I’m curious about many things. I bet you are, too. I’m curious about how people make choices, what they see as options, what they choose to measure. I’m curious about how things work. I feel as if the world has so much variety and my biggest choice is how to sample all the wondrous things […]
How Do You Feed Your Curiosity? Read More »
I made a big mistake the other night. I was doing maintenance on my mailing lists. I was quite excited about deleting people who were no longer valid subscribers. I deleted too many people and screwed up the Create Adaptable Life mailing list. I fixed it, and that got me thinking about several things: I am
When Do You Stop Working for the Day? Read More »
A colleague sent me an email this morning. She had read Agile and Lean Program Management, and especially liked the section called “Potentially Useful Practices.” She told me she thought of them as “pup”s and was going to use that idea for a talk she was developing. She talked about cute puppies—which one was a
When Are You Serious? Read More »
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 »
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
What Do You Care What Other People Think? Read More »
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 »
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 »