have an idea
on how to solve this but before you even
try to solve it talk about it because
maybe it's not a problem at all maybe
it's like oh oh we'll just do this or
hey it's not a deal or hey this isn't as
difficult as you're making it out to be
a lot of times our difficult
conversations are us there are
preconceived notions as to our blockers
you know these are things we have
problems dealing with sometimes not
necessarily the conversations themselves
so having a difficult conversation like
Rob said about you know going in talking
about a raise things like that sometimes
heck when I go for job interviews if I'm
not sure I'm ready to change jobs or hey
I know things are getting difficult in
the job I'm in sometimes I will just go
out talk to a recruiter maybe take the
first job that comes along go and have
an interview I haven't interviewed in
years so it's like you know let's just
go see what this process is like instead
of oh my God I need to plan I need to
prepare I need to overthink that just go
do it sometimes just doing it
breaks all the barriers it's like oh
that wasn't so hard or oh my God I don't
remember half the stuff I'm supposed to
do okay now I need to go prepare now you
prepare for the next situation not
sometimes it's just jump in you know
jump in feet first have that difficult
conversation but it is it it's a
stressor it will bother you it'll make
you think about it for a while and if
you do find yourself in that situation
pause write it down maybe go back to the
anxiet the episode and listen to some of
the tips and tricks we did there also
apply here so if you find yourself
avoiding something cut the fat rip the
bandage off do it first do it now have
it as soon as you can now Grant if it's
a divorce you might want to plan a
little bit
but in most situations most difficult
conversations are all in the person's
head about it being difficult now
that's mainly in the software world now
in our personal lives that could be a
totally different bag of worms I get it
but when we think business when we think
software when we think our typical daily
lives most typical conversations are
just us afraid to talk about something
because we're either afraid of being
seen in a bad
light that we have failed that we have
messed up and it's just a preconception
that we need to break and just go for it
just get it out there have that
conversation if it does become difficult
work through it or if it blows up pause
you know see if you can say Okay that
was as bad as I thought it was but then
now you know and now you can kind of
damage control or work your way through
the
problem I think but I want to dive into
this is a little bit of the yeah is that
last B is like sometimes there's a
little bit of it is going to be bad and
so there's like you know you got to do
your damage control and stuff like that
and so I want to give I do want to give
a couple like recommendations in this is
one when you go into a difficult
conversation is try not
to dictate too much where that goes
because you've spent some time in your
head you you've thought about this for a
while you have an approach now it may be
that you need to start with your
approach but I have found a lot of times
that that is not necessarily the way is
that what you want to do is you actually
are going to be better off opening that
conversation up with something like hey
we need to talk about this this is an
issue what do you think or what would
what's a solution for you if you throw
that to the other
person that allows them to set the table
a little bit and this is where our
assumptions and our U all of the
different things that we have in our
head that we think is how this is going
to go can actually like trip us up they
can cause US problems because we jump in
this conversation with all these
preconceived notions and they end up
being not correct at all and maybe along
the way we sort of we screw ourselves up
by setting the stage with stuff where
people like I didn't know that like
that's not it it's like as an example I
had a a police buddy years ago a
detective and he said you would be a
Amed at how often we pull up to
something and people basically convict
themselves talking to us he's like they
are they're like he's like all we do is
we sit there and listen and we'll throw
like one or two things out and it's
amazing how often people will just like
they'll trip themselves up because they
know there's a like especially guilty
people this is like you know you're
guilty you know that this is a difficult
conversation and so you start like
making excuses when they may not have
even known that that was that you were
guilty and so there's things like that
that
like don't go in with your preconceived
notions open it up and let them talk to
you because that actually will help you
gauge better than what you did in your
head how difficult or not the
conversation is going to be now if it is
something where you're like I screwed up
massively and I know I've got to talk to
my boss about it then start with just I
screwed
massively this is what happened this is
what and like ideally with that kind of
situation like this is what I'm doing to
resolve it and maybe this is how I have
decided I'm not going you know this is
what I think I can do to avoid this in
the future but even then I think you can
start with just the I screwed up this is
a resolution that I'm working on or that
I'm proposing and then just leave it at
that for a second now you may get chewed
out for a
while take it just like okay because
however you get chewed out most likely
is not as bad as you've chewed yourself
out in your head thinking about it not
only that it is like you probably have
chewed yourself out on a daily basis
since that thing occurred so it's better
to just like get it done get it over
with move forward and now you don't have
to worry about it anymore because it's
it's like worry somebody I don't
remember I wish I could properly you
know give the right credit to this but
somebody referred to worrying as
suffering the same pain twice because
you suffer you worry about it and then
it you suffer through it then but then
when it actually occurs you suffer
through it at that point now sometimes
we invent worries we invent things that
are not suffering and we suffer for no
reason so that's why these difficult
conversations are the things we need to
go through but also probably more
importantly is that these block us from
moving forward and when we're blocked
it's just not is not helpful we're not
going to if we can open stuff up then we
can get a lot more done we could be more
effective we can be better developers we
can be better human
beings so I want to dive right into the
challenge for this one the challenge for
this for the next seven days is each day
start the day do I have a difficult
conversation ahead of me if so schedule
it as soon as possible now Michael
referred to there's like there's
sometimes like you need to read the room
and you need to like you especially in
personal stuff and things like that
there's things there like you need to
let emotions go through it and like
there needs to be some sort of process
but if there's something that's to that
point where the next step is have a
conversation get that done sooner rather
than later if there's something you've
been putting off for a while then put it
on your calendar today tomorrow this
week something like that and that's just
that's as simple as it is is take the
difficult conversations and pull them
forward do them as soon as possible now
I will be like just one warning if you
got a lot piled up don't do it all in
one day or if you do just
like buckle up buttercup because it's
going to be a rough day like know that
at the end of the day you're going to
need an adult beverage or six to like
get through it and there I have had
those because sometimes you know you
just like the schedule works out it's
like it's been a you know it's going to
be a long day and you were right it was
a long day but at least then you're done
with it and the next day is going to be
better
I would also challenge you to send us an
email just cuz because hey we've been
asking for it for way too long and we
don't get near enough emails based on
how often I ask for emails so shoot us
an email at info developer.com check us
out on the developer Channel on YouTube
you can wherever you do podcasts you can
leave us re uh you know reviews and
comments there we would love to get them
there there's just so many ways that you
can reach us there's just no excuse to
