IIRC, the authors of Peopleware [1] (fantastic book, btw) agree with you. They identified some pay for performance ideas for knowledge workers as "teamkillers" (e.g. tempting management ideas that end up destroying the social fabric that makes an effective team stronger than the sum of its parts).
https://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-...
It's the book I started out with 15 years ago and I have suggested to many others.
Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams (3rd Edition) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0321934113/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_j-...
It talks about what makes a good team, how powerful they can be, and also gives some insight on team dysfunction.
Although they might base some statements on assumptions I do not fully agree with all the time, and before reading I was had not decided if I was strictly for or against open office plans, their conclusion is spot on: open plans do not foster collaboration or communication. They may cause a constant buzz and seem productive, but nobody will be smart, creative or productive in that environment, compared to a silent, uninterrupted workplace.
All you multitaskers and procrastinators (including me): You are lying to yourself.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-...
What worked for me:
- One on Ones. Nothing I've done has had as much of an impact as weekly one-on-one meetings with everybody on my team. I tend to follow the format outlined on Rands In Repose: http://randsinrepose.com/archives/the-update-the-vent-and-th... (This is an incredible blog for engineering management. I would highly recommend reading everything he has written.)
- Read everything you can find on the topic and about leadership in general and start figuring out how you can incorporate the lessons from those books into your situation and context. This is a brand new skill set that you need to approach with the same effort that you had been approaching engineering.
Some suggestions:
Rands in Repose: http://randsinrepose.com/archives/category/management/
Radical Candor: https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Candor-Kim-Scott/dp/B01MY574E...
Extreme Ownership: https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs/dp/B...
Becoming a Technical Leader: https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Technical-Leader-Problem-Sol...
Peopleware: https://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-...
- Finally, one piece of advice I got when I first transitioned into management was that "first-time managers usually fall into the trap of becoming the manager they wish they had. What you really need to do is figure out how to be the manager that each person on your team wishes they had, and become that manager." Easier said than done, obviously, but I've always found it useful to return to it whenever I am struggling.
[1]: https://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-...
Edit: add Amazon link.
Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams (3rd Edition) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0321934113/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_1Y6P...
[1] Crossing the chasm (Marketing related)
[2] Peopleware (HR related)
[3] How to win friends and influence people (HR related)
[4] The Goal (Business related)
[5] Critical chain (Project management related)
[6] Who moved my cheese (Change management related)
and any of the lean / agile businessy books for ex.
[7] The lean startup
These might not be viewed as traditional MBA material, but my course featured some of these along with more traditional academic books on subjects like financial management, people management, operations etc. I can provide these textbooks to you as well if you like.
*Amazon links just for convenience, no affiliation.
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-3rd-Disruptive-Mainstre...
[2] http://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-3...
[3] http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/06...
[4] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0884271951?keywords=eli%20g...
[5] http://www.amazon.com/Critical-Chain-Eliyahu-M-Goldratt/dp/0...
[6] http://www.amazon.com/Who-Moved-My-Cheese-Amazing/dp/0399144...
[7] http://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-...
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-3...
http://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-E...
It had a lot more wisdom in it on teams, interruptions, flow, and so on. I recommend anyone that enjoyed this story to get it as it has many more with recommendations. Of course, my version was an older one so the new one might be better or worse. I'm sure it will be Good at the least. ;)
Some references (sorry for the formatting, if this becomes a thing I'll do the wiki and the logo):
Slides:
https://github.com/tef/emfcamp2012/raw/master/programming_is...
Blub Paradox:
http://www.paulgraham.com/avg.html
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?BlubParadox
Perl and 9/11:
http://www.paulgraham.com/hijack.html
10x:
http://hfs.sagepub.com/content/16/1/70.short
http://www.construx.com/10x_Software_Development/Origins_of_...
http://www.construx.com/10x_Software_Development/Productivit...
Waterfall (same pdf, linking from 2 sources):
http://www.cs.umd.edu/class/spring2003/cmsc838p/Process/wate...
http://leadinganswers.typepad.com/leading_answers/files/orig...
Conway's law:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway%27s_law
Unrelated, Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy (I just like this law):
http://www.jerrypournelle.com/reports/jerryp/iron.html
X-Y Problem:
http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/66377/what-is-the-xy...
Atwood, Don't Learn to Code:
http://blog.codinghorror.com/please-dont-learn-to-code/
Wason selection task:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wason_selection_task
LMGTFY:
https://www.google.com/search?q=pieget+constructive+learning https://www.google.com/search?q=curry+howard+isomorphism
Amazon Links, no referral:
http://www.amazon.com/Mindstorms-Children-Computers-Powerful... http://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-3... http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B8USS14/ref=wl_mb_recs_2_title http://www.amazon.com/Design-Essays-Computer-Scientist-ebook...
and Peopleware: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321934113/
for those who are worried about clicking url shortners
Their discovery was that people who had closed door offices were more productive. In general people with less interruptions got more done.
The book is somewhat dated, so this may have changed since, but one of the interesting things they found was that there weren't really any studies showing that open offices helped productivity for software teams. It was purely a cost saving measure by execs wrapped up in wrapping of "being collaborative".
"During the 1960s, researchers at Cornell University conducted a series of tests on the effects of working with music. They polled a group of computer science students and divided the students into two groups, those who liked to have music in the background while they worked (studied) and those who did not. Then they put half of each group together in a silent room, and the other half of each group in a different room equipped with earphones and a musical selection. Participants in both rooms were given a Fortran programming problem to work out from specification. To no one's surprise, participants in the two rooms performed about the same in speed an accuracy of programming. As any kid who does his arithmetic homework with the music on knows, the part of the brain required for arithmetic and related logic is unbothered by music -- there's another brain center that listens to the music."
"The Cornless experiment, however, contained a hidden wild card. The specification required that an output data stream be formed through a series of manipulations on numbers in the input data stream... Although the specification never said it, the net effect of all the operations was that each output number was necessarily equal to its input number. Some people realized this and others did not. Of those who figured it out, the overwhelming majority came from the quiet room."
I don't think there's a problem with listening to music some of the time. My concern is that by constantly having the headphones on to mitigate audible distractions, I'll miss insights that would directly impact the quality of the work that I do.
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-E...
https://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-...
It's a classic, and also a pretty easy read. If you're in technology and haven't read it yet, you should.