I’ve spent very little time on writing articles directly related to my nom-de-plume.
There are 3 main reasons behind this.
Most* of my “Bad Captain” thinking is fuelled by negative workplace, management and team experiences and I’ve not had any for a long time.
I have a backlog of 70+ more valuable articles and ideas already without adding pirate concepts into the mix.
There are plenty of articles already discussing pirates and management on the web, why re-invent the wheel!
*The rest is probably fuelled by cider, rum and late-night ramblings with close friends – think “Father Jack with earrings”
So as I make final preparations for a dawn raid at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City and a week at Agile 2011 I’ve been digging out some reading material…
Here’s a quick pick-through of piratical management articles (“pirarticles”) I’ve found on the web so far plus a couple of potential reads to add to my “booklog” (thanks @MarkDalgarno for that very sticky term last week).
Articles
Some short articles for when my cognitive load means I don’t have space for anything more plus one or 2 that are more formal.
The Dread Pirate Roberts – You can’t write about pirates without at least one nod to The Princess Bride.
Deadly Serious:
A reminder that whilst my moniker is a light-hearted dig at my appearance and occasional nocturnal ramblings, there’s a whole other side to “real” pirates…
This post draws on some exceptional leadership training I attended in Cincinnati some years ago, a personal near-legendary experience from Summer 2009 and the fact that many of us actually flip back and forth from being visibly outgoing, strong and confident to being introverted, quiet and shy.
Recognising this model was something quite special for me – it highlighted why I gain so much from conferences, talking to customers, like-minded strangers and other controlled but potentially stressful situations…
In order to learn we have to explore, leave our comfort zone and enter the learning zone. Beyond the learning zone lies the panic zone where we are blocked (by fear) from learning – lessons here are only recallable in similar negative situations.
Individuals must find their own way into their learning zone, it’s unique to them.
Forcing someone out of their comfort zone out of their control may tip them immediately into panic.
The point of maximum learning lies at the cusp of the learning and panic zones.
I believe this is why we learn so much from failure and stressful situations and why we often only realize it when we face them a second time.
It’s also why I learn most from group workshops and preparing presentations. Getting out of my comfort zone and talking to people in public gets my adrenaline going and brain working.
A cautionary note. I’ve found that having recognized what’s happening and broken the seal on the comfort zone it becomes somewhat addictive. The boundaries between comfort, learning and panic zones shift and you need to keep finding something else to drive you onward.
Chris Matts is somewhat of a master at demonstrating learning on the fringes between learning and panic – talk to him about exploring deserted conference facilities at 2am armed only with a shopping bag, red wine and no water.
What things do you do that make you really uncomfortable but maximise your learning?
This line of articles just doesn’t seem to want to die!
Okay, so….
Today is day 3 of the filter coffee machine near where my team sits being broken despite repeated repair attempts.
There’s one on the floor below but that means carrying full cups of hot coffee all over the building – it seems most of us have been drinking alternatives most of the time for a few days.
We weren’t really aware of the effect this was having on us until we spotted it yesterday!
Sat in a team meeting. A usually energised team were so lethargic we actually called the session short, had lunch and took a walk to the pub to wake ourselves up!
If that’s the impact going cold-turkey on filter coffee had on a 30 minute team meeting, I’m dreading seeing what it did to team productivity this week.
However…
Anyone that’s given up smoking will know that by day 3, the worst seems to be over, as nicotine levels in the body drop further and withdrawal dies down.
Today had been my most productive day all week.
It might be that I’ve finally capitulated to instant caffeinated coffee rather than very good – but not very caffeinated – tea.
It might be that the half-life of coffee in my system has dropped below withdrawal symptom level.
It might just be that I’ve gotten over a momentum hurdle on some of my work.
Chatting to another of the team, their sentiment is the same so I don’t think it’s just me. Now we’ve recognised the risk, we’re making the effort to reach the other machine.
Regardless – it’s a little disturbing (but in hindsight quite obvious) how much the continuous supply of good filter coffee impacts the energy levels of a development team!
Advice to managers – good coffee is a necessity, not a perk.
