I find that there are many ways to learn. I hope to provide some insight on the ways that I learn, share knowledge, and be a great community citizen to the web.
THE 5 W'S OF GIVING FEEDBACK
I am a person who is always looking for feedback, constructive criticism, and critique about my life, work, and abilities. This keeps me humble to grow, hungry to learn, and happy when the feedback helps. On the flipside, I am not shy about giving back in these mediums to others. I have distilled some core truths into the 5 W’s that must happen for the information one shares to be effective.
THE PURPOSE OF FEEDBACK
This was a poem I created a couple of years back around how we shape purpose in our lives. Feedback becomes an essential component. In the last few months, I really have been focused on getting clarity of purpose and have shared a lot of my thoughts to garner feedback. It has been a very healthy and productive exercise. Now when I read the words below, I am really encouraged that feedback is making me into a better person and one of purpose, leading a life that is of significance. Let me know after reading your thoughts on feedback and purpose and how they fit together.
COMMUNICATE YOUR VISION (UPDATED)
When was the last time you looked at the Vision, Mission, and Values of your company? Maybe you have them memorized and they come out in every part of your being. If so quit reading now. For the other 99.9999% of us keep reading as the vision definitely needs focused on. Dusting off the vision statement Read the most recent company vision statement. What grade would you give yourself on pursuing the vision? I must say when I did this, I didn’t get a high mark. It is one thing to have a vision out there, quite another to pursue it. Each employee should have the responsibility for understanding what that vision is, but the accountability of the visionary pursuit falls upon the leadership of the organization.
AVOIDING DEATH MARCHES ON SOFTWARE PROJECTS
The death march towards the release date has begun. The email just went out to ask for “volunteers” to put in a few extra hours this weekend to complete a couple rounds of testing before sending it over the wall for user testing. The project manager is trying to herd cats to get a complete status before the leadership team goes on “holiday”. The developers are questioning why leadership isn’t going to be in on the weekend and what does volunteer mean anyways. It will be frowned upon if they don’t show up.
SO YOU REALLY WANT TO TAKE A VACATION
The Christmas holiday season is upon us and people are taking time off to visit friends and family or just taking a well-deserved rest. The last thing that anyone wants on holiday is to be interrupted by work. However, for many of us, the connected world is just too darn connected and people tend to think we are always available. We see the “urgent” response required email and no matter if we try to put it off, it will nag us until we complete a response.
BOUNDARY MANAGEMENT
The project was already 1 week behind schedule according to the customer. I tried to find the humor in that assumption since the project was only 1 week old. Couldn’t they read the milestones and our current sprint plan? I could hear the voices in my head crafting up the blame game quips and quotes already. I mean really? Do you think the team has just been sitting around? I did my best form of Adam Sandler’s rendition of meditation in Anger Management and suddenly the true problem hit me.
30 DAYS OF INTENTIONAL LIVING - RECAP
My thirty days of intentional living posts are finished!
COMMITMENT IS IT'S OWN REWARD
Thirty days of writing a blog post series ends with the topic of commitment. I am truly humbled to make it to the finish line. There were a lot of obstacles such as weekends, Thanksgiving break, not feeling well, and mental blocks on what to write about. On a couple of occasions, I had this nagging voice saying “you gave it your best shot, so what if you miss a day.” I am glad that I didn’t listen to that advice.
DEFINE SUCCESS IN EVERYTHING
Over the last two months I have been working on an initiative to bring prioritization and clarity across an organization. I wish I could say I had success defined for this endeavor. Sadly, I didn’t crystalize what that would look like. However, all is not lost and it is never too late to take the step back and write down what success will look like. The most successful people I have been around are clear on the end outcomes. They envisioned what success looks like and focused intently on the journey to get to the outcome. Distractions were put aside, the noise was muffled, and momentum toward the goal escalated.
KINDNESS SHOULDN'T BE SEASONAL
This is the season I like best, as it tends to bring out the best in everyone. Little random acts of kindness are being done everywhere and by everyone, and I don’t think it is an accident. Why would this time of year be any different? It is because we intentionally recognize thankfulness and have a giving heart toward the holidays. Every day is full of opportunities for you to make a difference in others, even if it seems small. Yesterday, I opened a door for a lady with a box of books and helped a couple find hooks for their Christmas tree. They returned smiles and said thank you. However, the value I got out of it far outweighed the effort. I am not saying the only reason to be kind is so that you will get a benefit, but it just naturally happens.