> then you should actually (yes you should, I'll die on this sword) Die on this hill :) You'll certainly die on a sword, but you won't have defended anything in doing so.
Well, bugger. Thank you for the correction.
Why are you so busy?
101–110 of 130 posts
Re: Why are you so busy?
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think this is removed from reality. I think people who are in perma-crunch believing that just over the next hump they'll find level ground are the ones who are removed from reality.
This is spoken like someone that has yet to really face any real and lengthy incredibly stressful life events. I really wish I could be this privileged and out of touch to make a statement like this.
This is spoken like someone who has faced too many lengthy events like this, and doesn't enjoy thinking there may have been a way around some of them.
Re: Why are you so busy?
#103Re: Why are you so busy?
#104A while back I took a couple years off from working. Sometimes I'd still find myself saying "I've just been too busy" when asking myself why I didn't get something done. Didn't take long to realize that "I'm too busy" had been an excuse I had been using to justify poorly thought out priorities. I still haven't fully broken the "I'm too busy" pattern but at least now I know there's a decent chance that I haven't actua…
One has to be fair to oneself too though. Most of us could probably do more in a day's time, than we do. There are consequences though, if one goes to the max for a time. For example we could learn a lot and get a better paid job. However, we might lose some friends, because we did not put any time into interacting with them instead of learning a lot. Just as an example.
So cut yourself some slack too. The balance of that might not be obvious.
Re: Why are you so busy?
#105As a tech lead, when you're asked to deliver more, the first impulse tends to be asking your team "how can we do more work?" The correct question should be "What can we NOT do?" - and usually there's a long list of things that don't generate business value - from processes, meetings, reporting and overly detailed planning sessions to technical hurdles including slow builds, pre-check in hooks, sign off requirements e…
> I know that most feel that they absolutely HAVE to do these things, since there are part of the business process/ definition of done/company guidelines etc...
Anecdote: at current position I've noticed 100% of my team time goes to "these things". As a team lead I tried to figure out the actual necessity. After I've "lost" the half of the team insisting on doing all the rituals the remaining half started to deliver actual value with much less stress.
Re: Why are you so busy?
#106There was a saying: If you want something important to be done, give it to the busiest person, not to a person who is free. The busy people tend to be more efficient and organized. You do not need to explain them what to do -- they can figure out themselves. The people who have free time tend to require external motivation/explanation, so you will end up micromanaging them, wasting your own time.
Or, hear me out: save yourself the trouble and don't build a team of people needing micromanagement in the first place.
Re: Why are you so busy?
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the “doing your work well” part is often the question. Am I really doing all I can? Could I do better/more? This then leads to working more and being busier. Maybe the problem is that it’s hard (for some of us) to know what “well” really means.
This is one reason why I go all in on practices that are backed by data to correlate with business success (CI/CD, DevOps, etc.). Think the Accelerate book. Software development has the added difficulty of being quite a young industry (relatively speaking), but (with tongue in cheek) how can you be expected to do better than practices espoused by industry leading research and companies?
Thanks, that sounds like a good strategy. I’ll have a look at the Accelerate book.
> how can you be expected to do better than practices espoused by industry leading research and companies? True, but not everyone has reasonable expectations :-) In those cases perhaps all that remains is to either have a frank discussion or to part ways.
Re: Why are you so busy?
#108What does this mean: "We’ve modeled the architecture, work, and communications of the team(s) as effectively as you can (with respect to what you can influence)"
I get modeling systems, but can someone enlighten me? This seemed like a straightforward and high quality article, so I'd like to understand every inch of it.
Re: Why are you so busy?
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is spoken like someone that has yet to really face any real and lengthy incredibly stressful life events. I really wish I could be this privileged and out of touch to make a statement like this.
If you want to remain functional during lengthy and stressful life events, it is critical to understand your capacity, prioritize the tasks ahead, seek skilled collaborators/contractors, and forgive yourself for the things you simply cannot do. When a life-crisis turns into an extended campaign, it is essential to know how to prevent yourself from burning out. Burning beyond that level must be reserved for true emerg…
I could be mistaken, yet can't help but imagine divorce when reading such lines:
>When a life-crisis turns into an extended campaign
It's sad to see people trying hard to keep a stoic stance while such a vile thing is being done to them. Why such ruinous dynamics didn't get a society-wide political solution for a decade after decade...
My generation is afraid to marry due to reading such stories.
Re: Why are you so busy?
#110As a tech lead, when you're asked to deliver more, the first impulse tends to be asking your team "how can we do more work?" The correct question should be "What can we NOT do?" - and usually there's a long list of things that don't generate business value - from processes, meetings, reporting and overly detailed planning sessions to technical hurdles including slow builds, pre-check in hooks, sign off requirements e…
This is what I keep telling my (senior) managers. In order to let people do “more X”, you should have available a list of Y they are already doing and Z that will fall below the fold if prioritizing X. If you don’t have that list, any discussion about resources and priorities is an emotional one, not a rational one based on an adequate view of what teams are delivering.