ArticleInteraction2000

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Confessions of a Confused User >---> ConfUser

Naomi Karten October 22, 2000

I was doing something dumb in using one of my software packages. Modesty prevents me from boring you with the details. Suffice it to say that although it didn't keep me doing my work, it did slow me down. Plus, I just couldn't seem to get the package to do several of the things it was supposed to do.

When Is Change for a Dollar Only 82�? >---> ChangeDoll

Rick Brenner October 15, 2000

In the good old days, most people worked on one and only one task. As we've learned to "work smarter," this is less and less often the case -- people split their time across several tasks that need their particular expertise. Is this really smarter? What are the full costs of dividing a person's attention?

Seeing the Other Person's Big Picture >---> OtherBig

Jerry Weinberg October 8, 2000

You're entering a new situation, and you're ready to gather the Big Picture of the other people involved. Which others' Big Pictures? Well, who will the significant others be? Anybody I omit from this survey will potentially appear on stage at a critical juncture and spoil my best-laid plans.

Seeing Your Own Big Picture >---> OwnBig

Jerry Weinberg October 1, 2000

If you're like me, you're often called into an assignment because you're supposed to be an "expert." Before I get down to the nitty-gritty of a new assignment, I like to place everything in a grand array. I always make mistakes in my assignments, but this way I can hope they'll all be small mistakes.

Meeting Customer Requirements >---> CustReq

James A. Ward September 17, 2000

Total quality management is a commitment to the continuous improvement of work processes with the goal of satisfying internal and external customers. It's the customer that matters in TQM; the process is only the means to satisfying the customer.

Decisions, Decisions� >---> DecDec

Sue Petersen September 10, 2000

My husband bought his father's business last month. It was not an easy decision. Like most modern managers, I've been taught that the best decisions are the product of logical, deductive thinking. But we didn't have time for that. Was our decision the absolutely best one we could have made?

Trailblazer Programs >---> TrailBlaze

Marie Benesh and Sheila Smith September 3, 2000

Trailblazer projects provide the critical engine for change in an organization. Through trailblazers, an organization can achieve the structural and behavioral changes that it desires in its IT organizational model. It is an essential, realistic and practical way to create real culture change in an organization.

Designing Useful Metrics >---> UseMetric

Esther Derby August 27, 2000

As a manager, you want to increase effectiveness and improve the quality of software. Using measurement as a tool for accomplishing this, however, may be something you're skeptical about. I'd like to encourage you to take another look at metrics, and show you how you can use observation, modeling and measurement to manage more effectively within your team.

Our Management Process Can't Tell Us How to Get from "Repeatable" to "Defined" >---> RepToDef

Nynke Fokma and Erwin van der Bij August 13, 2000

The CMM model likely contains useful organizational design guidelines in the form of Key Practices, and some extremely useful checklists. And it is very important to be aware of the dangers when using it. And neither the described organizational goal of "CMM 3 (and higher)" nor the CMM model itself gave us enough transformational model or process definition of how to get there for solving the actual problems.

Amplifying a Book's Effectiveness >---> BookEffect

Naomi Karten August 6, 2000

Good Editing is far more than adjusting the punctuation. Over the past few months, I've had the opportunity to experience expert editing, as I've worked closely with a Dorset House editor to finalize a book of essays by your hosts. It was more work than we expected, but the result has made the effort worth it.

Welcoming New Hires >---> NewHire

Johanna Rothman July 30, 2000

Being a new hire is a little bit like installing a piece of software. The first thing you see when you buy software is the installation. The first thing a new hire sees is how your organization takes in people. Here are some suggestions for a smooth first day.

Some Barriers to Team Coordination and Collaboration >---> CoordColl

John Suzuki July 23, 2000

Executing software development activities across geographic and time zone boundaries presents unique challenges to both management and practitioners. These issues apply to any discipline in which close coordination is required between members of a group. Although tools and technology do help to improve productivity within a team, the largest gains for improving coordination are all related to the human aspects of relationships between people, teams and organizations.