I’ve been quiet on the writing front for a couple of weeks as I get up to speed with my new job. In the meantime, I wanted to share one of my leaving presents from my former crew and some software community highlights from this fantastic city.
In order to protect the innocent, I’ve had to do some minor editing to anonymize some of the content however my 2 favourite landmarks are still nice & clear as is some of the entertaining corporate commentary.
Credit to Stoots The Quartermaster and Squelch the Ship’s Artist/Brawler for this gem!
Treasure! – click for a full-size version
For anyone thinking of joining the local treasure quest, there’s a fantasic, forward-thinking software scene in Cambridge (UK). I’ve been up here for 7 years now and I’m still having a blast.
For those considering a career here; whilst not exhaustive, the Cambridge Network is a great place to start looking, and for an example of the kind of companies that make working in Cambridge special, take a look at these guys.
Meanwhile you can often find a large contingent of my former crew at The Portland Arms on a Friday Lunchtime. Every other Monday a few of us head down to The Old Spring for the now regular “Agile Cambridge Monday Meetup” and once a year the Cambridge Beer Festival becomes a regular lunchtime and evening haunt (and a recruiting/networking hub) for much of the city.
Of course there’s all the usual culture, architecture, students, music and everything else here but you can read about all that from the usual tourist guides.
There’s a time & place for external consultants in organizational transformations. They can help you in unique ways but you have to pay attention and act.
Some years ago I had a game-changing conversation with an exceptional guy we’d hired in. Everyone loved his straight-talking, he had a way of talking common sense that resonated all the way from individuals on teams to our execs. We knew that one or two conversations would never be enough so I asked him to join us permanently – he was exactly what we were looking for.
His response (paraphrased)
“I’m flattered and I’d love to – but one of the great things about what I do is that I can tell you the painful things you don’t want to hear – knowing I’m right – without having to worry about losing my job and knowing my boss has my back.”
We managed to get him to speak to our local leader at the time about what we were trying to achieve.
“…you do know that the level of change you need here is going to have an impact on productivity for a while right? Are you ready for that?”
“…absolutely not, we have to complete our transformation with no impact on our current delivery commitments to the business”
It wasn’t that his advice was wrong. It was that the boss didn’t feel safe to take the hit. Needless to say the rollout stumbled. Fortunately we knew it was coming and corrected as best we could.
If you invest in a consultant, It’s your responsibility (and risk) to act on their feedback. Be prepared for painful input and… please …do something with their advice – that’s what you paid them for in the first place right?
If there’s a risk or impact, weight it up, bring your stakeholders in, explain the situation and reset expectations. You are empowered to act but here’s the trick you’re missing! It doesn’t all have to be just on your shoulders.
In fact, you don’t have to have the difficult conversation yourself at all, you’ve just paid for someone to do it on your behalf. If they’re really that good, they’ll be more than capable and willing to do so and probably more credibly than you.
I love having conversations with people I respect, look up to and know are an expert on a subject I’m interested in (and usually ten others besides).
Every now and again I’ll find myself nodding sagely as they reference some great wonder, piece of writing, language, blog, book, person that they assume I know about.
There’s a good reason that I nod along…
I don’t want to interrupt the flow of what they’re saying, it’s interesting and I want them to continue uninterrupted as I take what they’re saying on board.
There’s also a bad reason…
My intellectual ego is seeking their respect and validation. It’s preventing me from admitting that I’m struggling to comprehend.
Unfortunately in a group situation, this momentum can carry us too far. Once the thread has reached a suitable stopping point, how often are we willing to go back and ask for an explanation, more context or admit that we “don’t know” something that someone else assumed we do.
Watch out for rooms full of people listening to something they don’t understand and nodding, not wanting to interrupt and secretly not willing to be the first in the room to break the seal on their lack of knowledge.
What time do we waste walking away not understanding the full picture and having thrown away the best opportunity to seek clarity?
When you don’t know the answer or don’t understand, don’t pretend. Lead by example and others will also be encouraged to ask or research and share. This in turn will build a stronger knowledge culture for your teams.
There’s no such thing as a dumb question. If you thought of something to ask in a room full of people I guarantee at least one other person will have as well.
Avoid playing intellectual chicken, be proud to ask the first dumb question of the day and get people to respect your intellectual humility rather than your intellectual ego!