not give us your thought give us your
two cents and if this is your difficult
conversation trust me it's not going to
be that difficult we will send you like
love and adoration and all that kind of
stuff afterwards after you've sent us
some sort of feedback even if your
feedback is you guys suck hey we will
send you a thank you card of some sort
even if it's a virtual one that being
said it's time for us to wrap this one
up not the season we've got plenty more
not so difficult conversations in our
future as we wrap this one up but until
then go out there and have yourself a
great day a great week and we will talk
to you next
time bonus material I'm going to dive
into this one first because once again
I've got one that is like I got to do it
before I
forget one of the things that I heard uh
it's a couple years ago with a a guy
that was actually a fraternity brother
that I was working for with and he
talked about a meeting and it was like
it was one of these like aha moments as
we got out of this meeting and it was
difficult discussion because it was
basically basically like there's three
people there's a customer there's a
provider and there's another provider
and we were one of the providers one of
the vendors and the two vendors were
basically like the other vendor was
saying everything was our fault was why
everything was falling apart and we were
saying look they're not doing what
they're supposed to do and like you know
it was basically it was about agreements
and stuff like that we knew it was going
to be rough and part of it was the
customer they also were at fault they
totally botched stuff the lady that was
running it like went on medical leave
for three months like two weeks into it
and when she was warned about stuff she
was just like just make it Go just make
it go away just fix it and we couldn't
because it was a vendor
issue and we get into this meeting we
know it's going to be tough and when we
got done one of the things that like we
we we'll say we won that meeting is we
got out of that we we were unscathed and
we actually were like Heroes to the the
customer but one of the things he
mentioned that stuck with me is he said
like that's one of the meetings and
actually I think I think it was even in
it he's said this is a meeting that you
win by talking the least and I think
that is a huge thing for us to think
about is that when we go into meetings
when we go into difficult conversations
sometimes the way for us to quote win it
is to shut the hell up is to be as
minimal as possible and let the other
party or parties vent talk do whatever
it is that they need to do now that's
not always the case there's sometimes
that we need to like we also need to
like have a backbone and state our case
but sometimes it is as simple as state
your case and then get out of the way
keep it simple keep it short and then
allow the conversation to grow from
there and the more you allow them
particularly in situations where it's a
difficult conversation it really is
something where U most of the times the
less you talk the better think about
like your the raise raise request from
your boss it is
I would you know you say I've been here
long enough IDE need to raise this is
the you know the industry standard
here's my you know couple of bullet
points you very concisely just say I
would like a raise I would like to have
this
conversation put it on your boss now
it's up to them to figure out how to
convince you that you don't need a raise
or to give you a raise or whatever it is
and sometimes and anybody that's worked
with me will find that this is something
that I do is it in talking through stuff
sometimes my opinion will evolve to the
point that like and I think Michael
probably can think has had these
conversations where like somebody says
something to me for a minute they spend
a minute of time and I will spend the
next 20 minutes walking through that
talking through that I'm thinking on the
Fly And while I may initially say I
disagree completely with your point by
the time I get to the end of that I have
convinced myself that I agree 100% with
your point and so sometimes it is it's
like allow people to just go and see
what happens with it so that's my like
little bonus thing is that sometimes and
maybe a lot of times we need to think
that we need to go into a difficult
conversation with the idea that whoever
speaks the least is going to win this
because I think that will help keep us
from tripping ourselves up bonus
material from you so my bonus here is
with the difficult conversations
especially within work or
life make sure you make time for
conversations don't get into silos where
you're not talking for long periods of
time and letting things build up this
works both professionally and personally
because if you are heads down for a
month and you're not talking to anyone
in the company and this all of a sudden
you come out and
hey half the cubicles are empty because
there's a massive layoff you weren't
paying attention pay attention to your
surroundings pay attention to your life
pay attention to your job your
relationships and the best way to do
that is to look at those difficult
conversations and make sure you're
having the right conversations you know
don't go in this difficult conversation
like I hate pizza and we we go out to
Pizza all the time no that's not a
difficult conversation that's just a
disagreement order us
out all right let's not get czy make
sure you distinguish between what is a
difficult conversation and what is just
a
disagreement on a topic or an idea um
that there is a slight difference
between the two and just make sure that
you're open to the discussion if you're
not or you're not in the right frame of
mind say okay I hear you can you give me
maybe 30 minutes to put aside what I'm
currently working on or what's stuck in
my head and then let's have that talk
sometimes it's like right now is not the
right to on but you do want to make sure
you schedule that time and have that
conversation yeah don't let it Fester
but sometimes like right now
particularly if
you're like Michael said like if it's a
divorce conversation then probably you
should like cool your heels for a little
bit you know there's things like that
there is like I'll throw one other thing
out there when I was a hockey coach even
early on one the things a lot of the
coaches said and I think even soccer a
lot of the youth coaches in particular
had a 24-hour Rule and it was basically
like with the when they're talking to
the
parents if you don't like how I coached
or if you don't if you've got a
complaint about a game or a PR a
practice or whatever about your kid that
you want to talk to me about give it 24
hours before you talk to me because a
lot of times both particularly like that
that's a good example of like you come
out of a game especially if it's a loss
and the parents are because their kid
wasn't played enough and you're a coach
and you're ticked cuz your team lost
because maybe they weren't playing hard
enough or maybe that parents kid sucked
that day and that's why they didn't play
enough you're both both parties are
emotional it is raw and it is fresh and
it is good to like spend a little time
and then come back to it later now it
doesn't hurt to say we need to have a
conversation about this we will talk
about it later because sometimes I found
that we need to re like we will be
emotional too often and we need at some
point say we need to talk about the fact
that we are always super emotional after
this thing and that's just not cool so
there's something we need to figure out
but that's like Take It Outside of the
emotional you know scope the emotional
bubble so that you can have an actual
conversation about it and actually
figure out how to solve a problem as
opposed to just blow up the problem I'm
going to solve your problem about not
having enough time and we're going to
wrap wrap this one up I want to thank
you so much for spending some time with
us for what you've invested with us I do
love to hear just any feedback is
awesome even like the simplest feedback
is really you know appreciated and
particular if it's anything that is a
recommendation or suggestion we really
really really love that because it helps
us help you it helps us become better
podcasters it helps develop and or be a
site that is useful to our our community
which is you you or why we are here so
thank you so much for your time for your
investment and we will talk to you next
time
[Music]
Transcript Segments
1.35

