I haven't posted on my blog for a long time. One of the reasons is that I'm in the middle of getting divorced. When the ex-to-be said she wanted to separate it caught me by surprise, although on reflection it isn't so much of a surprise. I won't go into the details, that's not what I want to focus on.
I moved out about six weeks ago. I have all three boys every other weekend, the 11-year-old by himself on Monday nights, and on Wednesday nights I alternate between the eight-year-old and the 18-month-old. The adjustment has been tough for all of us. For me, this is my first time ever living alone. I've always at least had a roommate. The house is very quiet when it's just me. Sometimes that's nice, sometimes it's not, but it always feels weird. I assume that eventually I'll get used to it.
I had the eight-year-old this evening. He was really upset for a while when he got here, but once I got some food into him he calmed down. We outside and ate dinner. he was sitting in the rocking chair again. He does a better job of staying at the table and eating when he sits in the rocking chair. I may have to move it into the house come winter.
He engaged with me really well after dinner. He was dragging a chair around the yard, smiling and giggling. I took several pictures of him, but I didn't manage to catch the smile. We played "I'm going to get you" for a long time. We ran back and forth across the yard. He was looking back over his shoulder at me. I haven't managed to get that level of engagement for quite a while. I don't think it would happen if the 18-month-old had been here with us. It's hard to focus on the eight-year-old when the 18-month-old is around.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Monday, September 15, 2008
A challenge
I was reading a post on the blog Slow Leadership today in which the author challenged people to take 1 principal from 1 self-help book that really resonates with them, make a concerted effort to put it into action every day for 6 months, and journal around it daily.
I've decided to take Habit 3, Put First Things First, from Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
Wish me luck.
I've decided to take Habit 3, Put First Things First, from Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
Wish me luck.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Book review: Implementing Lean Software Development
I just finished reading Mary and Tom Poppendieck's book Implementing Lean Software Development: From Concept to Cash. There is a lot to the book. I think it will take me multiple readings to get my head around all of their ideas. I read the book over the course of about a month. I wish that I had been able to read the whole thing in one big chunk, but that wasn't feasible.
The book begins with a chapter on the history of Lean production and its origins at Toyota. I was familiar with the broad outlines of Lean production, but there was a lot of interesting detail I didn't know.
The second chapter describes the adaptation of Lean to software development and lays out the seven principals of Lean development.
The last two chapters are entitled Partners, and Journey. Partners has some really interesting ideas on how to structure incentives so that everyone--individuals, teams, contractors, even partner companies, are all aligned to create synergies and increase value for all parties involved.
The Journey offers ideas on how to begin using Lean methods in your environment. It builds on the "Try This" sections that end each chapter.
There are a lot of really interesting ideas in this book. I've been thinking a lot about how I want to apply them.
One thing that I've realized is that I'm not as clear as I need to be on how my team provides value. And that really matters, because that should be driving decisions about what we do. My team builds automated testing tools that are used internally at a company that makes "Application Delivery Networking" hardware. We also operate the test systems. We used to write automated tests, but now that is mostly done by another group. So what is our primary contribution of value? Is it the capabilities that we deliver to the team that writes the tests? Is it the results that come out of the test systems that we operate? When I have to make trade-offs between those two tasks, which one should be more important?
Another point that Lean has driven home for me is that my team has too much work in progress. We have lots of ideas that we'd like to implement. We also get lots of requests from people. If we meet our goals for the current Sprint (which is far from certain at this point), we will complete about 150 story points worth of work for this release. I already have 145 story points queued up for the next release--and that's with only half of the backlog items estimated. My "high priority" list of work to do after the stuff in the queue is equally large, with equally incomplete estimates.
One of the ideas that I liked and am going to be thinking about is using automation to remove low-skilled, repetitive tasks, especially if they are mistake-prone. There was a list of examples of automation:
When we did our last release, we had trouble getting a build out and getting everyone notified. At the review of our last sprint, people had trouble demoing some of the work because not all the boxes were set up the same way. We need some automation here.
Moving forward, I'm going to start devoting some time out of our weekly team meeting to discussing the Lean principals and figuring out how we can apply them.
That should generate plenty of new blog entries!
The book begins with a chapter on the history of Lean production and its origins at Toyota. I was familiar with the broad outlines of Lean production, but there was a lot of interesting detail I didn't know.
