Sonja Ivković – Learning & Development Partner “My 5“

(Top 5 quarantine picks)

Interview done by Netokracija.

The content from digital culture that she follows the most, this week was revealed to us by Sonja Ivković, Learning & Development Partner in the company Levi9.

Sonja is the mother of two girls, holds a PhD in psychological sciences and has a lot of experience in almost all areas of HR. She stayed in the employee development field for the longest time, because Sonja believes that development, both personal and professional, is the only successful strategy for a fulfilled life.

When she retires, she says, she would like to live by the sea and ride a white Vespa.

Series: ‘Gomorra’ as an image of the Italian mafia
I’m frantically watching the series called “Gomorra”, a rather tense and somber series about cruel Neapolitan mafia that doesn’t pick resources when it comes to struggle for supremacy. Nothing is sacred and unlike to the common belief of the Italian mafia seen as “gentlemen in expensive suits”, there is not much glamour and luxury in Gomorra.

The series, at first, attracted me because it is a European production, I also expected to learn a bit of Italian along the way, but it turned out that it is filmed in Neapolitan dialect, so in Italy itself, the series is broadcasting with the title. It is too late to give up now, but the colorful depiction of brutal violence is not always enjoyable.

YouTube: The mastery of bread baking
My husband has been in the hobby of homemade bread for a while. Yes, lucky me, and to be transparent immediately, I don’t take credit – I just do the dishes and take photos for Instagram. For this reason, lately we have been following channels that deal with the topic of bread making, like this one. Now we went a step further – we also grow homemade yeast and bake bread from ingredients that ferment for 60 hours.

Book: How to successfully lead IT teams
I just finished the book Elastic Leadership written by Roy Osherove. It is a practical guide for day-to-day (IT) team management, based on the author’s professional experience as a team lead. The book is written in a simple language, with many practical examples that author also collected from colleagues from similar occupational background.

There are not many theoretical perspectives (in my opinion – this is both an advantage and a disadvantage) and the book offers experiential advice when addressing common challenges in life of each team. The sentence I remembered was: „If you don’t know anything about human behavior, you know very little about software development”. I recommend it, for sure.

Music: Radio instead of playlist
I listen to Monte Carlo radio. Super cool music!

Text: What about happiness in the work environment?
I recommend the great article on the topic of happiness in the workplace in Harvard Business Review. It is seriously supported by relevant research in this field. This comprehensive text has inspired me to take a more detailed and critical interest in this buzz phenomenon and served as an inspiration to embark on the writings of my own on this topic (stay tuned).