I’m participating in several different writing projects: books with colleagues, shepherding experience reports, and a group book effort. We are all working to make the writing and eventual product better. We are playing the perfection game. Here’s how you play the game. You ask this question, “What would make this even better, even more perfect?” […]
When Can You Play the Perfection Game? Read More »
How do you feel about change: do you like what’s new or what works? Sometimes I like new things. I love to try new recipes—often with company! I’ll try new software without a second thought. I’ll try various processes for my own work, especially if I think I’ll get a throughput bump. I especially like
Do You Want What’s New or What Works? Read More »
I see the world as having plenty: plenty of interesting work, plenty of people, plenty of chocolate, plenty of everything. That’s the abundance mindset. Other people see the world more as a zero-sum game, where there is not enough of anything to go around. They need to grab what they want when they see it.
Do You Believe in Scarcity or Abundance? Read More »
I’m part of another group writing effort that’s just starting. We were using regular email, not a listserve to communicate. I got confused with all the emails because we didn’t use good email etiquette such as separating new topics into new threads. Because we didn’t have a list, I couldn’t apply rules/filters to make it
Do You Have Permission? Read More »
I was at a writing workshop last week. It was a fiction workshop, where I am still learning my craft. I still learn my non-fiction craft. However, my learning curve has flattened—I understand my writing voice and I find non-fiction easier to write for now. I am not as good at writing fiction yet. I
When Do You Suffer from Comparison-itis? Read More »
It’s Olympics time. And yes, it’s time again for “the thrill of victory and agony of defeat.” I watched that agony as an ice dancing couple fell during their performance. One second, they’re gliding along, looking as if they’re going to medal. The next second, they fell to the ice. They got to their feet—gracefully, I
Who Is in Your Corner? Read More »
I see a push-pull situation at many of my clients. On the one hand, the managers want adaptability—the ability to respond to changes. And, on the other hand, the managers want great (some say perfect) estimates and assurances that the project will proceed as planned. I don’t see how you can have both things: assurances/guarantees
How Do You Encourage Your Own Adaptability? Read More »
I was thinking about some of the changes my clients are considering. Most of them want to use agile approaches, all the way through the organization. A laudable goal because it will produce the business results they want to see. What’s the first thing people can do? Change their behavior. Not change their system. Not
What Behavior Can You Change? Read More »
A friend sent me a very long treatise about complexity. The author contends that we, as humans, have a confirmation bias towards complexity. I’m not linking to it because I found the writing too complex to read. I’m not going to inflict that on you. However, I do think the question is useful: are we
Are We Biased to the Simple or Complex? Read More »
We live in a world filled with constraints. Sometimes, those constraints are on where we can travel or be. Sometimes, those constraints are about our physical capabilities (such as my vertigo or my height). Many constraints we impose on ourselves or allow our organizations to impose on us. Often, we fight against those constraints inside our organizations,
When Do Constraints Help? Read More »