It’s exciting to start something new. A new project, new development language, joining a new team. We often don’t take the time time to think through what might go wrong.
When things go wrong, we feel trapped, just like Engelbert in this week’s new article, No Exit. (You might want to read Liar’s Contest to see how Engelbert got trapped).
convert this post to pdf.Collaboration is all the rage lately. But is it always the right approach? It depends…. read on.
convert this post to pdf.Recognizing and rewarding employees is an action that pays dividends. Sadly, many managers have zero experience with a manager in their career who did this process effectively.
In the article Catch Them Doing It Right, you’ll hear Eleanor, a sage manager, advise someone who used to report to her about how to recognize and reward employees.
Eleanor’s advice includes: recognizing team members when they do something right; recognizing effective behavior as close as possible to when the behavior happens; knowing the person you are rewarding well enough to give them something that you know will please them; and having the members of your team recognize other members’ effective behaviors.
Put Eleanor’s advice to use in your organization. And share her advice with others. We’ll all be better off for it.
convert this post to pdf.I just posted an article: Transitioning to Agile in the Middle of a Project. Please do comment.
convert this post to pdf.New articles for 2009 are now beginning to flow, starting with an article by Jerry:
The Technology of Cooperation
convert this post to pdf.We have a program for 2009. (Esther and I still need to edit our post-conference tutorial description.) And, registration is open. You have to contact our registrar, Susie Brame, to register, because I can’t quite make electronic registration work. We hope you participate in our conference.
convert this post to pdf.We’ve been quiet because we’ve started to plan for the next conference. Our host meeting is Jan 9-12. If you have a session you really want to see offered, or a topic you’d like us to consider, comment or send it along.
For now, put the dates for AYE in your calendar: Nov 8-12, 2009.
convert this post to pdf.Jerry Weinberg’s latest book, Perfect Software?And Other Illusions About Testing is now available from Dorset House Publishing <http://www.dorsethouse.com/books/perf.html>. Here’s what some early reviewers had to say about the book:
“Finally! A book about software testing written by someone who actually understands software testing. I consider Jerry to be the greatest living tester. Jerry tests everything. Jerry tests me. . . . It’s been forty-seven years since Weinberg first wrote on software testing, and his ideas today are still ahead of their time. Read this and get your head straight about testing.”
?James Bach, consulting software tester, author of Lessons Learned in Software Testing
“This concise and cogent book?a gift to testers?explodes myths about what testing can and can’t do.� We’ll each want at least two copies?one for our own bookshelves, and another to hand to our clients so that they can better understand precisely how we can help them.”
?Michael Bolton, tester, trainer, and consultant, DevelopSense
“If the wiring in your brain needs a better programming and testing, read this.”
?Pradeep Soundararajan, consulting tester, author of Tester Tested! blog
“Perfect Software will be a tremendous asset to anyone who tests software and keeps having to explain what testing can and cannot do. Engagingly as always, Jerry Weinberg explains the essence of testing for anyone to understand. He makes a compelling case for doing enough testing?but not too much. I can’t wait to give Perfect Software to all my clients!
?Fiona Charles, test consultant and columnist
The AYE Conference is now SOLD OUT.
We invite you to put your name on our waiting list by contacting our registrar, Susie Brame:
phone: (USA)
email:
If one of our registrants needs to cancel and a space opens, we will give the people on the waiting list a chance to register. We’ll offer any open spaces in the order the names are added to the waiting list.
If our waiting list grows long enough, we will consider offering a second AYE Conference in 2009.
convert this post to pdf.Welcome to the new AYE website design, courtesy of Kim Black. Please let webmaster Jerry Weinberg <[email protected]> know how you feel about the new design, and, of course, any suggested improvements.
convert this post to pdf.Johanna’s book, “Manage It!” has won a Jolt Productivity Award!
From the publisher:
Johanna?s latest, Manage It!: Your Guide to Modern Pragmatic Project Management shows you how to beg, borrow, and steal from the best methodologies to fit your particular project. It will help you find what works best for you, and not for some mythological project that doesn?t even exist.
You won?t need expensive tools or fancy software. Manage It! shows you how to use low-tech techniques to directly address the most pressing problems of modern software project development.
Congratulations Johanna!
convert this post to pdf.Someone asked us recently, “What is the interaction model and why is it useful?”
Steve gives his answer:
It’s another gift from Virginia Satir, a pioneering family therapist. Her Interaction Model helps you update your own internal communication, which changes your external communication, so you can interact better with others. The updates change how you treat your perceptions, interpretations, feelings, and past experiences.
Satir viewed an interaction as a process. She carved it into six phases where internal communication typically breaks down. Analyzing an interaction using these phases enable me to slow it down and use both logic and emotion to shape how I respond to someone.
Satir was aware of the critical impact that feelings on communication. For instance, when I feel angry, I know exactly what the other person is thinking. If I succumb to my anger, I may stop the other person in mid-sentence and say, “You mean X. Say no more (shut up). Let me tell you…” If I think of the Interaction Model, I can stop myself from saying something I’ll regret later by asking myself, “What other meanings can I make from what I heard and saw?” That question helps me recognize I can’t recall a single thing I heard or saw and I have interpreted only one single meaning, which means I’ve missed literally everything. My internal dialog will often change my feelings. Being aware of the breakdown, I might say, “I was angry. I’m not sure why. I missed what you said. Would you please repeat it?”
We all learn and grow through our interactions. Not only does the Interaction Model help me be a better communicator, it helps me be congruent, which helps me feel better about myself, which helps me take more risks, which helps me change my rules, which helps me be a better communicator… The model shows how all these qualities are connected.
I love the Interaction Model.
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