Program Manager
- Project Manager
- Product Manager
- Architect
Define the capabilities and responsibilities expected of each. What does a "Principal Project Manager" do? How do they enable a team to deliver more predictably? What would you do with a project manager with 20+ years experience?
> There are better ways, but they eat at the profit margin if you were only to maximize on profit, yield, and market value. If the goal, however, is towards the well-being of the community and the land in which things are farmed, then there are many methods with which we can accomplish that while still feeding people without requiring a huge amount of labor. But it comes from a different way of seeing the world.
These goals are compatible. They require a government body, representing the well-being of the community, willing to tax externalities and use the funds to invest in revitalization.
However, expecting government to be economically responsible is about as likely as expecting profit-maximizing corporate entities to be socially responsible.
I'm a member of several private slack and discord groups. They are my 'cozy web' and support network. Some are alumni from a certain employer, some are subject matter focused.
1. We have many maps, models, or concepts - different ways of viewing the same situation. How we choose which map is often more important than the overall accuracy of our maps. Changing perspective often beats getting more accurate data.
2. There is no reason to have any emotional or sentimental attachment to one’s knowledge. Think of “your knowledge” the same way you would think of “your map collection”. Edit (or discard) them with extreme prejudice!
I've always thought there should be an "other help" movement alongside "self help."
Some of the content could include guidelines for being available while setting firm boundaries, dealing with caregiver fatigue, setting up healthy habits that loop another person without annoying them.
I would love to offer a couch to a friend in need, if I knew I could count on them not to abuse it, that they'd make steady progress, and that there's a deadline for when we get our lives back to normal. Unfortunately whenever I do try to help out it usually ends up enabling continuing the problematic behavior.
1. Incorporate documentation updates into your definition of done - at the task, sprint, and project level.
2. Always have an agenda. Always have someone taking notes. Notes must be reference-able (public slack channels count, wiki is better, email doesn't).
3. The first item on all new hire's onboarding: every time you learn something that's not in the documentation, or incorrect, update it. You will be explaining this to the next new hire.
4. Hire a journalism major intern to conduct interviews and cultivate archives.
This smacks of anxiety and FOMO. Thinking like this would drive me absolutely paranoid. Life is much more stochastic than this.
Yes, it is likely that in retrospect a few select hours of work may have unlocked huge value. You don't know which hours in advance. It is highly unlikely that one missed day will derail your life.
It's highly more likely that a wasted day was necessary to recover from a lingering illness, fatigue, or stress. It's OK to have an impromptu sabbath.
One tactic I've learned is to set aside time to focus on relaxation. Ambitious people assume intention should be applied towards productivity, but relaxation is required for us to function at high capacity. Do not assume idle or distracted time is rejuvenating. Plan it.
I've found that you can't rush relaxation, but you can enjoy higher quality relaxation. Watching youtube videos, reading reddit, or playing a videogame will relax me in a sort of listless, not-quite-satisfied way. Similar to eating chips as an entire meal leaves you feeling full but not nourished.
Meanwhile, a long walk with the dog and a podcast leaves me eager to jump into the next thing. But it requires focus, thought, and effort to get into - a higher activation potential than scrolling on a phone.
Program Manager - Project Manager - Product Manager - Architect
Define the capabilities and responsibilities expected of each. What does a "Principal Project Manager" do? How do they enable a team to deliver more predictably? What would you do with a project manager with 20+ years experience?
Same for each of the others.