Here’s an equally commonly lost point – in fact it’s almost identical.
Agile (or Lean, TOC, whatever) is a means, not a solution.
Our customers, users and stakeholders don’t want “agile”, they want “success”. Once they have success they’d quite like a means of making that success more repeatable but ultimately they simply want success.
We seek to promote our way of working (one of our goals as an agile community) but risk missing the actual goals of our stakeholders?
Our conversations should move away from Agile by name and onto:
how do we best attain our stakeholders goals?
how do we effectively identify those goals?
how do we attain consensus on what those goals are?
what do “success”, “good” and “OK” look like for everyone involved?
If we step back, agile is just a marketing term – a simple pattern for a collection of mostly proven ways in which we believe we can work effectively. Where we need that marketing or verbal anchor, let’s use it – (much like we’ll use whatever agile practices and culture we know are useful in attaining our stakeholders goals) – but let’s ensure we’re not having methodology and culture conversations for the sake of methodology and culture alone.
Before diving into “agile” discussions, step back and (re-)establish what success should look like for your customers and users from their perspective.
Hidden agendas make you unpopular, especially those that are poorly concealed.
Everyone has an agenda. I prefer mine open and public. Some may try to take advantage of that but most will respect it…
Some time ago I attended a session with a team where there had been some communication challenges. The team’s normal very tight, cohesive ethos was fraying.
As a globally distributed coaching team they’d arranged to co-locate for a week to bash out a few things and generally get together before returning to their usual sites.
Dinner and a couple of beers into the first evening together and the team spirit had started to sparkle again – recognizing each other as friends, not just colleagues. The hint of political undercurrent was still gnawing at the edges of the smiles.
Into the second day and one of the very perceptive team members called a halt to proceedings.
My paraphrasing of the conversation…
“OK, time for a break. Before we go on, let’s catch up with each other for a bit… …why are you really doing this job, what’s your motivation – what’s your angle?”
This team knew each other well enough to already know the answers but actually calling them out publicly in front of each other was a new step in uncovering potential hidden conflict.
Because the team ran on trust and acted as a balanced cast (I’ll write about team casting in future); everyone acknowledged and accepted each others’ motivations knowing that despite being potentially sensitive they were honestly and openly given.
Even better, they discussed how each other could support those motivations.
The politics and tension were gone.
Earlierthis week I watched someone with a blindingly obvious personal motivation attempt to leverage it in front of a smart bunch of people who were mostly there for related but different reasons. Rather than a public calling out, it was handled through amiable debate over a beer later but everyone in that following conversation recognized the unspoken calling out had been made and started trying to re-engage and collaborate.
Or at least I hope they did
In keeping with the spirit of this post I therefore share my own agenda…
I’m naturally creative and like to share
I seek personal but usually not financial reward
I want to be recognized for “good” things
I strive to make a positive difference by sharing my thoughts or observations and by participating in conversation. I seek personal reward through constructive intelligent feedback, good friends and good company.
It brought home what the last decade of international teams and ubiquitous business email access has achieved for many of us software professionals.
Since the late 1990’s I’ve worked in globally distributed or virtual teams. There’s a huge amount of positive things to be said about the working experiences I’ve had with these teams over the years.
My cultural boundaries have stretched
I’ve had opportunities to work with great people all over the world
I’ve learned a mountain of cool stuff
I’ve met hundreds of new friends
I’ve visited amazing places
and…
…
I’ve left my family at home most of the time.
Sadly small children and transcontinental business trips don’t really mix. My family have been incredibly tolerant and I always look to bring something back for them. They have a pretty tough ride but they support what I do and I appreciate their patience.
However…
With teams in the UK, India and the US there’s almost always a full working day of support, conversations and questions that happen outside the normal working timezone. As the pressure to deliver and support these teams has increased I find myself checking my work mail when I should be attending my family.
I recently reached the point where I was clearing my emails down during public holidays so that I could filter through and achieve something when I got in the following working day.
I check my email during breakfast at 6 or 7am and reply to things that came in during the US evening or India morning.
I commute to work and check my mail again to find another series of mails from India and a few UK early starters.