The second chapter describes the adaptation of Lean to software development and lays out the seven principals of Lean development.
- Eliminate Waste
- Build Quality In
- Create Knowledge
- Defer Commitment
- Deliver Fast
- Respect People
- Optimize the Whole
The last two chapters are entitled Partners, and Journey. Partners has some really interesting ideas on how to structure incentives so that everyone--individuals, teams, contractors, even partner companies, are all aligned to create synergies and increase value for all parties involved.
The Journey offers ideas on how to begin using Lean methods in your environment. It builds on the "Try This" sections that end each chapter.
There are a lot of really interesting ideas in this book. I've been thinking a lot about how I want to apply them.
One thing that I've realized is that I'm not as clear as I need to be on how my team provides value. And that really matters, because that should be driving decisions about what we do. My team builds automated testing tools that are used internally at a company that makes "Application Delivery Networking" hardware. We also operate the test systems. We used to write automated tests, but now that is mostly done by another group. So what is our primary contribution of value? Is it the capabilities that we deliver to the team that writes the tests? Is it the results that come out of the test systems that we operate? When I have to make trade-offs between those two tasks, which one should be more important?
Another point that Lean has driven home for me is that my team has too much work in progress. We have lots of ideas that we'd like to implement. We also get lots of requests from people. If we meet our goals for the current Sprint (which is far from certain at this point), we will complete about 150 story points worth of work for this release. I already have 145 story points queued up for the next release--and that's with only half of the backlog items estimated. My "high priority" list of work to do after the stuff in the queue is equally large, with equally incomplete estimates.
One of the ideas that I liked and am going to be thinking about is using automation to remove low-skilled, repetitive tasks, especially if they are mistake-prone. There was a list of examples of automation:
- One Click Build
- Scheduled Builds
- Build Result Notification
- One-Step Release
- Bullet-Proof Installation
- Build Acceptance Test
- Automated Unit Tests
- Scheduled Regression Test Runs
When we did our last release, we had trouble getting a build out and getting everyone notified. At the review of our last sprint, people had trouble demoing some of the work because not all the boxes were set up the same way. We need some automation here.
Moving forward, I'm going to start devoting some time out of our weekly team meeting to discussing the Lean principals and figuring out how we can apply them.
That should generate plenty of new blog entries!
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Creativity
Another book that I read recently is Richard Florida's The Rise of the Creative Class
. His thesis is that human creativity is the ultimate economic resource, and people who make their living primarily through exercising their creativity are becoming the dominant class in America and other economically advanced countries. He offers lots of data, charts, and statistics. He profiles various parts of the country, ranking them by creativity, tolerance, and technology.
One of the things that Florida sites as important in building a first-class creative city is creating a vibrant street-life, filled with cafes, clubs, galleries, etc. Seattle, my home for nearly twenty years now, ranks #3 on his "Creativity" index. Recently the mayor of Seattle proposed regulatory changes to make it easier to get a license for a sidewalk cafe. Apparently Seattle does understand some of the things that really matter for building a first class creative economy.
The other piece of the book that particularly caught my eye was when he talked about the differences between companies that truly understand how to get the best from creative workers and old-style companies. Old style companies, he says, put the senior management in big corner offices away from everyone else and put low-ranking workers at or near the central parts of the office. New-style companies put open spaces in the central part of the office, with managers near the open spaces.
This reminded me of some of the companies that I've worked at over the years. As a software engineer I've worked at some companies that were extremely successful, that clearly showed they were able to get the best out of their workers. Those companies (F5 Networks, Microsoft) followed that model of open spaces for people to congregate near the center of the building, and keeping even senior pretty management in offices that were just like everyone else's.
By contrast, one company that I worked at recently had their engineers crammed into tiny spaces while the executives had very large offices that were set off in the corner, away from everyone else. I remember looking at the offices of the CEO and the COO and being offended at the size of their offices, especially when they were cramming 6 programming managers into a conference room because there wasn't any cubical space left.
