A very common question: managers turn to me and say, "My team lacks a sense of urgency, how can I give them one?" After I get over the snarky replies — I come from a long line of "the managed" — I do have what I think is an answer: "Study the idea of RAMPS, […]
A Sense Of Urgency: RAMPS As A Motivation Model Read More »
So, a friend asked me to say more about "not pairing". As so often, it triggered me to muse. Sometimes I need to not pair. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love pairing. I love it for three reasons. It makes me a better geek. That is, I learn from pairing. Pairing makes two geeks
When I Need to Not Pair Read More »
I am done with "technical debt" as a useful concept. As so often happens, an appealing idea happened, one with useful connections to the concrete, and we took it and ran with it. Unfortunately, that idea has more appeal than it does decision-making value. Folks justify the most ridiculous nonsense and put it under the
Done With “Technical Debt” Read More »
There’s a lot of internet out there about meetings. Sturgeon’s law applies here. There’s some good advice, tho, too. Where I come from’s different. What I see, as with so many other topics, is how hard we try to fix problems our assumptions created. There are a lot different ends to which folks want to
Optimize Collaboration, Not Meetings Read More »
I find 4 major failings in both how & what we teach in geekery. We mostly don’t. That is, actual teaching of actual geekery-for-a-living is almost non-existent. We suffer in attitude & content & structure from the trivially flawed “information transfer” view of what teaching & learning is. We purport to more knowledge than we
On Pedagogy In The Geek Trades Read More »
Let’s review "reversible raincoat tests." Sometimes, we build systems in which a downstream collaborator must interface with an upstream one. The two apps are by separate teams, on separate servers, developed at separate times, and still both in development. A reversible raincoat test is a script with two sides. Think in terms of a literal
Reversible Raincoat Tests Read More »
Yesterday I mused about explanation privileging, where one always reaches for one ring to rule them all in their explanations of behavior. This morning I am thinking about the reasons that happens. Don’t be alarmed, i’m not gonna suggest there’s just one reason for it every time it happens, i’m circular, every argument is circular,
On One Ring To Rule Them All? Read More »
Still feeling it, so, a sidebar on choosing which coaching stories to work… I was raised in XP, and as such, I imbibed the concept of "most important story" heavily. When I’d show up at these shops, I’d be replete with the wonder of myself, and I’d look out on the horizon of broken things,
Choosing A Coaching Story To Work Read More »
I’m thinking of this thing called "justifcation privileging," or alternatively "explanation monism". Or even, short hand and jokily, "one ring to rule them all." One constantly sees tweets, blogs, even books, where someone boils down staggeringly complex and ill-understood processes to one factor. Today I saw "people don’t make decisions rationally, they make them emotionally."
Why Do We Seek One Ring To Rule Them All? Read More »
I can’t over-emphasize for new coaches the importance of rampant opportunism. Until you’ve established your miracle powers in a team, you won’t be able to move big levers, only small ones. Which small levers will bring you the biggest bang of trust & faith the fastest? Some possible openings: we find a bug that’s an
The First Coaching Days Read More »
