Partnership & Possibilities

Today I read a blog by Daragh Farrell at Thoughtworks. Daragh tells the story of a team that had returned to holding retrospectives and expresses amazement at the positive effect of the ritual on team development. Retrospective boosters (like me) tend to stress the role of retrospectives in process improvement and product quality […]

This week I’m engaged and enlightened at the Consultants’ Retreat and Network, held in Newport, Oregon, on the beautiful central Oregon coast. An impressive cast of consultants and brilliant significant others have gathered to discuss consulting in all its aspects. We use an Open Space format so that every session on our agenda holds compelling […]

“I don’t want her/him/them to make the same mistakes I made!” “I hope you learn from my experience!” “See what happened to him/them?!” “If you knew what I’ve been through, you wouldn’t do that!” “We tried that once and it didn’t work.” Sound familiar?
When this sage advice is unappreciated or ignored, it’s followed closely […]

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the importance of striking a balance–finding a way to accommodate seemingly contradictory conditions–and how frequently that can make or break an interaction or relationship. High performing individuals, leaders and teams constantly acknowledge and embrace the paradoxes that come from successful balance.
When in balance, we show our strengths and disclose […]

The word “team” gets tossed about with startling abandon. I’ve heard upper level managers refer to a division or department as a “team.” (An even more egregious error occurs when the same group is referred to as a “family.” But I digress.) What is a team really? In my last posting, I asserted six conditions […]

I’m writing my first official blog entry ever from the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC). It’s a great little conference in its 23rd year of focus on Testing, QA and generally improving the quality of the software we deliver.
Yesterday, I presented two tutorials with my friend and colleague, Esther Derby—a workshop about retrospectives […]