A French writer bought Free Your Inner Nonfiction Writer and wasn’t sure what I meant by a “fieldstone.” He couldn’t find a translation that made sense to him. In Weinberg on Writing, Jerry explained fieldstones as a way to build a piece of writing, just like masons used blocks to build stone walls. The more […]
If you read this blog or my newsletter, you know I enjoy both nonfiction and fiction writing. I have a short story as part of the 2023 Holiday Spectacular: A Dreidel Ball Miracle. Copyright © 2023 by Johanna Rothman The week is over, so the only way to see this story now is to participate
This week’s WIP is a holiday romance short story. (With any luck.) The transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is 60 Seconds of Johanna’s WIP for December 7, 2023, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress. This excerpt is from a feel-good holiday short story. The late November
In How Centralization Decisions Create Friction, Increase Cycle Time, and Cost Money, Part 1, I discussed how removing support staff for departments and managers created longer cycle times. (And sometimes, increased friction so much that people could not easily do their jobs.) Removing those support staff was one indication the companies fell into the Economies
In the first post, How Centralization Decisions Create Friction, Increase Cycle Time, and Cost Money, Part 1, I explained how centralizing even relatively small decisions to centralize has high costs. Why do organizations centralize? To supposedly capitalize on “economies of scale.” That’s the problem of understanding the cost of work—but not the value of that
Yes, you might remember this character from a previous week. I don’t just cycle on my nonfiction. I also cycle on my fiction. The transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is 60 Seconds of Johanna’s WIP for November 30, 2023, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress.
Some company is buying your company (or vice versa). Why? They claim it’s “Economies of scale,” and the combined organization will save money by centralizing “overhead” and flattening management. You know who that “overhead” is: the people who support the business, such as finance and HR. And, the managers. Worse, the new management asks managers
Recently, a newish site asked me to become part of their “editorial board.” They didn’t say what the responsibilities were, so I asked. The reply: Spend five hours a month in meetings (roughly an hour each week). Write a new, unique column each month. I asked what I would get in return. Nothing. No payment
I have a new book: Project Lifecycles: How to Reduce Risks, Release Successful Products, and Increase Agility. I wrote it because I’m concerned about what I see in too many supposedly agile teams: Crazy-long backlogs and roadmaps. Those create a serial lifecycle approach with too little experimentation. Worse, sometimes the team doesn’t demo or deliver.
I’m a little slow this week, but I made it! If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope your day was lovely. Now, for the WIP: The transcription: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is 60 Seconds of Johanna’s WIP for November 24, 2023, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress.