(no subject)

I spent some time this morning doing tweet analysis on a recent unconference. It's one i wish i could have attended yet i knew i wouldn't have the bandwidth. I've only iterated through the processing steps i've developed in the past: it's all on line, now, so i can play with the data at work.

I won't have time, though. Colleagues fly in today and we'll begin our SCRUM training intensive tomorrow. SCRUM is a type of software development project methodology. I don't believe it's a panacea, but there are a few hopes i have:

1) Having shared project management expectations across the team, including "what does done mean," is beneficial. I hope it eases a low-grade stress about expectations. If you think, "It's surely obvious what done means," think of mopping a floor: is it done when the last mop pass is completed? when the bucket and mop have been rinsed out? When the floor is dry? When the mop is dry and has been put up? When people are back using the room? Add to that a complication that other people are involved in completing the work (I'm done with what i need to do, but i don't know if the task is done)

2) The approach really seems to be about empowering the team to make decisions and self manage. I have some personal gripes with the "self organizing team" view point currently championed by my vice president, but in principle i like the idea. As long as you've got folks paying attention to the boundaries between teams and some folks are keeping an eye on the big picture, letting the teams self organize and manage seems productive. If you're trusting the teams to figure out all the transitions and hand offs between teams, let me spend a morning giving you a piece of my mind.

3) The recognition that there are team agreements helps raise up informal culture to a conscious place. Managing a virtual team makes me even more aware of how important sharing the simple expectations are.


Health news: I love the splint. I can manage to type, since i really only "type" with two or three fingers on each hand. (Someday i will learn to touch type, probably so i can use the brain implants that will expect you to know how to touch type.) ( Re Urticaria )

(no subject)

I'm trying to do Loving Kindness micro meditations every time i itch. I considered every vehicle that caught my attention on the road this morning, realizing taupe, grey, and silver cars were mostly being left out.

I see there will be Morris dancing in the Palo Alto Baylands on Sunday: i'll be there to dance up the sun! And in sensible shoes.

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My date-walnut-lemon pilaf is a little mushy, but yum. Cardamon, tumeric, and clove work well with the lemon. (One whole small meyer lemon: with the pith scraped from the peel and the segments cut in half). I don't really notice the dates: not sure if i needed more or if they're subtle. The walnuts seem to add more texture than anything.

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This morning at the office's lagoon channel, there was a night heron and a snowy egret. I'll be in all week so observing those birds should be consistent. I've also been enjoying the unfurled leaves of the sweet gum tree just next to where i park. On Friday i noted that brown spiky seed pods are still hanging from the tree, but the new season's pods -- flowers, at this point, i guess -- are also present.

A pair of gulls, probably herring gulls, are on the ledge outside our fifth floor floor-to-ceiling windows, barking and laughing.

The Canadian goose is still nesting downstairs in a planter: we expect goslings this week.