I’m continuing the experiment into 2024 for several reasons: If you want to write more, you don’t need to write a lot at one time. I discovered that even if I get to Thursday afternoon, I can always write 100 words. That helps me make progress on some item/work in progress. I started this experiment […]
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’m finishing the Project Lifecycles book. Last week, I realized I made several mistakes: It was past time to ask for people to write praise quotes. I had only asked men to write praise quotes. Neither of these was a disaster, but they were embarrassing. Especially since Bob Sutton had posted this, and I replied
When I saw the McKinsey report on “developer productivity,” I shuddered. First, that makes no sense in a collaborative team. Second, there’s no way to measure such a thing as developer productivity, despite what McKinsey says. (I’m not linking to the report, because the advice is so bad.) Then I read Lorin Hochstein’s brilliant assessment
Much of my LinkedIn and Twitter feeds have questionnaires with two or three choices. One of those choices contains the One Right Answer. All the other answers are Wrong. Or, a person poses a question that’s supposed to show that they—and they alone—know the answer to the question. (I ranted about one of those on
Some facts that make me a little sad: Social media is more and more splintered. Sites that used to be enjoyable became tolerable. Then, they became intolerable. Worse, the algorithms decide whose posts I should see and whose I should not. If you have not read any of Cory Doctorow’s writing about enshittification, I strongly
Warning: Rant ahead. Today, I received several chirpy, happy, perky emails from either connections or LinkedIn’s email. They all said essentially the same thing: “Hello, friend. What’s making you happy or successful today?” I hate these emails. Just hate them. They feel fake to me and worse, they bring out the grumpy in me. And
After I spoke with Chad and Jeff on the previous podcast, Deep Dive into Successful Independent Consulting with the Agile Wire, we spoke all about the idea of building products, starting with consulting-based products. See Building the Right Product with Johanna Rothman. Some of our discussion points: Consulting products: how to think about products for
I had a great time discussing Free Your Inner Nonfiction Writer with Mark Leslie Lefebvre on Episode 316 – Free Your Inner Non-Fiction Writer with Johanna Rothman. I met Mark back in 2017 when I attended an Anthology workshop from the nice folks at WMG Publishing. I sold two short stories at that workshop, my
I had a terrific time speaking with Jeff and Chad on the Agile Wire: Successful Independent Consulting with Johanna Rothman. (That’s the video link.) We discussed many things: Fees and why some clients want us to float their money and what to do instead. Marketing is an ongoing and continual activity Jeff has a hack