challenge – Page 2

Teaming in 2019 vs. 2020 vs. 2021

Get fucking vaccinated.

(I may lose friends.) (I am ready.)

My thesis here adds the notion of how it improves team bonding now that the COVID-19 vaccine is more available, but don’t kid yourself: this is my using whatever platform I think I have to…

I shouldn’t kid myself: I don’t foresee this changing anybody’s mind: you’re either vax’d (“benefits outweigh risks”), medically advised to not do so (“risks outweigh benefits”), or straight up conspiratorial (insert bullshit rationale here). So like the rest of this blog, this is for me, now channeling, hopefully constructively, any rage I have around this issue as I think aloud about how our not-100% vaccination rate is preventing Agile teams from being fully awesome.

You have a responsibility to your fellow citizens, and I now argue also your team at work, to get vaccinated.

It’s Like Personal Tech Debt

In the course of daily events, I may not clear my inbox by the end of the day (or week), I may write notes in a few places (instead of one), and I may allow stuff to pile up on my desk (starting with the edges, slowly creeping towards the middle).

It’s not really in my way… it’s not impeding me, per se, from getting stuff done on the daily, but over time, it builds up past some threshold of, “OK. Now this shit is encroaching on my physical & psychological comfort.”

This amassed entropy? It’s like personal tech debt.

Right? I mean, that’s how I think about it. I’ve never coded for a living, but this analogy seems fair.

OK. Fine. Let’s see what Wikipedia says…

My Approach to Re-Centering

I have a little black book.

No, it’s not that.

…

This is the point of the blog-post-writing process where I decided to search through 10 years of public journaling to see if I’ve covered this topic before. I have, 8 years ago. And I began that post the exact same way. Ugh.

…

Do I keep typing? Is there additional value I can provide? Have I changed at all in a way that’s worth sharing?

…

Eh, I’ve got two things for ya.

1 – This practice is still the best thing I can do, at a deeper level than a solid night’s rest, to re-center myself.

2 – I’ve recently recommitted to do this 4-hour activity every quarter, after only doing it a handful of times over the past few years.

Re-read that post. (I just did.)

How do you re-center yourself?

Look At The Camera

It’s simple… If you Zoom-From-Home, then: Look at the camera!

I mean… I could end this post right here.

But I won’t… This is just one of a few Remote Facilitation Tactics I wrote about a year ago, where a piece of insight I came to was:

You are either connecting with a person for your benefit (by looking at the person’s image), or connecting with a person for their benefit (by looking ‘at’ the person via the camera).

I seriously think I’ll turn this Public Agile Service Announcement into a rap song:

Your Obituary

Beyond being at least half-decent at relating to a few key humans, what do you want it to say on your obituary?

Are there episodes to your life / career?

Are there grand acts of service / contributions to a field?

Are there noble crafts you dedicated yourself to each day?

…

Is this an exercise that helps you figure out what to do now & next?

What is your legacy?

So yeah. I think about this. A lot.