I check my mail when I get home from work to respond to anything urgent that came in during my commute.
I check my mail before bed in case there’s anything new that will derail my plans and priorities for the following day or that I can respond to before the US working day is over and 24 hours are lost on a decision.
(I also occasionally make time to write this blog, enjoy my family, study and maintain the house)
If I don’t clear my morning and evening international backlog my day job doesn’t have time & space to get done but this is all at the expense of other parts of life.
So how do I get things back under control?
WIP Limit vs Buffer Overrun
Here’s where Scrum, Lean & Kanban meet personal time management…
Set yourself a WIP limit. When that’s full, decide what doesn’t happen or has to be traded out. If you don’t make a decision, something will fall on the floor and chances are you’ll have a pile of half-done stuff. (a buffer overrun).
Build a visible backlog and keep it groomed. When new work comes in, prioritize and size it. (Take a look at the Covey Matrix as a powerful means of prioritizing). If I don’t have clear visibility to my backlog of work (not just my email inbox) then once again my mental buffer overruns and things fall on the floor.
This is where my problems are – relying on my mental buffer and inbox to be my primary and secondary backlogs!
Determine how big your backlog should be and whether it should be tiered (e.g. week, month, quarter). Just like a mature agile team, don’t build a backlog that’s bigger than your planning (or thinking and coping) horizon. If it’s important it’ll come back when you have the capacity.
Next, just like your agile projects, get your backlog visible. When new work comes in, take your stakeholders to the backlog and have a prioritization and trading outconversation.
Some things will have time deadlines and some of these you can’t avoid so what else has to give? If you have more items with time deadlines than you can cover, take your stakeholders back to your backlog and force the prioritization discussion again.
I recommend pipelining work into “emergencies“, “small“, and “not-small“. This is enough to provide an interesting mental mix but aim to limit multi-tasking to a maximum of one item in each area. (Clarke Ching has some fantastic insights and demonstrations on why multitasking is evil).
It’s also worth rewarding yourself. You’ll find items that fall in the “distraction” quadrant of the Covey matrix are often where some rewards lay hiding. Identify a few interesting, fun things and make sure they get some airtime in with all the priorities to pay off some of your priority fatigue.
Simple right?
OK, this won’t break the email addiction but it will help manage the personal backlog and priorities more effectively.
When it’s personal rather than a project this seems so much harder. With all that time teaching teams to trade out and prioritize, it’s time I started to eat my own dog-food.
Epilogue: This article has been waiting in my backlog for a couple of weeks to be rounded off before publishing. Yesterday the manager I’m pairing with planted a large kanban board by my desk with a list of the top priority management goals and activities that we have on our planning horizon right now down the left hand side and the associated tasks and states all prepped up! It’s not our entire backlog but it’s well more than we can achieve in the next 2 weeks and covers all the known top priority things.
Now it’s time to start managing the load properly again.
In the last few years the concept of technical debt has really taken root. Teams discuss it and use it to ensure important leftovers get cleared, not just business-critical priorities.
Here’s a fresh verbal anchor…
“Priority Fatigue” – The wear that sets in if you do nothing but focus on the priorities of your products or leaders all the time.
If you’re using Scrum or Kanban; chances are you’re working through some kind of prioritized backlog of work. Most Scrum practitioners are aware that despite iterations being called sprints the team are actually running a marathon. Every now and again your team needs to take a breather and at the end of a release they need proper recovery time.
Clearing technical debt is a common way of recovering. Another approach used by forward-thinking organizations is to have periodic innovation days or weeks where everyone “downs tools” and does something interesting instead. Good team-building days or activities are a third option.
These are all ways of addressing priority fatigue on a team.
Weekends and holidays are the personal slack that we use to pay off some of our individual priority fatigue however many of us don’t actually rest any more.
Our lives are so full we don’t have time to recover. In fact, many people now continue (at least partially) working even whilst on holiday – it’s frequently expected these days.
In the same way we relieve priority fatigue for teams, consider taking time to step back reward ourselves as individuals in innovative ways. If nothing else; take some regular time out to do something interesting even if it’s not important. **
**Caveat: don’t overdo it! Strike a balance with your priorities.