[Music]

27.96

all right

30.84

and we will click record and we are

33.76

back um we're going to dive right into

36

this one because we did fostering

37.2

discussions last episode um we're GNA

39.16

get into difficult conversations this

41.84

time I think this will be a

44.64

fun followup to it nice little like

47.399

pairing and and stuff like that so hey

50.32

do you have slack up I do have slack up

54.28

uh throw this one out there uh breaking

56.28

or opening up and listening right

58.84

breaking up uh opening up conversations

61.079

and listening because we just talked

62.96

about having uh you know opening up the

65.6

conversations but we and we've talked

68.68

about Focus before but I think we a good

71.479

habit is how to listen like listening

74.68

skills yeah as I cut you off

83.24

yes yeah I don't have any listening

85.2

skills so we'll have to figure I'll have

86.439

to learn some between now and when we do

88.68

that so

91.88

actually I've got actually that's a

94.399

slight side notice that yeah I

97.2

I'm I developed a listening skill years

100.24

ago that ticks Natalie off to no extent

103.64

and so I've had to like figure out how

105.439

to adjust that a little bit and it is

108.799

sort of and I like I this is one of

110.439

those that's interesting it's like I

112.439

guess this is pre-b bonus material um

116.399

it's an interesting thing because one of

117.56

the things I developed a while back was

120.079

to avoid the bullet point thing you know

122.799

like suddenly I've got like eight

123.92

different things um and actually more

126.439

importantly for me because once I start

128.36

building out that list I'm like I start

132.44

getting drawn into that list and now I'm

134.879

not listening I'm not catching enough

137.239

stuff so I'll miss things and so what I

140

will do um and I do this all the time is

143.04

I will like I will stop somebody I'll

144.599

even like I'll I will if I'm on like in

147

I will like give them a timeout like

148.519

wait I need talk about that point

151.8

because sometimes it's a minor point but

153.48

sometimes it's something where it's like

154.36

I realize that that is going to trip me

156.4

up I am not like it I know it's a red

160.12

flag to me that I am not going to be

161.44

listening to you for whatever you say

164.239

because now I'm stuck on this thing and

165.76

my mind is not I cannot process I cannot

168.76

move off of that point until we talk

171.64

about that point and so I will stop

173.599

people I'll be like hold on stop I need

175.36

to talk about that and I will interrupt

178.239

people and stuff if they're on a roll

179.84

I'll be like okay or sometime be like

183.12

you know I will say like hey can we talk

185.92

about this now and try to stop them

188.239

unless they and I know it could be

189.84

frustrating some people because they're

191.159

like trying to get through stuff but

193

it's like to me and this is me I'll be

195.519

like well then don't say something that

197

throws me off the rails at the beginning

199.72

of the conversation but it is it could

201.92

be seen as uh you know being rudely

204.56

interrupting somebody where to me it's

206.64

like no I'm like it's part of my

208.239

conversations I want to talk about each

210.159

of those points as we go instead of give

213.599

you a whole list of bullet points so

215.319

there's things like that that's like and

216.72

so and it's worked with a lot of people

218.159

there's some people that really have

219.72

appreciated that I've had customers have

221.319

talked to me about like how they like

223.36

how it is a discussion and not lecturing

226.319

each other when we talk about stuff uh

228.56

but other people don't so it's where you

230.12

have to like sometimes you have

231.159

different approaches for different

232.36

people and I think that's what we're

234.239

going to talk a lot well we'll get into

235.72

that if not this but I think the

236.879

listening skills is a is one that um is

240.159

going to be an interesting one to get

241.319

into so that's an awesome you know soft

243.4

skills kind of thing to get into that

245.76

being said let's get into this one we're

247.64

going to talk about fostering

249.36

discussions and we're going do our

250.439

little three and a two and a one well

253.959

hello and welcome back we are building

256.759

better developers we are in the middle

258.519

of actually towards the end of the the

260.88

sunset the fall of the season on

264.56

building better habits getting towards

266.4

the end of this this episode we are

268.24

going to talk about ult conversations

271.56

one that is not a difficult conversation

273.84

is me introducing myself so this is

276.28

building better developers this is a

277.6

develop andur podcast which originally

280.52

was develop andur mood to building

281.96

better developers now that seems to be

283.56

more like we're switching our uh

285.84

headliner and our you know secondary

288.08

title as things go on but my title is

291.28

always has been for a long time Rob

293.36

Broadhead I am one of the founders of

295.12

develop andur also a founder of RB

297.68

Consulting Where We Are are a what do

300.88

they call a boutique consulting company

303.24

we go in we help organizations utilize

306.759

technology better whether it's what they

308.68

have whether it's what is out there U

311.759

you know sort of reigning in their

314

technology sprawl because we have too

316.08

many devices too many options too many

318.44

applications there's an application for

320.08

that becomes ad nauseum at times and so

323.52

through simplification automation

326.08

Innovation integration and lots of other

328.6

shuns that are out there we find ways

331.08

for you to make the best use of

333.12

Technology we help craft a recipe for

337.199

success for you that is specific to your

339.639

business so that's why we sit down we

341.28

talk about what are your goals what are

342.68

your your plans where you at where do

345.52

you want to be and then we help you find

347.68

the best tools the best approach for

349.6

that even the best team we can help you

352.08

wherever you are at we meet you where

353.6

we're at and we help like jump in the

356.28

car with you for that ride into the

358.44

future good things bad things uh let's

362.319

see oh bad ah this is some people think

365.56

this is a good thing bad thing because

368.16

of temperatures and my wife was sick for

371.4

Stuff a while and stuff like that this

373.28

year has started with us eating out a

375.4

lot we've done a lot more we've gotten

377.039

back into this sort of habit like ah

378.319

we'll just get something quick we'll get

379.28

something quick we'll get something

380.24

quick it's not really a good thing

381.759

because I've like now I'm not where I

383.919

was weightwise and healthwise and a

385.72

couple other things the good part of

387.759

that is now I am craving like I don't

391.08

know a piece of celery or something

392.88

that's not like fatty gross type of

395.72

stuff I will still have my slice of

397.68

pizza and stuff like that but also

