There are many stories of developers retiring and going into the forest, dropping all technology behind them and just being with nature. I don’t think this is true for just developers but for any job where there is a great deal of complexity that lives within our minds where the simple task of “dumping” everything out is cathartic and our minds are left to wander. Oddly enough, part way through emptying my wandering mind I…
I’ve taken to reading the autobiographies of singers and bands I grew up with. What is consistent in each biography – they were all looking for something bigger than themselves, and they were willing to work for it to get there. Doesn’t matter where they came from, or how creative they were, they were all willing to work for it and they had the drive to not give up on it.
Which meetings embolden you to attend and see what happens next? “Project XYQ Status Update” “Weekly Management Team Discussion” “Daily Standup” Or… “Project XYQ Launch Status” “Super Management Team JumpStart “What you did? What you’re doing? Where you’re going?” The only thing you have to get people excited about your meeting is the header – on their phone, on their watch, on their computer – that’s all they are getting – make it memorable.
There are places I cannot work for a prolonged time from; Coffee shops. Cottage. Airports (or on a plane). etc (in places like the above). Too many distractions, too much pull into too many directions. I can wake up early in the morning and crank out productivity in the lobby of a hotel for hours while those around me get ready for the day. I can pull it together at a customer site as they…
You show up. You come prepared. You contribute to the conversation. You make sure everyone knows what the next steps are. You move forward. The key to any successful meeting is what you bring to it and what you do in it. Whether you’re a presenter or an attendee, you can ask these questions. And if you can’t ask these questions, you probably don’t need to be there.