Articles for category: Initiative

November 14, 2020

Greg Thomas

Yes, But what do you want?

This is the question that many of us can’t answer. What do we actually want? We look at user stories and features, what is in the backlog, what was discussed in a meeting and we assume that is “what the user wants”. But it really isn’t. How many times have you built something, thinking it was the right thing to build only to have an end user go – “that’s not what I was looking for.” It’s not until that you ask someone – “What do you want?” – that you get the answer you need, unencumbered by technology, domain

November 10, 2020

Greg Thomas

Building Habits

They start small and when they hit their peak, they build momentum until they become unstoppable. Since April, I’ve been working on a few. They aren’t peaking at this point, but like everything, I track my effort and they are growing at a rate which shows progress. Every few months I push it a little more, only because I want to see what I can do but mainly so I can stabilize a habit at that level before moving onto the next one. There are times I miss my target, that’s why I don’t raise the target each month, what’s

November 5, 2020

Greg Thomas

Outcome-Based Conversations

You might be talking a lot these days. Your calendar might be completely blue. And you might be having great discussions. But two weeks later you might also be wondering why nothing is changing and why what you thought were the actions never happened. It could be because you are not structuring your conversations around outcomes you want to see. Outcomes are bigger then agenda items, they are what you need to see happen next, what the next step is, what you want to come from these discussions. The are the next piece. If you aren’t having conversations that look

November 2, 2020

Greg Thomas

Well this is Awkward

Because it’s supposed to be. That’s what happens when you try something new. If it’s not awkward, you’re not trying. You’re watching and waiting to see if it’s worth giving it a try based on what everyone else is doing. When you try out a big new initiative or idea and it doesn’t pan out, it’s awkward. It doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth it.

October 30, 2020

Greg Thomas

Zoom Barriers

It doesn’t matter what you’re using, you know it and I know it, there is a barrier between you and the person you’re talking to. Maybe TEAMS does it better than ZOOM. Maybe SLACK does it better than TEAMS. Maybe HANGOUTS is all you need. Maybe you’ve given up and started dialing people on your phone. Whatever it is, you know it, your team is feeling it and you need to do something about it. Not tomorrow, not next week, but today. Don’t get caught accepting any barriers that are coming up with how you interact with your team, it’s