399.28

there's a part of me that my body is

400.759

like I would love just a nice simple

402.599

home-cooked meal again so that kind of

405.28

stuff just tastes really good to me

407.16

right now so I think that would be the

408.68

good thing in the world of

413.16

habits I would like to say there's so

415.879

many out there that have been that been

417.599

really good and I'm going to take them

419.12

as a as a whole because last episode I

422.599

talked a little bit about how the the

424.68

joyful one like doing the stuff that I

426.759

enjoy very much has sort of uh overlaps

430.72

the the Automation and and some of that

433.4

kind the process Improvement challenge I

436.56

would say like this almost like a little

438.24

mini challenge is take a look back at

440.4

this season and look at all the

442.36

challenges that we've got and try to

445.759

like combine them to roll them up to

448.319

summarize them because there's a a lot

449.759

of that that I have done I've taken a

451.4

lot of these because we're now you know

453.36

we've got 20 plus habits and challenges

456.52

that we've talked about but if you look

458.4

at it you can actually find a way to

460.84

condense those down to a few changes

462.8

here and there and as I look at my

464.479

schedule that's what I've done there's

465.84

probably only you know an impact of a

468.56

half hour to an hour a day that I've

471.479

done that has dramatically changed stuff

473.599

and that hour I've earned that back

475.24

easily is like the ROI on that invested

477.56

time is more than and worth it so I I

480.56

would just say like take a look at

481.759

what's out there and see where you can

484.24

maybe combine two or three of those into

485.879

one step and just really like

488.039

turbocharge your your better habits and

490.68

becoming a better

492.72

developer now I'm just going to go toss

495.159

this one off to Michael let him

497.08

introduce himself hey everyone my name

499.72

is Michael M I'm one of the co-founders

501.72

of building better developers otherwise

503.36

known as developer I'm also the founder

505.8

of Envision QA where we help businesses

509.96

understand what they have for technology

513.039

if you find yourself looking at your

514.88

business and struggling with your

516.279

business because the software you're

517.8

using makes your business or makes your

520.399

tasks more difficult come talk to us we

522.76

will help you figure out a better way to

525.2

do things we will help you streamline

527.36

your business and make the technology

529.48

work for you not against

531.519

you good and bad good uh and I'm

536.44

actually going to combine our habits

538.8

with my good and bad so the good is

541.6

because I've been able to kind of break

543.12

things down a little bit and stick with

545.8

kind of doing things that I enjoy I have

548.64

finally completed probably 95% of the

552.32

books by Brandon Sanderson over the

554.2

course of a year and a

556.32

half it has taken a very long time to

559.48

get through it but about an hour a day

563.399

especially the last book that came out

564.68

in November was 65 hours for an audio

567.36

book that is massive for when you

569.76

consume books that are typical audio

571.6

books of eight hours a book this is

574.959

eight books crammed into one I it was

577.72

massive but I couldn't stop listening to

579.839

it so all through the holidays I it's

581.56

like listen listen

583

listen finally got through it almost

585.64

I've got like two books left of what

587.24

he's written and then it that that's

588.88

kind of the bad thing now it's like now

590.12

I got to figure out what the heck I want

591.16

to listen to next uh because I'm running

593.959

out of content because he hasn't

596.959

finished the next round of books the

599.76

other bad thing was he ended the current

601.399

book with oh by the way this was book

603.32

five 6 through 10 will continue the

606.04

story it's like it took you like a year

608.32

and a half two years to write this last

609.72

one come on five more books it's like

613.32

Stephen King's Dark Tower series that

614.92

took forever and we almost never got the

617.88

end of that so anyway that's my good and

621.88

bad ah I will follow up real quickly on

624.519

that one is like yes I just finished I

627.399

think I talked about that I finished the

628.8

Shar a series like of 40 something books

632

or whatever earlier this year and it was

633.6

really odd for me to like okay now I got

635.639

to find another big series to get into

638.2

before I started into the Shar books

639.959

this is something that's like I think

641.44

half the books are out of print but

642.8

there is a um I it was the guys the guy

646.279

in a gal I think there was a guy in a

647.72

gal that did way back in the day did the

649.639

dragon Lance series of stuff this is uh

652.44

originally came I think in the 80s and

654

then into the 90s and stuff they also

656.32

did one called the death gate cycle

658.88

which

659.839

uh is an interesting it's a seven book

661.76

series which was really interesting the

663.6

way they did it because the first four

665.16

books basically set up the last three

668.079

books and so it was like it was really

670.2

it's like it's four books full of like

672.88

Universe building stuff World building

674.88

stuff and then the final three was the

677.079

actual story so it was like an

678.68

interesting little thing uh very

681.12

different a lot of little different kind

682.959

of Concepts some interesting characters

685.399

it was uh so it's one of those if you

687.12

want like a short series of you know

689.399

seven books Go For It audio

692.92

bookwise um if you ever want to do like

695.72

if you want to have like an enjoyable

697.2

but like take a couple years is actually

699.76

go through the audio books of the Harry

702

Potter series the guy that does that

704.079

Dale what's his name I can't think of

705.68

his last name is the best I of all the

708.56

audio books he is the best of doing uh

711.44

non or doing fiction audio books does a

714.92

great job with it they are long it is I

718.2

don't know it's probably

719.92

200 hours of stuff or something like

721.36

that there's a lot there but they're all

723.16

in a bridged and it it really is uh it's

726

a good series now let's get back on

729.279

track because we've had some easy

731.16

conversations we're going to talk about

732.68

difficult conversations this time

734.48

around what is a difficult conversation

737.639

I will say a difficult conversation is

740.079

anything that gives you pause anything

742

that makes you feel a little stress when

744.279

we talk about getting things done and

746.24

being productive we talk about eating

747.8

the Frog we talk about that thing that

749.279

you don't want to do if a conversation

752.12

is that thing you don't want to do that

753.839

you're worried about that you're not

755.48

sure how it's go all of those kinds of

759

stressors then that is a difficult

761.76

conversation now some difficult

763.639

conversations are difficult for

765

everybody things like having a raise or

