Steven Savage's Blog, page 65

Civic Geek: The Enemy Problem

One of the major problems, perhaps the problem, of American politics is the need for enemies.

This pretty much defines popular “conservative” thought, soaked and saturated in media methods and conspiracy theories.  It’s all about how things would be better except for “those people” – which of course means people who promise to fight “those people” can clean up with legislation, nepotism, favors, and contracts.

But when your whole life is about fighting “those people” with the assumption every...

Steve’s Update 1/1/2018

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr)

Happy Neww Year!  So let’s catch up – and see what’s coming up next!

So what have I done the last week? “A Bridge To The Quiet Planet”: Took a break.  That break lasts this week in theory, though I am making notes.  I want to see if relaxing helps me with it. Way With Worlds Minibook #6: Is out.  Go get it! Seventh Sanctum: The new is out! Blog: Finished up my stuff on my personal agile methods. Other S...

My Personal Agile: End Of Sprint

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr)

The sprint is done. The Retrospective is done. So now what?

You start over again.  Your sprint ended but another one begins right after.  You apply what you learned and move forward.  Agile is about moving forward; its a vehicle not a destination.

Here’s what I do in my Personal Agile when a sprint ends:

Look at the Incubator. Add or subtract things as you need.  Re-order them to fit the priorities you have – which probably c...

My Personal Agile: The End-Of-Sprint Retrospective

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr)

So your sprint is done. Congrats. Now it’s time for the Retrospective!

The Retrospective is a big part of Scrum, and there are variants of it in a variety of Agile practices. It’s simply sitting down and asking yourself “how did it go,” finding things to improve, and improving them.

It sounds simple, and it is. That’s the point. It’s an obvious, common sense thing to do is regularly review and improve. It’s just not common eno...

My Personal Agile: Visualization

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr)

So you’ve just started your own sprint.  You’ve got a nice big spreadsheet.  You may like that (I do) but if you’ve done any agile research you may ask:

“Why the heck are we doing this in a Spreadsheet?”

There are a lot of tools for organization and time management: Trello, Smartsheets, and my beloved Rally.  Why aren’t I using them here?

A few reasons – none admittedly all that noble.

I am deliberately avoiding more sophisti...

Civic Diary: Conflict And Construction

Well, got behind on a lot of these.  So I’m back at it

Steve’s Update 12/18/2017

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr)

It’s my weekly Scrum style standup for my audience, so what’s up?

So what have I done the last week? “A Bridge To The Quiet Planet”: Edited out to Chapter 9.  The plan is to get the first run done before/around Christmas, then take a break.  I’m also working on the revised plot outline for the second run – which will take 2 months. Way With Worlds Minibook #6: My editor keeps getting hammered, but hoped to have it early this...

My Personal Agile: Work

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr)

Now let’s get on to the next step of my Personal Agile – doing actual work! You’ve got your Sprint Backlog, which is everything you plan to do this sprint (a month) so let’s go.

How Do I Start?

Every day I look at my Sprint Backlog and figure what I should do and want to do. Then I do it. In time you get into a rhythm where you unconsciously know what you want to get done – usually.

Yeah, that’s it. A daily review – maybe more...

My Personal Agile: Your First Sprint

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr)

Congrats. All that work last time? You’re ready to start a sprint in my Personal Agile. First, let’s review.

Last time you build a spreadsheet (or equivalent) to track:

The Incubator – All the stuff you want to do eventually. The Backlog – You took the stuff that you really want to do out of the Inacubator, broke it down, and detailed it enough that someday you can do it.  These are things you’re very sure you want to get to....

Steve’s Update 12/13/2017

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr)

It’s my weekly Scrum style standup for my audience, so what’s up?  Well, OK it’s late.  Sorry – long week.

So what have I done the last week? “A Bridge To The Quiet Planet”: I’ve edited out to chapter 6.  My goal is an intial pass this month, taking a lot of notes, and the BIG rewrite will be January-Feburary, with a tightening effort in march. Way With Worlds Minibook #6: Editor will have it to me this weekend and the cover...