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.
THIRST QUENCHERS - 2025-04-21
Creative Hacks: Scott Berkun Author: Scott Berkun - Creative Mornings Seattle A Video that talks about Combinations, Constraints, Environments, and more that we can rethink to be more creative. This talk was from over 10 years ago, but is still relative today. I have known and followed Scott throughout many years. I am always a fan of his insights and was surprised that I didn’t see this before from Creative Mornings.
PRIORITY
We can’t get away from prioritization. My time to write this post is based upon my time prioritization, for instance. We prioritize based upon: Data - Prioritizing next steps based upon the data that we analyze Emotions - How we feel determines priority. Directed - This is out of our control. Companies that we work for for instance, establish priority that their employees work on. When we think about priority, let’s remember the following:
GOOD
Today is recognized around the world as Good Friday! Sometimes we may be confused by why something would be considered good. Is it good for us? Is it good for others? Even though I don’t see fruit yet, is the work good? When in Japan a few weeks ago, there was a lot of excitement for the cherry blossom. It has such beauty. And then it falls off the tree. Later it produces an amazing fruit. That is goodness at many different levels.
SIMPLE THINGS
In my mind, simplicity can be a very hard thing to achieve. Writing this post is a great example. I am thinking about all of the “pre-work or pre-thought” that I must do for the post to be successful. My problem is I didn’t determine success or have a grandiose idea of what that would look like. Seth Godin has been blogging for years. He has built knowledge and wisdom through short posts.
THIRST QUENCHERS - 2025-04-13
Coaching Author: J.D. Meier I reached out to J.D. one day, when I worked at Microsoft. I had read a blog post by someone else about looking for a coach. Fortunately, good advice prepared me well for an informational. 30 minutes turned into an hour plus of gaining wisdom. If you don’t have a coach or mentor, learn about coaching here. There are like 3 or 4 more posts also, where J.D. freely shares knowledge. Definitely stuff to learn from a proven strategic leader.
THIRST QUENCHERS - 2025-04-06
API Governance: What does that mean Author: Kin Lane I really liked this as a small thought-provoking exercise. As I get older, I am asking for more definitions in everyday conversations. The key takeaway for me on this one was leadership only willing to govern one area, but not the whole. Sounds a lot like most software engineering where there are segregated roles. Codegen workflows Author: Harper Reed Martin Fowler boosted this on Mastodon so I took a peek. I am glad I did. I am really starting to see how using LLMs for design becomes a game changer.
THIRST QUENCHERS - 2025-03-30
AI Coding Impacts Author: Martin Fowler This article has put into words what has been bothering me. Impacts of the code generated for maintainability. Like anything else, not everything is should just be taken at face value. It has been easier to tell when the code being written is generated. If you can’t explain it, that may be a problem. Christian Conversations with Unemployment Situations Author: Joe Carter I found this pretty helpful in that too often we have the superficial statements to people going through hardships. In today’s world, we need to be open to deeper exploration and support to those who are facing employment challenges. I also especially liked how we need to change messages when teaching about success in God’s Kingdom.
OH THE PLACES YOU WILL GO
Building great teams never stops. It requires, commitment, effort, and energy from people with diverse viewpoints, backgrounds, and skills. Learning from history, transparency in all forms of communication, ruthless execution towards the goal with postive attitudes and a collaborate selfless mindset contribute to a culture that is going PLACES: Planning for short, medium, and long term success as a team Learning each day, sharing value with others Attitudes are always positive, acknowledging the best in others
HOW TO AVOID THE BUS
It was a serene Wednesday at the office when Grace shared with Mike her next chapter outside the company, marking the calendar with a two-week notice. Grace wasn’t just a cog in the machine; she was the architect behind pivotal projects, notably the transition to a new CRM software system. Her servant leadership and track record of success were the catalysts for her colleagues’ drive and ambition. After two decades, her wealth of knowledge was set to depart from the company’s embrace.
THE VALUE OF A PERSONAL STATUS REPORT
Welcome to the new year team. We are going to do great things. We need to be more transparent. We are working on larger projects. Multiple dependencies, teams, and timelines are going to be coming at us quickly. What do we need? “An amazing status report from each of you every Friday.” You can see the thoughts going off like the New Years fireworks exploding in the neighborhood: I think it must be a new years resolution We are now doing “TPS” reports? This is micro managing. I don’t have time for this. Maybe if the people that care would just attend the standup meetings we wouldn’t be doing this. Personal Status Reports are valuable This is the opportunity for the person writing the status report to shine. Every time the report is crafted, it can showcase the planning, communication, and execution which happened in the past. It gives a vision into the next week plan. Bottlenecks, blocking issues, or impediments are identified so that support can be given.