. His thesis is that human creativity is the ultimate economic resource, and people who make their living primarily through exercising their creativity are becoming the dominant class in America and other economically advanced countries. He offers lots of data, charts, and statistics. He profiles various parts of the country, ranking them by creativity, tolerance, and technology.One of the things that Florida sites as important in building a first-class creative city is creating a vibrant street-life, filled with cafes, clubs, galleries, etc. Seattle, my home for nearly twenty years now, ranks #3 on his "Creativity" index. Recently the mayor of Seattle proposed regulatory changes to make it easier to get a license for a sidewalk cafe. Apparently Seattle does understand some of the things that really matter for building a first class creative economy.
The other piece of the book that particularly caught my eye was when he talked about the differences between companies that truly understand how to get the best from creative workers and old-style companies. Old style companies, he says, put the senior management in big corner offices away from everyone else and put low-ranking workers at or near the central parts of the office. New-style companies put open spaces in the central part of the office, with managers near the open spaces.
This reminded me of some of the companies that I've worked at over the years. As a software engineer I've worked at some companies that were extremely successful, that clearly showed they were able to get the best out of their workers. Those companies (F5 Networks, Microsoft) followed that model of open spaces for people to congregate near the center of the building, and keeping even senior pretty management in offices that were just like everyone else's.
By contrast, one company that I worked at recently had their engineers crammed into tiny spaces while the executives had very large offices that were set off in the corner, away from everyone else. I remember looking at the offices of the CEO and the COO and being offended at the size of their offices, especially when they were cramming 6 programming managers into a conference room because there wasn't any cubical space left.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Crazy
I just finished reading the book Crazy: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness
, by Pete Earley. It chronicles emergence of mental illness (bi-polar) in Earley's son and his travails trying to get treatment and stay out of the justice system. Interwoven with his son's story are the stories of four mentally ill people whom Earley connects with through the Miami/Dade County Jail system, which gave him wide-ranging access.
The book was disturbing on many levels, but it got to me on a personal level as I thought about my kids. The recurring motif throughout the book is that it's extremely difficult to get appropriate treatment, especially for those who need it the most. Civil-rights laws have given mentally ill patients an unquestioned right to refuse treatment, regardless of their level of competence. At the same time, the state hospitals that used to be available to provide treatment (even if it wasn't good treatment), have largely been shut down. The community mental-health centers that were supposed to replace them largely failed to appear.
The ten-year-old has shown some signs of both mood and thought disorders. This spring we had to make changes to his medications because he was hearing voices telling him to hurt people. The prospect of him being both autistic and mentally ill, and me not being able to ensure that he takes his medication, is terrifying.
The seven-year-old is almost certainly going to have to live in some sort of assisted-living setting. For him to live independently will require a rate of improvement that verges on miraculous. And we know an awful lot of children like him in his age cohort. There isn't going to be anywhere to put them all once we parents are no longer able to care for them. In order to pay for his long-term care, we'll need to leave him a multi-million dollar inheritance. Right now that seems unlikely.
I hope our country wakes up from it's Republican-induced slumber and remembers that as a society we have obligations to all of our citizens, not just the rich ones. Otherwise I don't know what will happen to our children.
, by Pete Earley. It chronicles emergence of mental illness (bi-polar) in Earley's son and his travails trying to get treatment and stay out of the justice system. Interwoven with his son's story are the stories of four mentally ill people whom Earley connects with through the Miami/Dade County Jail system, which gave him wide-ranging access.The book was disturbing on many levels, but it got to me on a personal level as I thought about my kids. The recurring motif throughout the book is that it's extremely difficult to get appropriate treatment, especially for those who need it the most. Civil-rights laws have given mentally ill patients an unquestioned right to refuse treatment, regardless of their level of competence. At the same time, the state hospitals that used to be available to provide treatment (even if it wasn't good treatment), have largely been shut down. The community mental-health centers that were supposed to replace them largely failed to appear.
The ten-year-old has shown some signs of both mood and thought disorders. This spring we had to make changes to his medications because he was hearing voices telling him to hurt people. The prospect of him being both autistic and mentally ill, and me not being able to ensure that he takes his medication, is terrifying.
The seven-year-old is almost certainly going to have to live in some sort of assisted-living setting. For him to live independently will require a rate of improvement that verges on miraculous. And we know an awful lot of children like him in his age cohort. There isn't going to be anywhere to put them all once we parents are no longer able to care for them. In order to pay for his long-term care, we'll need to leave him a multi-million dollar inheritance. Right now that seems unlikely.
