Mar 14, 2021Succession and SuccessFor the last couple of weeks I’ve been talking in YouTube videos and using ecological metaphors — such as swamps. During the week this week, I thought, based on the idea that a little knowledge is a fabulous thing, that I’d do a bit of reading about ecology, so I…Agile2 min readAgile2 min read
Oct 25, 2020What do you do with the blockers you can’t remove (and the ones you don’t even know about)?In Scrum, you’re supposed to use the iterative process to identify blockers and impediments — things that are stopping the development team from doing what they’re being asked to do. There’s a meeting every day — the stand-up — where these can be raised. And there’s a longer meeting every…Agile3 min readAgile3 min read
Aug 9, 2020Little AcornsCustomer Charlie is a product manager at the Alternative Cake Company. Charlie has had an idea for a cake made with a novel flour. Flour from edible Mediterranean acorns (safety warning, edible acorns exists, but only in countries around the Mediterranean, the ones you would probably find in a park…Agile Methodology7 min readAgile Methodology7 min read
Jul 28, 2020Dancing (on the wrong side) of the finishing lineHere’s a weird contradiction. But I’ve noticed it more than once. The people who say they really want the project, start to lose their nerve when it looks like it will be delivered. Why? I think the answer is something to do with the Cynefin framework https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin_framework . Cynefin means…Cynefin Framework3 min readCynefin Framework3 min read
Jul 27, 2020Sooner or later someone has to say “fuck it.”I’ve known this for years. But like a lot of contradictions, I’ve noticed it, avoided it, carried on as if I haven’t seen it. This is just the plain truth. How much a project is going to take and valuable it’s going to be, there’s a substantial degree to which…Gambling3 min readGambling3 min read
Jul 26, 2020Remain comfortable in the state of highest tensionIf you’ve embarked on this journey of managing projects, you might do well to read and re-read “Zen in the Art of Archery” by Eugen Herrigel. Why? There are a lot of things in that short book that echo through the business of managing projects. This is going to sound…Archery4 min readArchery4 min read
Jul 24, 2020No Foam Isn’t an OptionI made this note a couple of days ago. Foam is natural. Foam exists. Foam is a solid that’s made out of liquid and air. Foam shouldn’t exist. Well, in one view of the world, that thinks things should be what we think they are, foam shouldn’t exist. But foam…Project Management3 min readProject Management3 min read
Jul 22, 2020And breathe inNow that I’ve been trying to write every day for a month, I’ve come to realise something that should have been obvious. Any strategy that involves just breathing out is going to encounter problems. At some point, you need to take a breath and breathe in. I think I’m getting…Project Management3 min readProject Management3 min read
Jul 21, 2020Staring at the SunA lot of what I’ve been writing over the last four weeks or so has been about trying to identify contradictions. But of course, the hardest contradictions to identify are the ones in yourself, in your own thinking and in your own behaviour. Here are some of the ways that…Project Management3 min readProject Management3 min read
Jul 19, 2020What software can’t eatI haven’t written anything for a while. OK, several days. The main reason is that, after writing a piece about how software can solve all the problems that can be solved, my computer crashed. Actually, I’ve got to own, up, I crashed my computer. I was pathetically excited at the…Project Management4 min readProject Management4 min read
