Articles for category: Initiative

April 24, 2025

Greg Thomas

The Final Test

The Last Test is the one that will determine your future. It’s not the last test, because now you have to take another one. And that won’t be the last one either. There is never a last test, only the next test. And after the Next Test, you want to push for there to be another one, because that’s how you keep moving forward.

April 18, 2025

Greg Thomas

But who Owns it?

A random message goes out on Teams – “Who can help me with this?” Crickets. No one can. Or everyone can. But no one knows who owns it, so no one knows whether they should work on it. So no one puts their hand up. The subject line of the follow-up meeting is “Do I own this?” If the answer is yes, great, if the answer is no, great. But now we all know.

April 18, 2025

Greg Thomas

Speaking Over Each Other

I think one of the downfalls of remote work is that we don’t always feel like we are being heard enough. The “Hand Raise” icons aren’t enough. And our immediate response is then to speak over each other, continually over and over again. As a result, the usefulness of our meetings declines because there is no more direction toward solving an issue, we only want to hear ourselves being heard. The question then becomes how to do we ensure that everyone will always be heard and give them the proper opportunity to speak. You create a goal, you create an

April 17, 2025

Greg Thomas

Explain your Policies

A few months ago, I made a reservation (I was incredibly proud because I generally don’t do this and prefer to fly in and hope for the best). But I made the reservation and had hoped to show up, be seated, and enjoy my meal. As it turns out, the reservation policy had changed and I had not reserved a spot but instead had reserved to have my wait time cut in half from 45 minutes to 25 minutes (not quite half but that’s okay). Around 27 minutes we got our table (I timed it only because I had 25

April 16, 2025

Greg Thomas

Always the First

I’m install code on linux, running on a Chromebook. I have never programmed on my Chromebook. I have never run commands on Linux. I have no idea what I’m doing. It’s a bunch of firsts that I’m bumbling and stumbling through. And it feels great.