769.199

you know getting married or getting

770.56

divorced or having children or uh a lot

773.56

of time money if it's like a negative

775.6

you know kind of money conversation if

777.32

it's a like how do I pay this bill

778.8

because can't pay that bill uh it may be

782.839

um conversation around like exercise

785.32

because you're out of shape and you need

786.959

to figure out a way to get into shape or

789.56

some we all have our our things we like

791.8

and the things we don't like difficult

793.639

conversations are going to be more

794.72

around what we don't like or where we

798.12

assume that something is going to be

800.639

that it's going to be a difficult

801.959

conversation that it's going to be push

803.48

back that we're going to be have some

806.04

emotional aspect to it or something like

808.16

that now the first first thing in

809.72

difficult conversations that I want to

811.199

say is that we assume that is a very key

814.76

thing that I have found in the difficult

816.88

conversations and actually even in the

819

difficult jobs that we have on our plate

822.32

is that a lot of times we think we

824.48

assume we presuppose that it's going to

827.8

go a certain

829.199

way sometimes that is not the case for

832.56

example you may be sitting there going

834.36

gosh I have got to talk to my boss about

836.399

getting a raise I haven't gotten a raise

838.839

I need a raise I need to talk to them

840.88

and you're thinking gosh I'm going to

842.04

have to go in there I'm going to have to

843.36

like build a case for it they're going

845.079

to push back I'm going to have to like

847.68

haggle about where we get it and all

849.68

this kind it's going to take me days to

851.279

go through this conversation with them

853.68

and that could be the case or it could

854.959

be the case that you go in and you say

856.32

hey I'd like a raise and your boss says

857.759

you know what you're right I we haven't

860.12

gotten you a raise yet we will put it in

862

the next paycheck and it's a 10% raise

864.839

or whatever it is I have had those

867.519

things go that way I've had

869.12

conversations where I'm like really

871.72

worried about this and it goes great I I

876.12

will I will be totally transparent most

880.24

uh demo calls with a customer when I'm

882.519

going to demonstrate software when I'm

885.079

showing them like here's where we're at

886.519

a status call and stuff like that most

888.68

of those I have some level of

890.56

trepidation because I'm like ah they're

892.44

not cuz they're going to see it like I

894.24

do I think and they're going to be like

895.44

oh there's that little bug or there's

896.639

that little thing or there's I look at

898.199

it as where was all these places that I

900.04

could have done it better for them and

903.079

very often like over nine times out of

905.8

10 probably 99 times out of 100 we get

907.72

out of it and they are very pleased

909.199

they're like yes this is like this is

910.56

where we want to go we're on track you

912.16

know all of that good stuff and it's not

913.92

that I'm freaking out or losing sleep

915.48

over it but it is the stuff where it's

917.12

like I don't think this is necessarily

919.279

going to go super smooth and usually it

921

does and not only does it go super

922.44

smooth a lot of times it's like hey and

924.36

here's some additional stuff that we

925.56

want to do and here's how we're going to

926.839

move forward and so it really like it

930.199

unblocks things it frees me up to start

932.56

into the next phase of stuff and that's

934.639

a key thing about difficult

935.92

conversations is usually they are

937.399

blockers usually you have to go through

940.12

that conversation to get to something

942.079

else so for

943.68

example uh a difficult conversation you

945.92

may be selling a project to somebody or

948.36

selling somebody on a side hustle or

952.16

going to an interview and getting a job

954.759

like you can't get the job without going

956.639

through the interview process and so

959.24

sometimes that you know that like that's

960.519

a difficult conversation and there's

962.519

things like that where it's like I'm

963.839

going to have to go uh change the scope

966.6

of this because we missed something I

968.399

have to I have to say that hey we we

970.8

have a hole in the design and we've got

972.72

to make some adjustments to the customer

974.36

well we can't move forward until we've

975.839

notified them and we can move forward on

977.72

it so difficult conversations while they

981.279

are being stresses they're also things

983

like I think this is key as the two

985.16

things are realize you're assuming that

987.279

it's not going to go bad so it may

989.16

actually not be that bad but more

991.079

importantly these are blockers you have

993.199

to go through it it will stop you until

996.48

you have that conversation and now I'm

999.279

blocking Michael right now so I'm going

1000.6

to let him talk about this for a little

1001.8

bit before we swing back around on the

1003.68

challenge yeah so it's funny this

1006.88

actually kind of gets back around to our

1009.44

uh anxiety uh and

1011.959

stressor conversation we had a couple

1014.72

weeks ago is this is kind of what drives

1018.079

a lot of people's what ifs this drives

1020.24

people's anxiety because you get in your

1023.279

head and you come into um conversations

1025.76

or you come into situations with a pre

1029.72

assumption as to what the conversation

1032.52

is going to be about or how it's going

1034.12

to go or you think it's going to go one

1036.48

way so you plan for another

1038.439

way it's very hard to kind of break out

1042.76

of that and have that conversation uh

1046.559

you

1047.199

know for instance you know what if you

1050.08

lose a job how do you come home and tell

1051.679

your family if you're married that you

1053.52

know you don't have an income anymore

1055.16

how how are you going to handle the

1056.799

situation and interestingly enough the

1060.72

antidotes to a lot of these situations

1063.679

like the difficult conversations are

1065.44

almost similar to dealing with anxiety

1068.2

you you want to walk into some of these

1071

difficult conversations with more of an

1072.72

open mind less of a preconception of how

1077

it's going to go but but in order to do

1080.28

that you have to kind of self-check

1082

yourself it's like oh make a list of

1086.559

what it is that is hard for you what is

1090.2

it that's bugging you what's on your

1092.12

mind that you can't seem to talk about

1095.72

because a lot of times when you dwell on

1097.84

these things and when you're thinking

1099.159

about it it it's usually one or two

1101.4

things you know it could be money hey

1102.88

how am I going to pay the bills this

1104.12

month or hey you know it's cold so the

1108.32

electric BS up $100 or $200 because he

1110.72

had to run the heat more so now it's

1112.2

like where are you going to cut the uh

1113.64

the fat sometimes he there's nothing you

1115.84

can do about it's like okay hey we just

1118.52