I hope our country wakes up from it's Republican-induced slumber and remembers that as a society we have obligations to all of our citizens, not just the rich ones. Otherwise I don't know what will happen to our children.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Really well organized...
I was talking with the V.P. that my manager reports to earlier this week. He and my manager proposed that I take on the role of "Release Czar" for the next major release of the company's flagship product. It's kind of a big deal, and certainly a big career growth opportunity for me.
One of the reasons he mentioned that they thought I'd be good for the task was that "you're really well organized." I was slightly taken aback when he said this. I don't think of myself as being well organized. In fact, I think of myself as disorganized by nature.
I was talking with my wife about it that evening. She said that these days, I am pretty well organized. Thinking about it, I realized that it is true. In fact, it's something that I've been working on pretty hard over the last year or two.
It's nice to have external validation that I'm succeeding in becoming more organized.
One of the reasons he mentioned that they thought I'd be good for the task was that "you're really well organized." I was slightly taken aback when he said this. I don't think of myself as being well organized. In fact, I think of myself as disorganized by nature.
I was talking with my wife about it that evening. She said that these days, I am pretty well organized. Thinking about it, I realized that it is true. In fact, it's something that I've been working on pretty hard over the last year or two.
It's nice to have external validation that I'm succeeding in becoming more organized.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Everything in its place
The seven-year-old has a very strong sense of order. It's been evident for years. As a two-year-old, he used to drink a bottle of milk while watching Bedtime Stories and Songs (a Sesame Street video). He knew that bottles were supposed to go in the sink when he was done. He had to get that bottle in the sink when he finished it. Some nights he be practically asleep, but he'd rouse himself to run into the kitchen and toss the bottle into the sink. Occasionally he'd drop the bottle and it would roll under the TV stand where he couldn't reach it. Then all hell would break loose and he'd throw a big fit until one of us retrieved it for him.
I've written previously about his tendency to confuse trash, shoes, and dirty clothes and put them all in the same place. I haven't mentioned the way he will jump out of bed in the middle of the night and pick up any dirty cloths off the floor. He knows that dirty cloths belong in the hamper. When we started toilet training him, he learned that when he took off a diaper it should go into the waste basket. Then we started putting underwear on him. The underwear also went into the waste basket. That was probably the origin of confusing waste baskets and laundry baskets.
The latest manifestation started a few weeks ago. He stared grabbing random items off the counters and tables around the house and throwing them away. We think he was saying that there was too much clutter. So we're trying to reduce the amount of clutter and increase the level of order. So far I've managed to get the kitchen counters cleaned off and keep them fairly clear for two weeks (a new record for us). I've also thrown out or moved to the garage a lot of stuff that was in the file cabinet and the storage cabinets in the family room. (Four years ago we took out all our bookcases when the seven-year-old went through a phase of pulling books off the shelves at random and tearing out pages. Now we have cabinets with doors instead).
I remember telling my wife a couple of years ago that we were probably going to have to become much more organized in order to thrive. Now the seven-year-old is pushing me to make that move.
I've written previously about his tendency to confuse trash, shoes, and dirty clothes and put them all in the same place. I haven't mentioned the way he will jump out of bed in the middle of the night and pick up any dirty cloths off the floor. He knows that dirty cloths belong in the hamper. When we started toilet training him, he learned that when he took off a diaper it should go into the waste basket. Then we started putting underwear on him. The underwear also went into the waste basket. That was probably the origin of confusing waste baskets and laundry baskets.
The latest manifestation started a few weeks ago. He stared grabbing random items off the counters and tables around the house and throwing them away. We think he was saying that there was too much clutter. So we're trying to reduce the amount of clutter and increase the level of order. So far I've managed to get the kitchen counters cleaned off and keep them fairly clear for two weeks (a new record for us). I've also thrown out or moved to the garage a lot of stuff that was in the file cabinet and the storage cabinets in the family room. (Four years ago we took out all our bookcases when the seven-year-old went through a phase of pulling books off the shelves at random and tearing out pages. Now we have cabinets with doors instead).
I remember telling my wife a couple of years ago that we were probably going to have to become much more organized in order to thrive. Now the seven-year-old is pushing me to make that move.
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