Have you heard the well known saying in psychology that, “Everyone suffers from cognitive bias…even those that are aware of cognitive bias”?  Well, we believe it’s true. Today Neal and Jason discuss the myriad of cognitive biases in tech, which ones to pay closest attention to, and how to minimize the deleterious effects of allowing them to go unmanaged, or worse, unnoticed. 

In this episode of Real. Technical. Midwest.  @Jason Montague, @Neal Sample, and @Patrick Gaynor discuss the importance of building high-performing teams, how to do it, and a few secrets of the best teams they've worked with along the way. 

Have you heard, "You can't improve what you can't measure" or "You are what you measure"?  Do you agree?  If so, why is it so challenging to use them?  If you have issues infusing metrics and measures into your teams or organizations, you are not alone, and there's good news....this episode is for you!On this episode or Real. Technical. Midwest., Jason Montague, Neal Sample, and Patrick Gaynor tackle the beloved (and dreaded) metrics.  We discuss metric examples, which might help, and why context is vital.  We then share where many leaders run into trouble with metric anti-patterns, unintended consequences, how metrics are easily gamed, and how to avoid demotivating your teams.Take a listen and let us know what you think!

Today we speak with our very own Neal Sample on his time learning in the Data Group at Stanford, post-doc work with the CIA, building data-centric startups in Silicon Valley, and helping foster the development of cutting-edge big data tools like Hadoop.  Neal has had a front-row seat to the biggest technology revolution of our lifetime and (though he won’t say it!) he's also helped shape it.  Come with us as we uncover important insights in data and analytics and all that goes with it.

Jim Benson, Shingo Prize winner has released a new book, The Collaboration Equation.  In today’s conversation, we breakdown where most organization's lean and agile transformations stall and why most of your problems are people problems.  Pull your inner andon cord and lets get aligned!!!

In today's episode we think that it's time for us to revisit the cloud.  I think we should ask ourselves the questions:Should everything go in the cloud?Should nothing go in the cloud? What have we been surprised at?What's really been liberating and powerful and accelerating? What didn't live up to the hype? What are some of the myths of the cloud that have been burst? And what are some of the things that maybe were promises that are undelivered? So today…we’re talkin’ Cloud, y’all!

In this episode of Real. Technical. Midwest., the hosts discuss the myth of the 10x developer.  Does this person exist?  If so, what are the hallmarks of a 10x Dev?  Should you hire them no matter what your context?Find out in this installment of Real. Technical. Midwest.

In today's episode, Jason and Neal discuss the idea of kicking off a new show!  They discuss why they want to start a Technology & Leadership podcast, primarily focused on the Great Midwest.   They also share the types of topics in the crosshairs, potential formats, and the outcomes they intend to create.  Ultimately they both agree this show needs to be unapologetically Technical, and intentionally Real.  Welcome to Real. Technical. Midwest.