While I’m an extrovert (words just come out of my mouth sometimes), I’m not always comfortable speaking with people I don’t yet know. However, I want to make a real connection with other people. It doesn’t matter if I’m writing, speaking, or networking. I still want that real connection. I use stories and examples to […]
I’m at the Much Ado About Agile conference this week, in beautiful Vancouver. During lunch one day, one of the conference participants started talking about premature optimization of code. Well, I know a few things about that. When I started to work professionally as a developer, I wrote in assembly language. We had 256 bytes
Jurgen asked me to help publicize his survey. Ok, I’ve done it. Now, let me rant about explain why I think surveys like this are not useful, and may be harmful. A survey does not take your context into account. Surveys about any practices without considering the industry, the products, and the management don’t tell
When I teach coaching or feedback skills, I teach them in the context of work. At work, as long as the feedback is about the work, or the work relationships, or it’s a question of safety, feedback is appropriate. Coaching, as long as it’s about work behavior is appropriate. But a funny thing happened to
On the long weekends, Mark and I make a concerted effort to clean up the house. That means I have to address all my little piles: go through them, recycle what I can, throw out what can’t be recycled, file others, figure out what to do with the rest. While Mark was helping me bring
I’ve been writing pieces of the project portfolio book, and was wondering how to explain how managers get caught in the trap of having too many projects. Then I read Joe Ely’s Minimizing Work-in-Process for Knowledge Workers, and had an “aha” moment. (Well, I think I did. You let me know.) For many managers (and
There’s an car dealership advertising a multiple-point certification for pre-owned vehicles. To me that translates into “checklist for used cars.” That’s what a certification for people based on book knowledge is also–a checklist that a person knew the right answer. Nothing about the experience or if the experience that led to that knowledge was successful.
I’m not a purist. I use whatever tools make sense for the context I’m in, and when it comes to organizing projects, I use whatever life cycles–in whatever combination–make sense to me. In response to a mailing list query, here are ways I’ve used life cycles for a few projects. Let’s assume you’re collaborating with
Last week, at Agile 2007, I had a fascinating conversation about geography/directions with a colleague. I explained that I needed to visit someplace and walk or drive around until I really understood where everything was. He said, “Oh, you think in postcards.” I can read a map, and write down directions. It all makes
I’m an assertive, bold, blunt, and direct person. I try to live within the bureaucracies I encounter, but I don’t always succeed. I’m at SD West this week, where I did a half-day tutorial Monday and am presenting two classes (really talks) today. Before I speak/teach/consult, I like to eat a real breakfast, so