The gas company has been replacing gas mains in my neighborhood for the last few weeks. They’re not done. At 7am this morning, the gas main replacement guys dumped a big pile of dirt in front of our house, right outside my office window. The walk you see on the left is the walk from […]
I was at a conference last week. There was a panel about women in technology. Of course, I went. I heard several concerning stories. One woman said something like this: “My previous husband was concerned when I went out for dinner with professional colleagues. He was concerned I was “seeing” other men.“ Note that she
What Holds Us Back? Read More »
Given that I’ve published so much, I meet people who say, “I want to write. But, I need to wait for a good time to write.” Or, they say they need an outline or permission from someone—a boss or a spouse. I can be pretty sure about one thing: these people will never write anything. The
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Richard Feynman, a physicist, wrote a terrific book, What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character. If you have not read it, I recommend it. Let me pull apart the title a little. There are several questions here: What do other people think, especially about you? What implications do their
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I’ve been thinking about support these last few weeks. I have found support networks quite helpful, both for my emotional and physical needs. Some people don’t want support. If you try to help them, you inflict help. Sometimes, I don’t want support either. When I lean on a door to open it, I use my
How Much Support Do You Want or Need? Read More »
In Jerry Weinberg’s Secrets of Consulting, he talks about becoming “pickled.” When you’re a consultant, the value you bring is that you are outside the environment. You have an external perspective. If you stay with just one client long enough, it’s as if you are a cucumber in a barrel of pickles. You can’t help but
I start new things all the time. I mostly finish them. Some, I decide to put aside until I am ready or not as busy, so I can manage the risks. I often find that the things I put aside are the audacious ideas. The ideas that are highly risky, or will take some learning,
What’s Your Audacious Idea? Read More »
In the agile community, we have a saying, “Fail fast.” It means we are supposed to feel safe to fail, and that we want to fail fast so we can use that learning to iterate on the requirements. We have opportunities to improve. I like the idea that it’s safe to fail. No one berates
Are You Failing Fast or Learning Early? Read More »
When bad things occur, we often want to blame others for the problem. Blame is comforting in the moment and not useful over time. I had a conversation the other day with a manager whose team is trying to use agile. “They’re not using continuous integration. They’re not testing enough. I don’t know what to
I’m teaching a writing workshop. Writers have all kinds of problems. A common problem is the feeling of Imposter Syndrome. “Who am I to write this? Will anyone believe me? Is it valuable?” Imposter Syndrome arises when you think you’re not capable. Or, that your success arose from luck, not your hard work. There’s a
How Confident Are You? Read More »