need to cut back a little bit or where

1120.559

can we pivot but what you do is instead

1123.48

of coming in with problems com in with

1127.52

Solutions it's like hey I have an idea

1129.799

on how to solve this but before you even

1131.919

try to solve it talk about it because

1133.96

maybe it's not a problem at all maybe

1135.64

it's like oh oh we'll just do this or

1137.96

hey it's not a deal or hey this isn't as

1142.32

difficult as you're making it out to be

1145.36

a lot of times our difficult

1146.799

conversations are us there are

1149

preconceived notions as to our blockers

1152.799

you know these are things we have

1155.039

problems dealing with sometimes not

1157.08

necessarily the conversations themselves

1161.88

so having a difficult conversation like

1164.36

Rob said about you know going in talking

1165.96

about a raise things like that sometimes

1169.2

heck when I go for job interviews if I'm

1171.679

not sure I'm ready to change jobs or hey

1174.6

I know things are getting difficult in

1176.24

the job I'm in sometimes I will just go

1180.039

out talk to a recruiter maybe take the

1183

first job that comes along go and have

1185.08

an interview I haven't interviewed in

1187.24

years so it's like you know let's just

1189.039

go see what this process is like instead

1191.48

of oh my God I need to plan I need to

1193.64

prepare I need to overthink that just go

1195.6

do it sometimes just doing it

1200.08

breaks all the barriers it's like oh

1201.76

that wasn't so hard or oh my God I don't

1204.84

remember half the stuff I'm supposed to

1206.72

do okay now I need to go prepare now you

1209.08

prepare for the next situation not

1212.76

sometimes it's just jump in you know

1214.679

jump in feet first have that difficult

1216.96

conversation but it is it it's a

1219.4

stressor it will bother you it'll make

1222.2

you think about it for a while and if

1223.96

you do find yourself in that situation

1225.799

pause write it down maybe go back to the

1228.32

anxiet the episode and listen to some of

1230.24

the tips and tricks we did there also

1233.039

apply here so if you find yourself

1237

avoiding something cut the fat rip the

1240.12

bandage off do it first do it now have

1243.32

it as soon as you can now Grant if it's

1245.679

a divorce you might want to plan a

1247.52

little bit

1249.72

but in most situations most difficult

1252.72

conversations are all in the person's

1254.76

head about it being difficult now

1258.96

that's mainly in the software world now

1260.6

in our personal lives that could be a

1261.88

totally different bag of worms I get it

1264.48

but when we think business when we think

1266.559

software when we think our typical daily

1268.88

lives most typical conversations are

1271.44

just us afraid to talk about something

1273.76

because we're either afraid of being

1275.36

seen in a bad

1276.76

light that we have failed that we have

1279.12

messed up and it's just a preconception

1283.24

that we need to break and just go for it

1287.159

just get it out there have that

1289.159

conversation if it does become difficult

1291.64

work through it or if it blows up pause

1296.159

you know see if you can say Okay that

1299.039

was as bad as I thought it was but then

1301.679

now you know and now you can kind of

1304.24

damage control or work your way through

1306.52

the

1308.72

problem I think but I want to dive into

1311.6

this is a little bit of the yeah is that

1313.919

last B is like sometimes there's a

1315.24

little bit of it is going to be bad and

1316.88

so there's like you know you got to do

1318.039

your damage control and stuff like that

1320.2

and so I want to give I do want to give

1321.4

a couple like recommendations in this is

1324.12

one when you go into a difficult

1327.88

conversation is try not

1331.559

to dictate too much where that goes

1335

because you've spent some time in your

1336.52

head you you've thought about this for a

1338.96

while you have an approach now it may be

1341.76

that you need to start with your

1344.88

approach but I have found a lot of times

1348.159

that that is not necessarily the way is

1350

that what you want to do is you actually

1352.08

are going to be better off opening that

1355.039

conversation up with something like hey

1357.679

we need to talk about this this is an

1360.64

issue what do you think or what would

1363.72

what's a solution for you if you throw

1366

that to the other

1367.48

person that allows them to set the table

1370.96

a little bit and this is where our

1373.88

assumptions and our U all of the

1376.559

different things that we have in our

1378.039

head that we think is how this is going

1380.039

to go can actually like trip us up they

1383.72

can cause US problems because we jump in

1386.679

this conversation with all these

1387.84

preconceived notions and they end up

1389.32

being not correct at all and maybe along

1391.919

the way we sort of we screw ourselves up

1395.159

by setting the stage with stuff where

1396.799

people like I didn't know that like

1398.52

that's not it it's like as an example I

1401.24

had a a police buddy years ago a

1405.08

detective and he said you would be a

1408.52

Amed at how often we pull up to

1411.799

something and people basically convict

1414.919

themselves talking to us he's like they

1417.48

are they're like he's like all we do is

1419.679

we sit there and listen and we'll throw

1421.24

like one or two things out and it's

1422.6

amazing how often people will just like

1425.36

they'll trip themselves up because they

1426.96

know there's a like especially guilty

1428.679

people this is like you know you're

1430.279

guilty you know that this is a difficult

1433.2

conversation and so you start like

1436.96

making excuses when they may not have

1439.72

even known that that was that you were

1442.559

guilty and so there's things like that

1444.88

that

1446.36

like don't go in with your preconceived

1448.799

notions open it up and let them talk to

1451.279

you because that actually will help you

1453.4

gauge better than what you did in your

1455.559

head how difficult or not the

1457.48

conversation is going to be now if it is

1459.559

something where you're like I screwed up

1461.96

massively and I know I've got to talk to

1463.679

my boss about it then start with just I

1467.919

screwed

1469.24

massively this is what happened this is

1472.52

what and like ideally with that kind of

1474.52

situation like this is what I'm doing to

1476.64

resolve it and maybe this is how I have

1480.08

decided I'm not going you know this is

1481.64

what I think I can do to avoid this in

1483.2

the future but even then I think you can

1485.399

start with just the I screwed up this is

1487.72

a resolution that I'm working on or that

1489.6

I'm proposing and then just leave it at

1491.44

that for a second now you may get chewed

1493.2

out for a

1494.24

while take it just like okay because

1497.84

however you get chewed out most likely

1499.679

is not as bad as you've chewed yourself

1502.36

out in your head thinking about it not

1504.96

only that it is like you probably have

1507.44

chewed yourself out on a daily basis

