Nothing ever works the first time. New ideas stumble over the finish line the first time, and once there, will probably need some help to get ready for the next race. The Unproven ideas, or even the “Not Proven Here” ideas, are the ones with the greatest Naysayers because they are rooted in change. Changing what you do. Changing what the team does. Feeling uncomfortable. Challenging the Unknown. That’s what Naysayers do, they don’t talk…
There are times when critique is needed and times when it serves no value. First Day on the job? Give them a chance, everyone screws up. Second Day on the job? Where were you on your second day? Third week on the job? Are they learning and still trying? Would you critique a fireperson’s use of a hose as they are in the middle of putting out the fire? Definitely not, they got the fire…
There is no alternative to building a rock garden but to do the hard work and gather rocks. It’s simply how it works: you go, you get rocks, and you build a garden. There is no way to hack it, hustle it, AI it or amplify it. You collect rocks, you tweak them over and over again, trying to find the perfect fit until you have something resembling a garden. If I’m building a log…
I’m still trying to figure out my mission. I have dabbled in many areas, all that I love, and I have yet to find the string that pulls them together. I know it’s there, hiding in the shadows, just waiting to be tugged at, where everything all falls into line like a perfectly tuned orchestra. But I’m not there yet (not sure if I will ever be). So every now and again, to see if…
Between May and July is bug season. If you haven’t finished your outside work by then, it’s not getting started until August. Factors outside of your control now control your work. Bugs are everywhere and they drive what we do, even if they are completely unrelated to it.