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 […]
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 have a love-hate relationship with my physical therapy. I love the exercises. I like my therapist. I can see my progress. I hate the building. Hate, hate, hate it. There are three levels of parking. Only one level has a ramp. On that level, there are about eight handicapped spaces. That number of handicapped
Are You Whining or Problem-Solving? Read More »
In skiing, the fastest way down the hill is a primary fall line. Every hill might have more than one fall line. If you rolled a ball down the hill, it might go more to the right or more to the left, depending on where you start, the angle you face, and how fast you
Where Are Your Fall Lines? Read More »
I’ve been traveling a lot lately. My rollator and I are seeing the world. One question I hear a lot is “May I help you?” That question is often followed by someone grabbing the top bar of my rollator to “help” me up a ramp, or yanking the rollator open instead of using the easy-to-flip
What Do You Assume? Read More »
We get into trouble. Sometimes, it’s as simple as turning the wrong way, not following the driving directions. I have funny stories about when I took my daughters college-shopping. I always made at least one wrong turn. My wrong turns occurred before phones had GPS and automated directions. We had paper. I bet most of us
Who Do You Think Saves You? Read More »
Do you have gnarly problems to solve? Gnarly problems have many causes and many effects. Some causes can become effects, especially if there are delays in the situation. Sometimes there are time delays built-in. You can’t think about the problem as a straight line, in a linear fashion. The problems bounce off each other. They have a
Do You Have a Gnarly Problem? Read More »
I was speaking with a coaching client the other week. We were talking about all of her responsibilities. She talked, I wrote. I’d written a half-page of responsibilities, some of them tactical, some of them strategic. I asked, “What else are you doing?” She paused, and said, “I think there’s more, but I have to
Are You Taking Time to Think? Read More »
We are still learning the ins and outs of our new house, including the HVAC system. We have a nifty heat pump system. Now, I know what you are thinking, because I thought it, too. “You live in New England, Johanna. A heat pump? What are you thinking?” We have backup radiators for when the
Where Is the Manual? Read More »
Last week, I had a chance to talk at Boston SPIN. I’ve been involved at Boston SPIN for more than 20 years. So, speaking in front of a home-town crowd is a great thing. I had a chance to try my new version of my Creating An Adaptable Life talk. (The link goes to my
Do You Have Something to Share? Read More »