Prioritization
There two different times that we need to prioritize work and we should be using completely different approaches to that prioritization, for each stage.
The big rewrite
I remember once having two back-to-back clients who had just rewritten significant systems in their environment. I asked why they’d chosen to rewrite the system from scratch rather than just fixing them as they were.
Scouting rule
We often talk about the scouting rule of “always leave the campsite cleaner than you found it”, or in a software context “always leave the code a little bit better than you found it”.
Quality
The theme for this week seems to be quality so let’s look at some different aspects of that.
Improving learning with neuroscience and LEGO
In a training, the goal is to have people learn. That should be obvious and yet we frequently see sessions where people walk out, having been entertained, but not having learned anything.
Knowing when to Quit
In general, none of us are as good at decision making as we like to think we are. In particular, there is one mistake that we make frequently and that’s not recognizing when it’s time to quit.
Hero culture revisited
It’s fairly common to have a junior team of people, with one far more senior person leading them. This can be an effective way to grow skill across the org.
Mental Health and GenAI
I’m seeing more and more stories about people having mental health conversations with various GenAI tools.
Wait states
The metrics covered in our Flow Metrics Basics class show how to measure different aspects of flow, but those metrics don’t in themselves, show how to improve the flow. We’ll look at one way to improve now.
Playing the long game
If I was planning to disband my team this week and I only cared about what they could deliver in a couple of days then I’d be focused on making sure that everyone was doing that piece of work that they were most skilled at.