People Are Not "The Process"
I was reminded this week of two situations where I errantly judged the value of Processes by the actions of individuals (aka “the People”) claiming to follow and execute it.
The first was Agile / Scrum.
I am a Certified Scrum Master (CSM) and have acted as a ScrumMaster for multiple teams during my over 20-year career in software development. I am a proponent of Scrum and other Agile methodologies where appropriate, but my introduction to the process was near its anti-thesis.
Instead of developing software through building self-managing, self-organizing teams that pulled and estimated work from a prioritized backlog, this experience was a self-appointed “expert” who consistently showed up late for meetings, set estimates, dates, and made decisions lacking the available information. It was frankly the most un-Scrum, non-Agile working construct that could be created by someone who knew the buzzwords but was lost on the principles behind it.
It was such a disaster that when I was introduced to Scrum / Agile later, an instructor asked “what anyone knew anything about the Scrum methodology?”
My response was less than positive. (Thankfully, he responded in a much more positive fashion asking “Why I felt that way?” instead of immediately taking offense or escalating to an equally-ineffective response! Kudos David Atwood!)
The second was Lean / Six Sigma.
The idea of eliminating waste is an amazing on-going process of improvement. So long as your focus is on improvements of activities overall and not sub-optimizing the “jobs” of individuals, it is a great organizational exercise.
When I first encountered LSS, it was hearing about the Six Sigma “Black Belt Expert” who was being hired to direct the execution of a specific project. Unfortunately for the project, the “expert” was more interested in the process than the actual requirements of the project. Approaching product release after six months of process improvements & elimination of waste, there had still not been a single coordinated test executed under conditions that would match public use.
The ensuing release failure & subsequent reschedule for re-release led to his eventual departure, but was a lesson to me that understanding the objectives/requirements, people involved, and processes you intend to follow are all equal pillars of success.
My key takeaway from both was a realization that processes can be good or bad, but they are ultimately successful or failures as a result of the people following them.
Remember that the next time someone presents any “fool-proof” plan or process for you to adopt. There is no such thing as “fool-proof” because frankly we, humans, seem to keep making better ones!
This is the final Joe Hyams quote that I lifted from The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes. (You can check out my review of the book at this link.)
We expend a lot of effort trying to “fix” things external to us, but as Hyams noted, we usually only affect current circumstances if anything at all.
My wife & I plan to attend a community meeting tomorrow to hear from a property owner intending to build a 60,000 sq ft temple complex nearby with a 15,000 priest’s residence and multiple 2000 sq ft by 30 ft tall statues in a suburban area consisting predominately of 2500-3500 sq ft homes.
As could be expected, there is opposition to the plan. Equally, to be expected, some of that opposition is going to be expressed in unproductive ways.
There is a property owner with plans; there are property owners who see this plan far outside any expectations that could have imagined.
Tomorrow’s meeting is called an opportunity for more open communication between all parties. We will see how everyone behaves within the circumstance we currently find ourselves.
I mentioned Rick Warren’s book The Purpose-Driven Life (Amazon link) last week. Yet again, we’ll all end up much happier extending (and receiving) some grace as we start another week!
For those checking out the book reviews, I finished The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes. My post of notes from the book is complete. You can check it out on my blog at this link.
If you would like to read along, I will be starting Content Inc. by Joe Pulizzi soon.
Note: Book links are Amazon affiliate links.
Other links
How to Perform a Technical SEO Audit
The folks at SEOSly put together over 150+ actions and templates that you can use to perform a technical SEO audit on your site. If you’re doing it on your own (or just want to gauge where you are & where you might need some focus or help), you can use this as a good starting point.
Here’s another link to a different SEO checklist. As you’d expect, there’s overlap, but you can always learn new things or additional tips from the wealth of sources now readily available.
Google slams Microsoft for trying to break the Open Web
Conflict from two of the world’s biggest tech giants is nothing new. Along with Apple & Amazon, the two have been embroiled in battles for the better part of a decade. I’ll not pretend to understand all of the issues at play, but I will also not pretend to believe that the “Open Web” is at the center of this one. Both companies act in their own best interests.
Constructing WFH-friendly spaces in small places
While most of us are not trying to build our WFH space in an under 550 sq apartment, many of us are trying to create productive working spaces in the same places where we live. When you consider living spaces (especially if you have kids who also might be schooling from home), it is a common problem that requires creativity.
Niche-focused Links
Mortgage Originating – Marketing Planner for 2021
If you are planning marketing strategy and budgets for 2021, feel free to download and use this set of worksheets. The linked blog post explains how to use them for yearly/monthly estimating providing metrics to measure your progress.
Note: If there are additional worksheets or tools that you need, let me know and I’ll look to adding them.
How Coronavirus affected bankruptcies in the Cumming Area
It should come as no surprise that Covid-19 and its aftermath created financial difficulties. The reality is that, after government action delaying evictions, foreclosures, and other financial fallout, it is reasonable to expect that the bankruptcy filings will rise over time. This article provides insight into my hometown, but we should expect these trends to extrapolate across different locales as time passes.
Real Estate Agent Marketing Ideas
Mike Blankenship at Carrot.com did a good job organizing over 25 marketing ideas for real estate professionals to try. Some might not be appropriate for all agents or all property niches, but there are hints and tips that are usable by a wide range of agents. If you can learn (and implement) a new tactic or two that provides a positive marginal gain, it is worth your time and investment.
I posted a YouTube video recently that highlighted Four Social Media Platforms for Real Estate Professionals. Be sure to check that out as well and let me know if there are areas where you’d like some help implementing them in your business.
