How to get rid of piles of paperwork

If you have a pile of paperwork that you think is valuable but you can’t quite fathom going through at this time, file it away in a manner that at least groups it based on what it’s about. Then wait a few months. Believe me if you don’t find a need for it in 3 months, 6 months or a…

Routinized retrospectives are worthless

There’s immense value in reflecting upon past work and finding ways to grow. However, when you build in a permanent, recurring checkpoint where reflection is mandated you won’t get much out of the process. Perhaps when you’re first building the habit of using a retrospective to improve, you want to pencil it in on a certain basis, at least to…

Moving beyond Agile and Waterfall… Lean, etc

In response to a post Why Agile isn’t the answer., I received a reply that contained: “We need a better name than specification for the what.” I’m not about to suggest that the person replying was asking that we create yet another blanket term like Agile, but I nonetheless responded that we don’t need a better name. The reason we…

How not to be overwhelmed with learning

Even with the internet at your fingertips, there’s no reason to be overwhelmed with learning. You’ll only be overwhelmed, with the endless opportunities to learn, if you don’t know what you want to–or can–become. And, there’s nothing wrong with not knowing what you want to become, and the subsequent exploratory learning. So long as you know you don’t know and…