Articles for category: Initiative

Pushing an Idea

A proposed idea is easy to turn down. There hasn’t been any investment, there’s been no plus or minus, there’s no loss if you do nothing. Investing in an idea is where commitment starts to happen, even though doubts still linger – will it work?, can it work?, do they really want it?, is it worth it? what else could I be doing with my time? All those doubts start to permeate the shell of your idea as they try to break down its value. It’s here, the initiator of the idea, the creator, has to take hold of the

How to ask for Software Feedback

The easy way is to put a popup in someone’s face after they have completed working on a task. You probably won’t get the best response (especially if the task they just completed didn’t work the way they expected). It’s also not best to ask immediately after they log in (they did after all just start working and probably haven’t got to anything). Also, don’t call them from some random 800 number, everyone ignores those now. Popup chat is also not great when they are in the middle of an outage. If you want people’s feedback, if you want their

But Not Today…

Anything can, might and will happen. But if it’s not what you want to happen, then having the mindset of “Not Today…” will help you get there. It might still happen, but the impact on you will be less, it will not hold you back. What you are saying “Not Today…” to isn’t that it will happen, but that it will not stop you.

The Unsolvables

The unsolvables are that elite, crack unit of bugs that no one wants to touch. They are the bugs that stay on the pile, rarely moving, until someone picks it up for a day, spends a few hours on it, and then turfs it back to the pile. They are the cold cases that get pushed out every sprint for something cooler, better, and more direct in their solvability. They will leave you lost, dazed, and confused. But when you solve them, that’s when they become the coolest bug ever.

The Creative Outlet

Whatever you’re doing during the day, whatever you’re creating, you need an outlet to everything else not related to it that is not paid for. You need a creative outlet that keeps that great work going – whether it be in art, code, writing, basket weaving, quilting, etc, etc – you need that outlet. That outlet is what will keep you growing and keep opening your mind to new ideas. Find it, don’t sell it, and enjoy it.