Not in college anymore

So the other day, a friend says to me "... and it's just time to stop living like I'm in college, you know?"

In their particular case, I did know. I knew exactly, from having lived through a very similar circumstance once, and I could readily empathize with them. That said, it still made me think, quite a bit, on what that means.

In my case, it meant things joked about years ago as kids were now quite real:

• If you don't pay your bills, mommy and daddy won't save you.
• You really do have to get up every day for work.
• Life is short. Eat dessert first.
• You really do have to go to bed on time every night to get up the next morning.
• Be nice to people, and in general, they'll be nice back.
• Source control (and the processes like it in non-software careers) look like a lot of work, and can be, but actually are there to protect you. It's like insurance for your continued employment.
• Investing is non optional. There will come a day where you don't want to or can't work anymore. Then what are you going to do?
• Always, always, always buy the best shoes you can afford.
• Invest in yourself - train yourself. Don't expect other people to get you places.
• Do what you love, sure, but realize that the definition of "professional" says more about what you do when the fun is no longer fun.

On Success

If you're used to failing, success is a surprise.

If you're used to succeeding, failure isn't.

Born To Win

Just read this:

Born To Win

...it's one of those books that I found myself asking "Why didn't I do this sooner?"

Also, they have an online companion to the source:

Don't know much about the civil war

Just read this:

Don't Know Much About the Civil War: Everything You Need to Know About America's Greatest Conflict but Never Learned

...amazing book with tons of information. Was delivered flawlessly via audiobook.

Trust works!

Just read this:

Trust Works!: Four Keys to Building Lasting Relationships by Ken Blanchard

...liked it. Seemed complicated at first, but it's actually pretty simple.

8 Ways to great

Just read this:

8 Ways To Great by Doug Hirschhorn

...and liked it. Really useful stuff.

In another time, and another place . . .

Being an engineer really is like being an artisan class. 

If we were in ancient Greece, though, would that make us landowners?

Since we're not, are there any lessons we can learn from Sparta? Two things spring to mind, from recent life lessons:

1. Focus
The classes were separated by function. Say what you will about classes, there still would have been great shoemakers, good shoemakers, and just-ok shoemakers within the trade class. The goal, I think, of every engineer, is to be the best within their class or specialty. Which brings me to . . .

2. Specialize
The idea of being both a shoemaker and a then a sandal repair specialist might seem silly to us (I mean, really. Beach sandals are like a $1) but if you needed your sandals repaired TODAY so you could march to war tomorrow, would you go to the just-ok maker, for the just-ok price? Or would you pay the higher price for the greater speed and quality of the specialist across town?

I have, and continue, to drive across town for quality. Do you?

High Achieving

First, stop and go read this:

12 Ways to Spot a High Achiever

The point of this post is NOT to criticize his article.

Instead, what if you're just starting out? How would you do these things? How would you know how to recognize the signs that either you're really one of these people (while containing your ego there, champ), or to direct yourself to become the person described here?

I suggest, if you’re just starting out:

1. Ask, ask, ask. Ask for what you want. This does not mean be pushy, it means learn the difference between what you want, what you need, and how to not be passive aggressive about the difference between the two.

2. Learn when to cut and run. There are times where it makes sense, strategically, to quit, but this doesn’t just apply to jobs. It can be people, equipment, projects, etc.

3. Accept the reality around you as fact, and find a way to define what you’d like to see. Knowing the difference between where you are and where you want to go, but clearly, is the first step. From here, you can make a list of steps to get yourself from-here-to-there.

4. Help others. I’m putting this last, even though it really is first, because until I learned how to ask for what I wanted, I couldn’t really help others, because I wasn’t sure if I was helping myself, since I didn’t know what I wanted.

Time

I recently shared this meditation on Facebook:

There is never enough time in life - therefore, we must always prioritize how we spend this most precious of gifts.

Anger...

Anger is easier and earlier than indifference; Indifference is more effective.

Just sayin.

Saying Goodbye

I’m closing out of a chapter of my life here, and thought I’d write down some transition thoughts.

1. Clearly cut off – no loose threads
While this is a direct tie to number 2 below, don’t leave anything hanging for someone to pull you back again.

2. Document, document, document
This is as much about them as it is you…. Think of it as pro-active self defense. Do you really want to get called once your gone about something you’d possibly rather not remember?

3. Say good-bye
Saying good-bye can be a powerful way to leave a positive last impression – and people DO remember how you exit.

4. Get references
Always find a way to stay in touch once gone, too.

The little engine that could

There's an old saying:

Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.

This really applies to coding as a form of work and creative outlet.

So very often, the issue is not with the code, but with our *understanding* of the issue. How many times have you seen a work stoppage because the leader didn't take the time to ask questions, and instead relied on their imperfect understanding of the situation/task/issue/patch??

Volunteering

I'm a fan of volunteering. I think it's a great way to

• grow yourself personally
• grow yourself professionally
• make contacts 
• have fun doing things that matter to you

I ran across this link today, and didn't know that Code Project offered a way to volunteer. Cool!

http://www.codeplex.com/site/search/openings

On seeing the future

I stare A LOT into my crystal ball, trying to analyze the best course of action. I have found that having two calendars really helps.

One is high-level, and shows the course of the months, and my defined all-day events.

The other is weekly, and shows my commitments by the hour (or half-hour, depending)

Cutting your losses

When is the right time to cut your losses?

Generally, when the input exceeds the output over some period of time, right?

What about when it's a person? How then do you measure your staff development?

Lines of code?
Cases processed?
Amount of some-other-trackable number?
(i.e. Ambulance runs)

Event Horizons

I believe in communicating graphically and out loud whenever possible. This is not always immediately grasped by those who understand communication as "words". It isn't. One very common example of this are event horizons.

An event horizon is defined by the dictionary as:

event horizon. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/event horizon

When I describe it to people, I tell them it's:

An event that, although the timing is potentially unknown or uncontrollable, will change everything around it.

I use this all the time to share with people how key events are going to impact them, and so I want to share it with you.

In its graphical form, they look like the dotted line here:



It's worth noting that event horizons are vastly different from critical paths. In critical paths, what you're communicating is the sequence of events, their importance to the overall plan, their cost, both relative and absolute, and several other things (can you tell I like that method? )

With an event horizon, what you're doing is communicating grahpically to someone the decisions that will be impacted by something outside of their flow. This isn't very well handled by the traditional critical path, which is a series of linked events. Instead, you have to start thinking graphically. For example, if you add color to your critical path, during the planning phase, that is, before color is used to communicate status, then you can begin to get an idea of how you might approximate this.

For me, the big difference is that the event horizon in and of itself, can be an event generator.

For example:



Since you can't control or sometimes even plan for the things/people/places/events/articles/mishaps/synchronicities that spawn event horizons, you can't fit that event *neatly* into a project plan.

Yes, I know you can fit them in, but I'm saying *neatly*, not "at all". There's a big difference. Event Horizons, as I'm using the term today, are the 1% chance game changers - the 100 year floods, so to speak.

My graphical model is designed to quickly communicate to people how significantly changed the world on the other side of that event looks.