The Experiment Canvas is a simple means of planning, tracking, and responding to your experiments.
Simple Things
When I say simple, I don’t necessarily mean easy. And I certainly do not mean crude in form or incomplete. Simple indicates something that does not have superfluous parts or multiple responsibilities, is easy to understand, is as independent from the rest of the solution as possible, and meets a need as is.
Simple may not address all use cases, but it does address some use cases.
Over the past several years, as I’ve been helping teams and organizations improve their ability to deliver software products that are desirable, viable, and feasible, I have been experimenting with a Behavior Framework that has proven to be rather effective. And I’d like to share it with you in hopes that you find it useful and that you provide me feedback on your experiences with it.
My plan is to write a series of blog posts all related to the behaviors framework. Some of them will be about a specific behavior. Some of them will be about tools or techniques that help teams express one or more of the behaviors. Some of them will be my own experiences. And some will be damn near complete fiction.
I saw a tweet this morning that caught me off-guard.
If your software makes money it is good software by definition. Nothing else matters. #Agile ^ @SkankworksAgile — AgileFortune (@AgileFortune) July 23, 2015
It doesn't strike me as consistent with the type of thing AgileFortune usually tweets. My initial reaction was to reply via twitter, but didn't feel I could express my thoughts well in 140 characters or less.
I think I saw Daniel Pink's TED Talk on "The Puzzle of Motivation" for the first time in 2011. I'd been reading some about leadership, management, and organizational psychology up to that point, but Pink's talk and his distillation of these complex concepts into a simple framework (Autonomy, Connection, and Excellence) inspired me to read more on the topics. Over the course of the next couple of years, I consumed a decent amount of material. You can view my Goodreads account to see what books I was reading. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to share all of the scientific articles and other sources I also consumed.
I had the pleasure of presenting at NDC Oslo last week and the additional privilege of co-presenting a collaboration workshop along with Denise Jacobs and Carl Smith.
In this workshop, we cover Fist to Five voting, 5x7 Prioritization, and Collaboration Contracts.
It is not only the things we reward that shape culture, but the things we allow. Perhaps the easiest way to shape a culture is to do nothing at all.
When a rockstar employee yells at, denigrates, or refuses to help teammates and you let it slide because the rockstar is valuable, you are shaping a culture. When a teammate tells a racist or sexist joke and you say nothing because nobody present is a member of the target group, you are shaping a culture. When an executive abuses power, when a coworker engages in gossip, when a team cuts corners to make deadlines and you decide it isn't your problem, you are shaping a culture.
We have an application internal to Groupon called the "Love Monster". It was written, in large part by Devin Breen. There are other contributors, but Devin is the one that made it happen. He didn't do it because it was on a roadmap or because it's part of our quarterly objectives. He did it because he and others wanted something like this to exist. So he willed it into existence.
Back in May of 2014, I attended ALM Chicago. I had the privilege of closing out the conference with my "Let's Start an Epidemic" talk. The second speaker of the day was Venkatesh Rao. This was his third time speaking at the conference and I quickly came to understand why they kept inviting him back. His talk was daring, extemporaneous, and insightful. There were many pearls in his presentation, but one thing he said in particular struck me.
In 5 Tips for Building Trust | Globoforce Blog, Darcy Jacobsen suggests the following steps for building trust within your organization:
I've worked for essentially two types of companies - those that have clearly defined job ladders and those that don't.
A clearly defined job ladder provides people a clear picture of what they need to accomplish and what skills they need to display in order to move into a new role. A clearly defined job ladder provides a baseline for performance appraisals. Everyone in the organization knows what is expected of people in each role. Are you displaying these attributes with a level of proficiency requisite for the role, or are you not? Job ladders make the expectations of progress and the opportunity for advancement clear and consistent.
It is with absolute jubilation and optimism that I announce March 7, 2014 is my last day at the Groupon Chicago office.
I've been part of Groupon for just over a year now. I remember chatting with H about companies he could help me connect to as he surreptitiously mentioned Groupon (over and over again). I remember interviewing with "Cheese Sandwich Guy"; a dude in a t-shirt that diagramed the architecture of a cheese sandwich. I recall wondering if I'd enjoy working with him. As it turned out, he was my new boss. And, yes, I do sincerely enjoy working with him.
The journey has been valuable and has left an indelible mark on me. I've learned about people, teams, leadership, mentoring, and collaboration. I've loved working with the folks in the Chicago office. I've made some close friends, brought some old friends closer, and for the first time in my life, I've made a deliberate effort to keep in touch with people.
If I've not done well keeping in touch with you, don't hesitate to let me know. I'm still working on it.
On October 12, 2012, I wrote a post announcing my departure from LeanDog and my new opportunity at Groupon. Today, I can hardly contain myself as I announce my next adventure.
No, I'm not leaving Groupon (that would be foolish). I have taken on a new role as Groupon's Global Director of Engineering Culture. This is not only a new role for me, this is a new role for Groupon. So we'll learn as we go.
I've a fantastic team member in Connie-Lynne Villani who takes on engineering orientation, education, and diversity along with public outreach. I will be focused on engineering standards, branding, and engagement.
And those newly-exercised skills keeping in touch with friends will be put to good use. As part of this new role, Jennifer and I will relocate to the Palo Alto California area.
I am incredibly fortunate to have a companion like Jennifer by my side. Together, we've raised two wonderful children. Together, we've navigated numerous challenges. And together, we take the next step.
I don't know precisely where this path leads. I simply cannot see that far ahead. But I know two things with certainty; I will never be alone in my journey and the only direction is forward.
Fist to Five (a.k.a. Fist of Five) is a simple tool for measuring level of agreement in a team. Often, this is far more expedient than discourse, even among those in agreement. Secondarily, it helps to overcome “silence means consent” for teams where this may be an issue. This is not a replacement for discussion, merely a way of getting a quick check to determine if more discussion is actually warranted.
