Links & notes for 2023-11
This month: 4 articles and an online course.
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Links & notes for 2023-10
3 articles, a case study, 2 books, and an upcoming event.
![Dan’s Device: “Now that I see it… [it’s completely wrong.]”](/content/images/size/w600/2023/09/photo-1470790376778-a9fbc86d70e2.jpeg)
Dan’s Device: “Now that I see it… [it’s completely wrong.]”
What comes after “now that I see it” & why you need to hear it as early as possible.
Noticing little things & little thinks
Noticing at work. Noticing on the cushion. And noticing while out and about. These three are related, but I am still figuring out how.
Starting a new project? 3 things to figure out immediately
The things I do before I do anything, and why they’re worth the effort.
Open space technology, principle 3: “Whenever it starts is the right time”
Each moment prefigures the next. But in certain moments, a huge change can begin.
Disconnected improvement events fail. What to do about that
Instead of drawing a box around the problem, tether it to something important.
My 4 favorite Liberating Structures for continuous improvement
Why Liberating Structures & lean make a great combo.
The world of silence: marking Disability Pride Month
Being a hearing-impaired person whose job is to listen. Quiet, noise, and rest.
Using Liberating Structures to facilitate continuous improvement
You’ve gathered everyone together around a problem. Now what?
23 reasons to write online
Write to dispel the curse of knowledge, to find your people, and to become.
The jewel of resistance
Resistance to change is precious. Here’s how to make the most of it.
On doing more with less
More of what? Less of what? 90 years ago, Bucky Fuller had a very different answer.
Premortem: before starting a new project, learn why it will end in failure
A simple method for uncovering big, “undiscussable” risks to a project.
Merely being the person you are
The consulting advice that made me a better person (and a more effective consultant).
Open space technology, principle 2: “Whatever happens is the only thing that could have”
Planning for a facilitated event involves being ready to throw the plan away.
Facilitation
The Strategy / Culture Bicycle: one picture that replaces an infinite amount of bullshit
A strategy method that gets right at the good stuff.
Continuous improvement
On speeding things up
What I've learned from the hourglass and the snake.
Facilitation
How to make any meeting better with 3 simple fenceposts
Identify a purpose, rational aim, and experiential aim—quick action with a huge effect.
Continuous improvement
5 ways to approach goal-setting. Only one is worth a damn
Why it’s better to have an impossible goal than a goal you meet-and-exceed every time.
Continuous improvement
Ditching ‘assume good faith’ as a way to talk about respect
Time to fix problems at the source rather than tolerate awful behavior.
Continuous improvement
Optimization & other failures
“By what method?” ... “To what end?”
Learning
Lee’s Law: a URL for every idea
“Every idea should have a URL, bonus points if one does not have to make the URL oneself.”
Continuous improvement
Want water? Get a bucket. Want improvement? Get PDSA
Back to basics with the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle.
Learning
Make your next presentation a spiral, not a line
Cycling through your main point helps your audience. Here’s how.
Continuous improvement
Winning’s the great deodorant
John Madden and Ed Catmull get me through a tough week.
Facilitation
End your meetings with this short, powerful question
“What did you notice?”
Learning
2 ways to get better at guessing
Try out your guesses; write them down.
Continuous improvement
Some things—like pancakes—you pretty much have to finish once you start them
Would you rather have five half-cooked pancakes or two good ones?
Facilitation
Open space technology, principle 1: “Whoever comes is the right people”
What's the use of a crowd?
Continuous improvement
A lousy time to be a good idea
“We send our hypotheses ahead, an expendable army, and watch them fall.”
Continuous improvement
How I learned to speak about changes when 19 out of 20 people would rather I shut the hell up
Nobody wants to hear it from the consultant.