1509.559

since that thing occurred so it's better

1511.84

to just like get it done get it over

1513.44

with move forward and now you don't have

1515.64

to worry about it anymore because it's

1518.679

it's like worry somebody I don't

1521.12

remember I wish I could properly you

1522.799

know give the right credit to this but

1525.919

somebody referred to worrying as

1528.32

suffering the same pain twice because

1530.919

you suffer you worry about it and then

1533.44

it you suffer through it then but then

1535.279

when it actually occurs you suffer

1537.52

through it at that point now sometimes

1539.44

we invent worries we invent things that

1541.399

are not suffering and we suffer for no

1543.2

reason so that's why these difficult

1545.44

conversations are the things we need to

1548.24

go through but also probably more

1549.76

importantly is that these block us from

1551.52

moving forward and when we're blocked

1553.96

it's just not is not helpful we're not

1556.279

going to if we can open stuff up then we

1558.12

can get a lot more done we could be more

1559.76

effective we can be better developers we

1561.32

can be better human

1563.32

beings so I want to dive right into the

1566.279

challenge for this one the challenge for

1568.52

this for the next seven days is each day

1573.2

start the day do I have a difficult

1575.2

conversation ahead of me if so schedule

1579.24

it as soon as possible now Michael

1582.159

referred to there's like there's

1583.24

sometimes like you need to read the room

1584.919

and you need to like you especially in

1586.559

personal stuff and things like that

1587.679

there's things there like you need to

1588.64

let emotions go through it and like

1590.399

there needs to be some sort of process

1592.679

but if there's something that's to that

1595.72

point where the next step is have a

1597.679

conversation get that done sooner rather

1599.96

than later if there's something you've

1601.44

been putting off for a while then put it

1602.96

on your calendar today tomorrow this

1604.76

week something like that and that's just

1607.679

that's as simple as it is is take the

1610.48

difficult conversations and pull them

1612.6

forward do them as soon as possible now

1616

I will be like just one warning if you

1618.36

got a lot piled up don't do it all in

1620.2

one day or if you do just

1623.279

like buckle up buttercup because it's

1625.919

going to be a rough day like know that

1628.08

at the end of the day you're going to

1630.039

need an adult beverage or six to like

1632.12

get through it and there I have had

1634.44

those because sometimes you know you

1635.88

just like the schedule works out it's

1637.64

like it's been a you know it's going to

1639.2

be a long day and you were right it was

1641.32

a long day but at least then you're done

1644.2

with it and the next day is going to be

1646.64

better

1648.919

I would also challenge you to send us an

1650.84

email just cuz because hey we've been

1653.12

asking for it for way too long and we

1654.96

don't get near enough emails based on

1657.32

how often I ask for emails so shoot us

1659.919

an email at info developer.com check us

1663.08

out on the developer Channel on YouTube

1665.039

you can wherever you do podcasts you can

1667.6

leave us re uh you know reviews and

1670.159

comments there we would love to get them

1672.44

there there's just so many ways that you

1674.919

can reach us there's just no excuse to

1676.76

not give us your thought give us your

1678.279

two cents and if this is your difficult

1680.36

conversation trust me it's not going to

1682.36

be that difficult we will send you like

1684.48

love and adoration and all that kind of

1686.44

stuff afterwards after you've sent us

1688.72

some sort of feedback even if your

1689.919

feedback is you guys suck hey we will

1692.159

send you a thank you card of some sort

1694.08

even if it's a virtual one that being

1696.64

said it's time for us to wrap this one

1698.36

up not the season we've got plenty more

1701.48

not so difficult conversations in our

1703.279

future as we wrap this one up but until

1706.12

then go out there and have yourself a

1707.679

great day a great week and we will talk

1709.919

to you next

1712.24

time bonus material I'm going to dive

1714.88

into this one first because once again

1717.2

I've got one that is like I got to do it

1718.799

before I

1719.96

forget one of the things that I heard uh

1724.279

it's a couple years ago with a a guy

1726.36

that was actually a fraternity brother

1727.72

that I was working for with and he

1730.399

talked about a meeting and it was like

1732.519

it was one of these like aha moments as

1734.6

we got out of this meeting and it was

1736.36

difficult discussion because it was

1737.679

basically basically like there's three

1739.919

people there's a customer there's a

1742.039

provider and there's another provider

1743.96

and we were one of the providers one of

1745.559

the vendors and the two vendors were

1747.279

basically like the other vendor was

1749.48

saying everything was our fault was why

1751.32

everything was falling apart and we were

1752.6

saying look they're not doing what

1754.799

they're supposed to do and like you know

1757.44

it was basically it was about agreements

1758.84

and stuff like that we knew it was going

1760

to be rough and part of it was the

1764.2

customer they also were at fault they

1766.679

totally botched stuff the lady that was

1768.96

running it like went on medical leave

1770.96

for three months like two weeks into it

1773.44

and when she was warned about stuff she

1775.039

was just like just make it Go just make

1776.48

it go away just fix it and we couldn't

1778.2

because it was a vendor

1779.679

issue and we get into this meeting we

1781.76

know it's going to be tough and when we

1783.64

got done one of the things that like we

1786.24

we we'll say we won that meeting is we

1787.96

got out of that we we were unscathed and

1790.039

we actually were like Heroes to the the

1792.88

customer but one of the things he

1794.6

mentioned that stuck with me is he said

1796.039

like that's one of the meetings and

1797.679

actually I think I think it was even in

1798.6

it he's said this is a meeting that you

1800.399

win by talking the least and I think

1803.08

that is a huge thing for us to think

1805.6

about is that when we go into meetings

1808.279

when we go into difficult conversations

1810.84

sometimes the way for us to quote win it

1813.24

is to shut the hell up is to be as

1817.48

minimal as possible and let the other

1820.12

party or parties vent talk do whatever

1824.159

it is that they need to do now that's

1826.399

not always the case there's sometimes

1827.64

that we need to like we also need to

1829.08

like have a backbone and state our case

1831.799

but sometimes it is as simple as state

1834.039

your case and then get out of the way

1836.44

keep it simple keep it short and then

1839.32

allow the conversation to grow from

1842.36

there and the more you allow them

1845.559

particularly in situations where it's a

1847.399

difficult conversation it really is

1849.08

something where U most of the times the