Consulting Lessons from Ron, My Shiatsu Therapist >---> ShiatsuLess

Becky Winant July 16, 2000

Shiatsu is a type of bodywork that involves stretching and applying pressure at points to release or contain energy. Before he practiced Shiatsu, Ron had a career as an audio engineer -- he understands technology and the engineering environments I often am working in. Even though we sometimes we talk about that, his most valuable advice for me comes from his Shiatsu training and practice.

Change Is a Disease >---> ChangeDis

James Bach July 9, 2000

"That idea won't work here, because we're different." is a refrain familiar to the ears of consultants everywhere. Some people respond to this defense by using evidence and argument. I use a different tactic: I say "you're right, it might not work here, because you are different." This works pretty much every time.

Danger: Couple at Work >---> CoupWork

Sharon Marsh Roberts July 2, 2000

When most people look at a couple collaboration, they assume that one of the pair must be the competent one, and the other one must be the pinhead, the dolt, or the nut. For couple collaborations, the challenge is to present both people as competent, personable, and useful.

A Different Kind of Family >---> KindFam

Eileen Strider June 25, 2000

I first experienced a family reconstruction in the 1989 Congruent Leadership Change Workshop. I was stunned by its power. It was as if a special key had been oh-so-gently inserted into this man's lockbox of memories. On that day, I never imagined that one day I would be guiding a reconstruction, or that -- as a guide -- I would still be stunned by its power.

Twenty Years Ago >---> TwentyYears

Steve Smith June 18, 2000

I'm forty-five, with a mainframe background. I often hear complaints from colleagues that younger workers with experience in hot technologies are getting more pay than they are. My colleagues are certain that their own experience entitles them to higher pay. I wonder.

Project Pitfalls >---> ProjPit

James Ward June 11, 2000

Despite the best efforts of the project manager and the project team, organizational forces may work against project success, especially on projects with tight time constraints.

Keep Your Eye on the Prize >---> EyePrize

Pat O'Toole June 4, 2000

Imagine that, six months ago, your senior management directed your SEPG to achieve CMM Level 2 within a year. As an SEPG member, you have invested extensive (some might say "excessive") time and effort generating all the required assets. But you are now having trouble getting the development projects to start using them. What do you do now? Keep your eye on the prize.

Aggressive Congruence >---> AggCongrue

Bob King May 28, 2000

Behaving congruently is hard. I do not always say those tough things that need to be said. I do not always know that the other person can take care of himself or herself. To make good on the opportunity confronting me -- to reach that level of effectiveness that I feel is inside of me -- I must work congruently and aggressively.

An Exercise in Ambiguity >---> ExerAmbig

Naomi Karten May 21, 2000

Do you ever mystify your customers with vague or ambiguous information? Do you ever provide explanations that seem to leave them befuddled? If you want to know if your policies, standards, procedures, instructions, directions, and explanations make sense, don't trust your own instincts.

Software and Society >---> SoftSoc

Don Gray May 14, 2000

In most cases, if we work diligently, we can work our way back down the abstraction ladder to "what the user 'really' means." If we step back though, and look at the higher order abstraction "software," what do we find when we get to the bottom of the ladder?

Watch for Falling Rocks: Unpredictable Risks >---> UnpredRisk

Johanna Rothman May 7, 2000

Successful project managers watch for falling (and fallen) rocks all the time. They constantly assess risk from all directions, and manage the project's progress to avoid the falling rocks, as well as other impediments to the project's success. Some risks you can predict. Other risks you just have to watch for.

Planning for Delays >---> PlanDelay

Jerry Weinberg April 30, 2000

In distributed projects -- or in any project, really -- unplanned delays are a seemingly limitless source of frustration. Since AYE itself is a distributed project, and since we have a detailed email record of almost everything that's happened, it presents a great opportunity to study unplanned delays. This article details some of the delays we've encountered in planning AYE, and how we dealt with them.

Saying "No": A Short Course for Project Managers >---> SayingNo

Rick Brenner April 23, 2000

Have you ever thought "Why did I ever agree to do that?" ? Have you ever wished that you knew better how to say no -- or even how to avoid volunteering to do something -- without suffering undue consequences? Giving a firm and clear No can feel good if it comes from a place of high self-esteem.

Comments or questions? Thanks to Dick Karpinski for creating this concept and getting it started.

Updated: Monday, March 31, 2003