We woke up to find the Amazon package staring at us by the door.
In it, three wall hangers that we bought to hang their little jackets.
The kids rush to open and lay out the package contents on the floor, I go downstairs to grab the tools.
The goal was clear enough and after some planning, we start drilling.
My youngest was eager to help, but only the oldest could take part, in placing his hands on top of mine while I held the drill.
We choose the smallest drill. The most discreet location between two tiles.
The damage would barely be noticeable should we need to abort.
The drill neatly penetrates the plaster layer in between the tiles, and we start feeling our way through.
Thirty seconds in and only halfway through, we can't drill further.
We hit the reinforced concrete layer.
I explain what just happened to the kids. We take a moment to reevaluate.
I explain that, to go further, we'd need a different type of drill we do not have.
Progress just doesn't seem possible without that drill.
They decide to scour the rest of the package.
In it, they find three tailor made suction cups that we decide to place on top of the clean tiles.
It works.
The hangers fit in perfectly. They hold the required weight. They stick and do not fall off.
They hung their jackets with a big smile.
Why am I talking about house chores?
Because all of this is how you would normally reason through a task as mundane as this.
For software though: it's not tangible; you can't see the drill in real-time; you can't feel the physical feedback through the wall; the feedback loop is longer; the alternative search space is much broader, such that you can be paralysed by too many choices; and many more differences that broadly apply to knowledge work in general.
Yet quite some things do transfer from house chores to knowledge work.
Since neither managers nor engineers are able to see how far the drill is into the wall, we need to have some form of understanding if we're blocked.
Because sometimes the manager is not even in the same room where the drilling is taking place - she might be in another room orchestrating the next round of house improvements.
Often, these progress-update types of information come in the form of a standup meetings.
Can you imagine how it would be if during standup we would go round to each engineer explain:
* for how long they drilled
* the type of drill used
* the technique employed to drill?
If you're looking to get your goal achieved, wouldn't it be better to what you would do in the real world:
* primarily focus on by how much the drill has moved into the wall
* if unacceptable progress is being made, reassess the situation?
It's about tracking rate of progress towards the goal. Tracking who does the work is secondary to that.
In essence during standups we are primarily interested in knowing:
Are we hitting concrete?
In it, three wall hangers that we bought to hang their little jackets.
The kids rush to open and lay out the package contents on the floor, I go downstairs to grab the tools.
The goal was clear enough and after some planning, we start drilling.
My youngest was eager to help, but only the oldest could take part, in placing his hands on top of mine while I held the drill.
We choose the smallest drill. The most discreet location between two tiles.
The damage would barely be noticeable should we need to abort.
The drill neatly penetrates the plaster layer in between the tiles, and we start feeling our way through.
Thirty seconds in and only halfway through, we can't drill further.
We hit the reinforced concrete layer.
I explain what just happened to the kids. We take a moment to reevaluate.
I explain that, to go further, we'd need a different type of drill we do not have.
Progress just doesn't seem possible without that drill.
They decide to scour the rest of the package.
In it, they find three tailor made suction cups that we decide to place on top of the clean tiles.
It works.
The hangers fit in perfectly. They hold the required weight. They stick and do not fall off.
They hung their jackets with a big smile.
Why am I talking about house chores?
Because all of this is how you would normally reason through a task as mundane as this.
For software though: it's not tangible; you can't see the drill in real-time; you can't feel the physical feedback through the wall; the feedback loop is longer; the alternative search space is much broader, such that you can be paralysed by too many choices; and many more differences that broadly apply to knowledge work in general.
Yet quite some things do transfer from house chores to knowledge work.
Since neither managers nor engineers are able to see how far the drill is into the wall, we need to have some form of understanding if we're blocked.
Because sometimes the manager is not even in the same room where the drilling is taking place - she might be in another room orchestrating the next round of house improvements.
Often, these progress-update types of information come in the form of a standup meetings.
Can you imagine how it would be if during standup we would go round to each engineer explain:
* for how long they drilled
* the type of drill used
* the technique employed to drill?
If you're looking to get your goal achieved, wouldn't it be better to what you would do in the real world:
* primarily focus on by how much the drill has moved into the wall
* if unacceptable progress is being made, reassess the situation?
It's about tracking rate of progress towards the goal. Tracking who does the work is secondary to that.
In essence during standups we are primarily interested in knowing:
Are we hitting concrete?
JN