1851.279

less you talk the better think about

1853.12

like your the raise raise request from

1856.039

your boss it is

1858.44

I would you know you say I've been here

1860.679

long enough IDE need to raise this is

1862.76

the you know the industry standard

1864.519

here's my you know couple of bullet

1866.039

points you very concisely just say I

1868.039

would like a raise I would like to have

1869.519

this

1870.76

conversation put it on your boss now

1873.279

it's up to them to figure out how to

1875

convince you that you don't need a raise

1876.96

or to give you a raise or whatever it is

1879.399

and sometimes and anybody that's worked

1881.639

with me will find that this is something

1883.2

that I do is it in talking through stuff

1886.279

sometimes my opinion will evolve to the

1889.12

point that like and I think Michael

1892.44

probably can think has had these

1893.76

conversations where like somebody says

1895.88

something to me for a minute they spend

1898.08

a minute of time and I will spend the

1900.08

next 20 minutes walking through that

1902.6

talking through that I'm thinking on the

1904.96

Fly And while I may initially say I

1908.32

disagree completely with your point by

1910.399

the time I get to the end of that I have

1912.399

convinced myself that I agree 100% with

1914.639

your point and so sometimes it is it's

1917.279

like allow people to just go and see

1920.919

what happens with it so that's my like

1923.399

little bonus thing is that sometimes and

1925.48

maybe a lot of times we need to think

1928.08

that we need to go into a difficult

1929.6

conversation with the idea that whoever

1931.96

speaks the least is going to win this

1934.36

because I think that will help keep us

1936.88

from tripping ourselves up bonus

1939.039

material from you so my bonus here is

1944.279

with the difficult conversations

1945.84

especially within work or

1949.919

life make sure you make time for

1953.36

conversations don't get into silos where

1957

you're not talking for long periods of

1959.159

time and letting things build up this

1961.919

works both professionally and personally

1964.12

because if you are heads down for a

1966.639

month and you're not talking to anyone

1968.12

in the company and this all of a sudden

1970.72

you come out and

1972.559

hey half the cubicles are empty because

1975.08

there's a massive layoff you weren't

1976.399

paying attention pay attention to your

1978.96

surroundings pay attention to your life

1981.6

pay attention to your job your

1985.08

relationships and the best way to do

1988

that is to look at those difficult

1990.2

conversations and make sure you're

1991.88

having the right conversations you know

1994.039

don't go in this difficult conversation

1997

like I hate pizza and we we go out to

1999.08

Pizza all the time no that's not a

2001.039

difficult conversation that's just a

2003

disagreement order us

2005.919

out all right let's not get czy make

2008.88

sure you distinguish between what is a

2011.519

difficult conversation and what is just

2013.88

a

2014.84

disagreement on a topic or an idea um

2018.84

that there is a slight difference

2020.6

between the two and just make sure that

2023

you're open to the discussion if you're

2026.279

not or you're not in the right frame of

2027.679

mind say okay I hear you can you give me

2030.96

maybe 30 minutes to put aside what I'm

2034.32

currently working on or what's stuck in

2035.919

my head and then let's have that talk

2040.12

sometimes it's like right now is not the

2042.12

right to on but you do want to make sure

2045.799

you schedule that time and have that

2048.8

conversation yeah don't let it Fester

2051.2

but sometimes like right now

2052.52

particularly if

2053.599

you're like Michael said like if it's a

2055.96

divorce conversation then probably you

2057.8

should like cool your heels for a little

2059.52

bit you know there's things like that

2060.879

there is like I'll throw one other thing

2063

out there when I was a hockey coach even

2065.28

early on one the things a lot of the

2067.72

coaches said and I think even soccer a

2069.76

lot of the youth coaches in particular

2071.48

had a 24-hour Rule and it was basically

2074.119

like with the when they're talking to

2075.72

the

2076.399

parents if you don't like how I coached

2079.879

or if you don't if you've got a

2081.159

complaint about a game or a PR a

2083.399

practice or whatever about your kid that

2085.32

you want to talk to me about give it 24

2087.72

hours before you talk to me because a

2090.56

lot of times both particularly like that

2093.32

that's a good example of like you come

2095.04

out of a game especially if it's a loss

2096.76

and the parents are because their kid

2098.68

wasn't played enough and you're a coach

2100.48

and you're ticked cuz your team lost

2102

because maybe they weren't playing hard

2103.44

enough or maybe that parents kid sucked

2106.28

that day and that's why they didn't play

2108.119

enough you're both both parties are

2111.44

emotional it is raw and it is fresh and

2114.44

it is good to like spend a little time

2116.32

and then come back to it later now it

2118.76

doesn't hurt to say we need to have a

2121.04

conversation about this we will talk

2123.52

about it later because sometimes I found

2126.8

that we need to re like we will be

2129.8

emotional too often and we need at some

2132.24

point say we need to talk about the fact

2133.839

that we are always super emotional after

2135.8

this thing and that's just not cool so

2137.88

there's something we need to figure out

2139.88

but that's like Take It Outside of the

2142.16

emotional you know scope the emotional

2144.88

bubble so that you can have an actual

2146.64

conversation about it and actually

2148.119

figure out how to solve a problem as

2150.24

opposed to just blow up the problem I'm

2154.2

going to solve your problem about not

2156.04

having enough time and we're going to

2157.48

wrap wrap this one up I want to thank

2158.839

you so much for spending some time with

2161.839

us for what you've invested with us I do

2165.28

love to hear just any feedback is

2167

awesome even like the simplest feedback

2169.24

is really you know appreciated and

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particular if it's anything that is a

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recommendation or suggestion we really

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really really love that because it helps

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us help you it helps us become better

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podcasters it helps develop and or be a

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site that is useful to our our community

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which is you you or why we are here so

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thank you so much for your time for your

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investment and we will talk to you next

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time

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[Music]