This is an extremely tardy weeknote that’s just sneaking in before the next one is due! To be fair, Friday (which is my chosen weeknoting day) was a bit of a mad dash as I attempted to do a series of video calls, pack and bugger off to Tenby all before 6pm. In retrospect, I can see how my rampant optimism may have set me up to fail. Meh, it got published which is what counts.

Working twice as hard to stand still

This week has been mostly about wrapping up loose ends before heading out on holiday leave. Someone commented during a call that holiday leave feels like you’ve got to work twice as hard in the run up to hope that everything stays on the rails whilst you’re off. There’s definitely something about impending leave looming that helps focus on getting shit done. Whilst I do try to timebox work to emulate a boundary between starting and finishing things, it doesn’t quite feel the same as the.. fear? .. of leaving something unfinished and then disappearing for a week or two.

Productivity and effectiveness

This is something that’s playing on my mind of late. As a team you can be absolutely flat out doing things. But it counts for naught if all the work doesn’t result in value. The tricky bit is of course understanding exactly what the value is and who it’s valuable to.

I’m reminded of this quote..

“There’s always more to build than you have people, time and money for. Always.”

User Story Mapping, Page 21, Chapter 2 – Plan to build less

There will always be more to do that you’ve got capacity for. So I think it’s sensible to regularly check if you are directing your time and energy in the right areas. It also means knowing when to stop persisting with something that isn’t delivering in the way you’ve hoped. This is a really challenging one for me as my generally easy going demeanor hides a stubborn streak. Over the years I’ve adopted some different approaches to help sort the logic of a situation from the emotion which mostly works. I think there’s also an element here of idealism versus pragmatism. How does the saying go? Strong beliefs loosely held?

Interesting things

• On becoming a new service owner – https://digital-land.github.io/blog-post/beta-team
• Avoiding a walled garden for open data – https://drblangry.notion.site/Avoiding-a-walled-garden-for-open-data-76a7e8187d56417bb18d11fa920b1b81
• “Work stress is more a reflection of whether workers are engaged with their jobs, rather than whether they are WFH.” – https://twitter.com/brucedaisley/status/1668591731862896641
• “Unlike a feature-based roadmap that shows the single road you will take, an opportunity solution tree is a true roadmap, showing the many roads you might take.” – https://twitter.com/ttorres/status/1669487454980546562
• Jennifer Mills News – https://jennifermillsnews.tumblr.com/