”Take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator and feel better” is something we often hear or read in the Sunday papers. Few people actually follow that advice. Can we get more people to take the stairs over the escalator by making it fun to do? See the results here:
As you might already know, from 1st Oct 09, I’ve joined Industrial Logic full time. I’ll be based out of Mumbai.
Over the last two years, I’ve done various training and consulting gigs (part-time) for IL. Now we feel we can take this relationship to the next level.
My primary responsibilities at IL would be:
Setting up a small office in Mumbai (1-2 Biz Dev/wizardsMarketing Wizards + 2-4 Developers + 1 UX Designer)
Contribute content on diverse topics to Greatest Hits, IL’s elarning product
Help build the elearning platform (in near future, hire some kick ass developers to join this initiative)
Continue handling in-person training and consulting in Asia (in near future, build a small team to help out)
Help position IL and Greatest Hits in Asia (marketing elearning to working out an INR pricing, etc)
Continue building a thriving community of craftspersons in India (and globally)
Globally, continue pushing the envelope on true agility and bringing unconventional ideas to software development.
Would it not be great to get paid to learn new stuff? Unfortunately, we all get lots of offers where we know (at least have this feeling) that either I can earn a lot or I can learn a lot. Somehow its very difficult (not impossible) to have both (earn and learn).
Some people think, traffic lights is THE ONLY way to control and regulate (manage) traffic flow.
For others, esp. those who have seen round-abouts or circles in European countries, know that in some cases round-abouts are a much superior alternative to traffic lights.
And some people who drive on Indian roads know that the first 2 methods don’t really work and they have a chaotic, completely unpredictable, yet self-regulating traffic system.
All 3 are valid ways to manage traffic under the given circumstances. Possibly there are other traffic control systems that I’m not aware of.
Most often I find people introducing all forms of accidental complexity and screwing up their projects. Over the years I’ve learnt some powerful ways to kill a project/organization.
Mediocracy over Innovation and Excellence
Indifference (I don’t care) over Passion and Pride
Sloppiness over Craftsmanship and Self-Discipline
are some of the most common values. And there are many ways to encourage them:
throwing more people at a problem
no visible value system
treating your employees as dispensable resources
punishing failures and ignoring achievements
create more and more specialized roles on a project. (Architects, Designer, Java Developers, Database Developers, UI Developers, DBAs, Manual Testers, Automation Testers, Regression Testers, Performance Testers, Graphics Designers, Web Designers, User Experience Expert, Domain Expert, Business Analyst, Subject Matter expert, System Analyst, Technical Writers, Project Managers, Program Managers, Module Leads, Tech Leads, Configuration Manager, Build Monkey, Product Owner, Scrum Master, Consultants etc)
build all the possible frameworks which might ever be needed before building an application
try to build a very generic solution which is infinitely scale and extensible. (does not matter if you are building a hospital management system, it needs to be generic enough that tomorrow if the business decides to get into hotel management they can use the same).
use the greatest and latest technology buzz words, frameworks and concepts
death by process and meetings
failures and slippages results in more process addition and stronger & strict process adherence and evaluation
Clarity of Thoughts and Clarity of Actions is very important when it comes to influencing people around you.
The how do you get clarity of thoughts and clarity of actions?
Staying in the trenches yields insights.
Continuously reflecting yields clarity and fuels new ideas.
Trying to teach others help in formulating and articulating your thoughts.
Last but not the least, working with smart people helps you become a good influencer.
Working with smart people is very important because they don’t just ask you “Why?” but they also ask you “What is the alternative?” or “What are the trade-offs?”. Lot of times, I get into the mode of “This is THE way to do this”. And when faced with the alternative or trade-off question, really forces me to think. This really helps me find new, interesting ways to solve the problem or at least helps in clarifying my thoughts.
I find “Leading by Example” is a great way to influence others. I see a lot of people trying to influence others by pointing at their mistakes and trying to correct them. But they themselves don’t walk their talk. This form of influencing is very harmful and short-lived. Agile Consulting is a great example of this.
And yes, finally I made it home this morning. After wasting 5 days in Canada, I finally reached home this morning. BTW if you are wondering what I was doing in Canada after my bad experience last time, I was visiting Toronto to participate in Agile 2008 conf. The conference got over on Friday and then I wanted to get back home as soon as possible.
Due to unavailability of seats, I was booked on Sunday flight. Which got cancelled due to bad weather in New York. Then I was put on the Monday flight. Which again got cancelled and they put me on the Tuesday flight. Delta Airline apparently has a policy that if the flight is cancelled due to weather problem, then they can treat the passengers like crap. No accommodation, no expenses, no change of flights, etc. Basically “you are on your own”. It turns out the best option is to cancel your tickets and run to another airline.
Big thanks to Deborah Hartmann for hosting me at her place and for taking care of me when I was down with a fever and cold. Deb, you rock!
Here I’m still stuck in Toronto, after 2 days of trying to get to Mumbai via New York. Bad weather in NY and heavy travel season in North America has left me with no option but to be stranded in Toronto for 2 days on my own expenses. Is this some kind of a coincidence or what? Last time I was in Canada, I was stuck in Montreal for 2 days due to technical issues on the flight and then worker strike in Paris. This time I’m stuck in Toronto due to bad weather.
It appears to me that the airline industry really does not care for its customers. esp. if you are not a “high miles person”. In this position one is not really left with any option other than to live at their mercy. I’m so DONE DONE! with international travel.
