Posts

Quoting Dr. Jim Loehr: Engament = Time x Energy

Another golden nugget from The Knowledge Project podcast in episode  Dr. Jim Loehr: Change The Stories You Tell Yourself [The Knowledge Project Ep. #193] : time only has value in its intersection with energy or how I have it memorized: time has no value without energy . And how I picture it: one hour on the couch has not the same value as one hour studying or exercising. And this becomes even more important when we consider our relationship with others. Dr. Jim Loehr continues (emphasis mine): Well, I will tell you, time has no value, has no valence, has no force. Until time intersects with energy, you really have nothing.” I mean, you’re just there. You can be present with your family, but because you’re there, is that going to move the needle toward being a loving, caring mother or father? And the fact is no; you’re going to have to invest energy aligned with the mission. Time doesn’t give you anything except the opportunity to make the investment of the one thing that moves the...
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A note to self: good process/bad process

John Cutler has been posting some supremely interesting content on LinkedIn recently, and I felt I had to save it somewhere for finding it more easily later. This is one is about attributes of good and bad process: Good Process Encourages mindfulness. Flexible to local concerns. Adaptable, frequently challenged/improved. Mostly "pulled" because it is valuable. Core principles understood. Encourages conversations/collaboration. Co-created/designed with "users." Value to all participants. Increases confidence in outcomes. Distilled to core "job" (lightweight). Achieves desired consistency with minimal impact on resiliency. Improves global outcomes. Delivers value to end-customers. Guide/tool/navigate/remind. Enhances trust/safety. Bad Process Encourages mindlessness. Inflexible to local concerns. Set in stone. "Just because..." Mostly "pushed" onto participants. Automatic/forced adherence. Reduces quality/quantity of conversations. Desi...
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Things will get worse before they get better, or why most process improvement fails

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One of the things I always tell to those who come to seeking advice on a process improvement is the following: prepare for the inevitable downturn: things will get better in the short term, but then something bad will happen and things will get much worse than they are now. This is ok, and totally expected. Be prepared for it, know that the only way forward is through and then things will really get better. Then I usually draw this curve in the air with my hands: Most people stop at the first downturn, and that why most process improvements fail. Enough failures and people stop believing in any improvement at all, creating a death spiral. Another way to look at this is to think about is described in Gary Gruver's book A Practical Approach to Large-Scale Agile Development : [...] after you have chosen an approach you don't need to worry about getting the advantages of that design because it will come naturally. Where you need to provide management focus is on addressing the dis...
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Buffett on bad news

Besides Entropy , the Buffett/Munger duo is another rabbit hole I find myself going down into often in these last days of the Xmas break. I liked this quote in particular: We can handle bad news, but we don't like them late
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On Entropy

Technical Debt is Entropy In Software  (via lobste.rs ) made me run dow a rabbit hole of Entropy/Second Law of Thermodynamics. Youtube is full of videos on the topic. This  by Sabine Hossenfelder is one is the most clear and practical explanations I found so far. Another one is this interview with Stephen Wolfram .
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On Quantity

A few years ago I told my therapist that I felt conflicted about thinking about work when I was not at work. For example, while doing the dishes, being at the park with the kids, or riding the bike with them. As my therapist encouraged me to do ( what is the question? he would patiently ask when I would share a statement without a question), I then asked him: "Does that make me a bad father or husband?" What he said next, had a huge impact on how I felt about some of my actions. He asked me back: what is the one universal attribute that can make anything good or bad? I gave up after a solid 5 minutes, and then he revealed the answer to me: it's quantity. How much are you thinking about work? All the time, or every once in a while, when idling? Do you feel that it's so much that you are neglecting something or someone else more important (including myself)? It's like chocolate, he continued: one spoon is ok, the whole jar not quite. Or wine: a glass is probably fi...
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How to improve quality of your life

“The quality of your relationships determines the quality of your life.” Pick your work colleagues and culture wisely. One third of your awake time is spent at work.
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