constraints Archives - Create An Adaptable Life

How Do We Plan for Both Cascading Effects and Catastrophic Success?

Leave a Comment / newsletter / By Johanna

CAL Newsletter: How Do We Plan for Both Cascading Effects and Catastrophic Success? I learned new words this week for events I’ve seen many times: catastrophic effects and catastrophic success. I’m sure you’ve experienced catastrophic failure. Here’s an example that’s happened to me too often over my career: a disk drive fails, taking all my data with it. I …

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How Do You Judge How Good Something Is?

Leave a Comment / question of the week / By Johanna

I’ve been shopping for a dress to wear to my younger daughter’s wedding. (I’ll call her YD because that’s definitely not her name.) I have many criteria for a dress. Aside from flattering me, the dress has to work with my rollator. That means the dress can’t be chiffon. At OD’s (Older Daughter) wedding, I …

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Do You Offer Your Attention to People Who Deserve It?

1 Comment / question of the week / By Johanna

I spoke with a treasured colleague, Alex, a couple of weeks ago. He told me he was so busy he couldn’t “find” the time to write. I asked about his family and the house. No, everyone’s okay. Cooking, cleaning, kids—all good. He’s not working out any more than usual. I then asked this question: “How …

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Do You Need to Focus or Harness Your Energy?

2 Comments / newsletter / By Johanna

A colleague worries that his team wants to change too much about how they work, all at once. He said, “They have 47 ideas that they want to use, to change how they work.” I said, “47 seems like a lot.” He nodded. “I suspect there are 46 too many for now.” After we both …

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How Can You Use Your Projected Last Moment to Create a Great Present Moment?

Leave a Comment / question of the week / By Johanna

When I was a kid, I went to summer camp. I loved it. In the last week, I would say to myself, “This is the last Monday. How can I make this my best Monday?” I decided on one thing and did that. Those last weeks were my best weeks. A couple of years went …

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When Can You Recognize and Avoid the Trap of Either/Or Thinking?

5 Comments / question of the week / By Johanna

I hear a lot of “either/or” language in work situations: We “must” do this thing. Here’s an example: We’re not agile if we don’t do some practice, such as standups. We “cannot” do exactly the same thing. We can’t do that practice, such as standups, and be agile. I hear either/or language in personal situations, too: …

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How Can You Be the Best Version of Yourself?

1 Comment / question of the week / By Johanna

Have you ever received feedback that said you could do so much better? In school, many of my teachers decided I underperformed. I could do more and better. I never quite understood how those people could see inside my head. How could they read my mind? (You might like Secrets to Catch Yourself Mind-Reading.) I …

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How Can You Encourage Bravery Today?

1 Comment / question of the week / By Johanna

How often do you feel courageous? I don’t wake up in the morning and say, “Today, I’ll be courageous.” No, it doesn’t work that way for me. As I discover ways to work and live that fit for me, I write about them. I don’t expect other people will work or live in the same …

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How Do We Reconcile a Person’s Professional Contributions with Their Personal Behaviors?

2 Comments / question of the week / By Johanna

Every community contains “messy” humans. We are all imperfect in many ways. Too often, we show these imperfections in our communities. That’s when our professional contributions collide with our personal messiness. Let me confess right now: I am not perfect. At all. I have a healthy ego. I often wonder when my ego crosses the …

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When Can You See You Have an Unsustainable Pace?

Leave a Comment / question of the week / By Johanna

I have not created or maintained a sustainable pace this week. I’m finishing books. I discovered my checklists now miss some steps. I’ve been working too early and too late. Sustainable pace? Not right now. Under normal circumstances, I use these tactics: Start work at roughly the same time every day. Stop work at roughly the …

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