Up until a few months ago, my office was a disaster. I had a ton of old data: Paper in reverse chronological order on surfaces (most recent on top). Printed articles to read. Notes from previous workshops I wanted to integrate when I updated those workshops. Over the past year, as I realized the pandemic …
How to Assess the Value of Old Data and Its Effect on Aging Read More »
Tim, the Engineering VP, was worried he would lose people after their reviews and salary changes. He didn’t have enough money to pay the salaries he thought everyone deserved. He’d fought with his fellow VPs for more money, but that didn’t work. He had a too-small pot of money to distribute. He had these problems: …
Leadership Tip 17: Consciously Choose How You Optimize the Salary Money Read More »
Dan, a CIO, needs the teams to work faster. The customers are moving away from the company’s products. If they can recapture the customers, the company will succeed. If not? Layoffs loom. Dan demands the teams start more work. And he demands they finish the work faster than the teams think they can. Even when …
Practice Congruence to Create an Effective Culture Read More »
Here’s a scenario I see in all kinds of businesses. Your team has product-focused work. And, the team also has “fast” response-required, ad hoc work: Production support, when something breaks. You need to fix this right away. Provide technical support when people have questions. The team needs to answer these questions on a “timely” basis. …
Manage Interruptions with Defensive Project Portfolio Management Read More »
There was a Twitter discussion about XP not having crossed the chasm. Someone Lula Rodrigues posted this wonderful Kent Beck talk about that here: https://www.agilealliance.org/resources/videos/xp-as-an-incentive-system-kent-beck-xp-2018/. Lots of great insights. Watch all of it, including the Q&A at the end. Early in the video, Kent discusses the all-too-frequent sexism and racism I also see in tech. …
Why Aren’t We Better at XP (or Almost Anything)? “Stop Making It Harder” Read More »
Thinking about bringing your writing skills to the next level? Want to write and finish? You can. You can learn what works for you. Enroll in my Q1 2022 Writing Workshop 1: Free Your Inner Writer & Sell Your Nonfiction Ideas. You write. I support you with personal feedback on your writing. In addition, we …
Free Your Inner Writer Q1 2022 Writing Workshop Registration Open Read More »
All decisions are a form of power. We exercise our personal power (power within) in many ways: when we decide where to live, what to wear, and what to eat. Not only that, we also choose our jobs, who we vote for, and where to go on vacation. We have a ton of personal power. …
Leadership Tip 16: Decide When to Choose Power-With or Power-Over Read More »
Daniel Vacanti and Prateek Singh graciously invited* me to be on an episode of Drunk Agile: Episode 37 Johanna Rothman Part Deux More Bigger Aging. (*Invited is their term. I sent them an email, politely demanding they discuss aging. Is it possible to politely demand? I tried. Only they can tell you if I was …
The good news is most sites realize we, the users, need nudges to create strong passwords. The bad news is too many of those nudges reject strong passwords from password managers. (I use and am happy with 1Password.) Worse, too many sites still ask horrible, terrible security questions instead of asking for two-factor authentication. Your …
Many organizations ask teams to forecast when the team can deliver a feature. (Or finish a project.) That request often means the teams spend a ton of time forecasting, not delivering. Instead, what if managers told the team when the managers want to make a decision? The team could deliver enough to help the managers …
Use Decision Deadlines to Plan for Product Deliverables Read More »