December 22, 2017

Greg Thomas

Finding your Goal Priority

Everyone might know what the goal is? But do they know what the priority is? Goal – “We want to get this amazing release out the door to our customers.” Priority – “We need to get these bugs done as soon as possible because we have to get this release out by X date.” Goals are high-level, where you want to go, what you want to achieve. Priorities are the breakdown of the individual objectives that can achieve the goal. You can’t have one without the other. But as a project progresses it becomes easier and easier for them to

December 21, 2017

Greg Thomas

They won’t Change, So You’ll have To

How many times have you been in a meeting with someone venting about another team member or colleague? I mean venting, ranting, screaming, full of losing it. Only to have that person end the rant with – “this person will never change!”, So if they won’t change, why can’t you? If you had been expecting this other person to change and conform to your standards, why can’t you change and conform to theirs? No one’s stopping you, but you.

December 20, 2017

Greg Thomas

Danger Dates

The most dangerous date in a release is the one that is artificial but told to the team is legit. The fastest way for your team to lose trust in you is to parlay in Danger Dates that have no meaning, no belief, no honesty and no reality. It’s the surest way to ruin all the good work you have undertaken up to that point.

Internal Variables

Call it your worldview or framework, but what they really are, are your Internal Variables. The criteria that define what you, when you do it. They are your MAX_ACTION where you top out listening to someone complain about the same issue for the umpteenth time before moving on. They are your CURRENT_ATTEMPT where you are willing to keep doing something the old way before you realize there has to be a better way. They are your BOOL to realize that some answers are simply YES or No. And sometimes they are your open-ended variable that can hold anything and everything,

December 18, 2017

Greg Thomas

The Delta Manager

The Delta Manager is the manager who realizes they don’t know it all, they are in over their head, they are swamped with projects and timelines and deliverables and don’t know what path forward they can take. They are on the verge of paralysis with anyone and everyone lining up at their desk to ask them questions and lay their demands at their feet. They are overwhelmed and exhausted. So here’s where they apply the Delta. They take one thing, one small thing, and they get it done. Then they focus on the next thing. Then the next. They manage