Mark and I watched Money Monster last weekend. One of the characters asked, “When is it your call?” (No, I don’t remember who or the total context. It was about the responsibility of recommending stocks to people.) The idea was “When is it your responsibility?” I got to thinking about who makes which calls about
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This time of year, I see signs, “Please do not touch the tree.” There are plenty of signs that say, “Please do not….” I often wonder this: Why not ask for the behavior you want? I understand that the owners/people in charge want us to not do something. I’m a little contrary, especially when it comes
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I had several experiences in the past weeks: requests to write and speak as a consultant. And, a fascinating doctor problem. I’ll start with requests for my expertise. When I receive requests for my expertise (writing, speaking, reviewing, consulting), I evaluate those requests with certain guideposts: what fits my values and interests. What do I
What Guideposts Do You Use? Read More »
I want to improve at many things: my exercise, my writing, my teaching, just to name three. When I reflect back on my progress—or lack thereof—I ask myself if I’m doing my part. Wanting is not enough. I have to do my part. Sometimes, my part is to show up and do the work. (See
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I’ve been working on several things these weeks, slowly moving them to done. I have workshops for Agile 2016, books in progress, monthly columns, and my non-fiction writing. As I reviewed previous workshop designs, I realized I’m a lot better at designing workshops than I was, say, ten years ago. Since I’m in a huge
How Are You Better or Worse? Read More »
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
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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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
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 »
I saw the movie Nashville this past weekend. Somehow, I missed it when it came out back in 1975. The movie’s premise is: It’s difficult to live an authentic, congruent life. Beware of people selling easy solutions. There are no easy solutions. We may have to change to get what we really want. I often
When Is It Time for You Adapt to Something New? Read More »