On Thu, Dec 17, 2015 at 12:12 PM, Max Binder <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Fri, Dec 11, 2015 at 7:59 AM, Kristen Lans <[email protected]> wrote: > >> This was an interesting read related to the notion of "Starters, >> Finishers, and Implementers": >> >> https://hbr.org/2011/06/how-to-become-a-great-finisher >> > > Any reason to not send this on the public list? > > Also > > Great managers create Great Finishers by reminding their employees to keep >> their eyes on the prize, and are careful to avoid giving effusive praise or >> rewards for hitting milestones “along the way.” Encouragement is important, >> but to keep your team motivated, save the accolades for a job well — and >> completely — done. > > > I feel like Lyssa Adkins says something to this suggestion in Coaching > Agile Teams. > > I finally got back around to reading this article, and am shifting this thread to the public list. I liked that the the article didn't just say "finish stuff", but gave one concrete tip to do so: Focus on what remains to be done, rather than what you have completed so far. Although I suspect I have a natural tendency to focus on what has been done, I do very often step back and ask "Ok, exactly what will it take to finish this?" Apparently that's a healthier habit than I realized, and one that I will try to do more of. This psychological trick (of focusing on what remains to be done) aligns well with burndown charts, and to a lesser degree, burnup charts. Those charts focus attention on the gap between where we are and the target line. Max's point becomes tricky when developing software. Clearly, prior to hitting a milestone, you would want to give encouraging pushes toward finishing that milestone. But after a milestone, you shouldn't celebrate? Ouch! And if you wait for a piece of software to be "finished" before celebrating...well....as we know, software is *never* finished. At that point, you're talking about putting people on an endless death march. An answer, I think, might be to treat each milestone as a point of full completion. Push to hit it, and celebrate it. Then reset everything, and focus on what's left to hit the next milestone. Don't count up how many milestones you have hit. If anything, track the number of milestones remaining. Kevin Smith Agile Coach, Wikimedia Foundation
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