It is goal setting time again at the company I work for.... Every year we come up with goals that we set out to achieve for the coming year. We generally use the SMART goals criteria:
Specific
Measureable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely
Over the past two years of using the SMART criteria, I have found it to be considerably lacking for me. The goals that have been laid out have become more about the goal itself than the person trying to accomplish it.
Since the goals actually make up a part of the annual review process, it seemed vital to have the goals created and completed. A lot of my own goals seemed to be geared toward specific projects and ended up being left wanting in the end. There were several reasons behind this unavoidable reality for me. One main reason was the changing of projects for me. I changed projects prior to completion of a couple of the specific goals that I had laid out for the year.
After giving much thought to the whole business of setting goals, I realized the main reason I was having difficulty in completing the ones that I set was because they were not personal. If I am to put effort and desire into completing a goal, it ought to be something that affects me personally. I realize I ought to be setting goals that will directly affect my personal beliefs, desires, and career path. The goals I set should not be project-specific, but person-specific. The person that is affected by the outcome should be me, not my boss, his/her boss, or the company. If I set goals that I want to achieve, then I believe the value will be felt even by the others that I work with. The value will impact my team-mates, my boss, and my company if I am striving to better myself.
Having thought about this for a couple of weeks now, I have come up with a really quick acronym for how I am going to build my goals for the coming year...
Progressive - favoring or advocating progress, change, improvement, or reform, as opposed to wishing to maintain things as they are. Does this goal mean to change or improve what I am already doing? Will it add to the value of what I am doing?
Expressive - meaningful. - Is this goal meaningful to me? Or is it just a way to meet the company desire for me to have goals?
Relational - of or pertaining to relations. Is this goal in relation to what I am currently working on or what I am aspiring to become?
Satisfactory - giving or affording satisfaction. Will this goal give me satisfaction? If the goal will only satisfy an objective and not my personal desires for growth, it will not be worthwhile, nor will I give it my best effort.
Ownership - the state or fact of being an owner. Can I take ownership of this goal? Is it worth my investment?
Noteworthy - worthy of notice or attention. Is this goal worthy of my attention? Or will it sit on a back shelf and be done only to meet the company demands?
Agreeable - to one's liking; pleasing. Is this goal to my liking? Does it in any way please me to accomplish it?
Leverage - the use of a small initial investment, credit, or borrowed funds to gain a very high return in relation to one's investment. Does this goal give me a high return in exchange for my time/money/investment?
While these are just my initial thoughts on it, the acronym is mine to keep. When I set my goals for this coming year they will not just be SMART, but they will be PERSONAL. This is the only way I believe I will be able to not only achieve them, but benefit from them.
**All definitions have been taken from Dictionary.com.
Followers
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Practice that Inspires
One of the teams that I am currently working with is using agile practices. First of all, let me put out my definition of this. The word practice, as I view it more often than not, is "repeated performance or systematic exercise for the purpose of acquiring skill or proficiency" (Dictionary.com). So, regardless of the definition of agile being used, and regardless of the connotations this word has... the key, to me, is practice.
One of the first things that I took notice of was the conditions of the team. A couple of us had worked together, but most had not. Because of this, the condition of the team was that of a new team. A new team generally goes through the Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing model. However there seems to be a big difference in the way these stages of the model are approached when each of the team members is geared more towards the overall success of the project and not in a competitive mode.
One obvious thing that makes a team have an easier time to get to the Performing stage is communication. A noticable benefit of working with a team that is using agile practices is the amount of communication that takes place. This can often start out a bit awkward for the team, who may not be used to talking about what they are doing, but as the practice continues, the communication becomes more open and beneficial to the team and the project.
Another benefit of being on this type of team is that there are no real defined practices. We have the added advantage of creating our own way - and changing it when/if it needs to change. It is freedom with responsibility. Allowing the team to be individually creative while the whole group keeps each other on task toward the goal.
The word practice can incite a lot of different feelings depending upon the context that it is used in. I personally like the word because it inspires me to continue to learn and grow, while allowing me the freedom to try things out and see if they fit - which grants me permission to fail on occassion. While this is not what I hope/expect the outcome to be, it is necessary to be permitted to have some failures along the road to success, otherwise nothing would ever improve personally or professionally.
One pretty good example of the inspiration of the word practice that I find helpful is when it is used in conjunction with medicine. Doctors are referred to as Practicing Medicine. Their offices are referred to as Practices. Now, while this would not sound good to the ears of a person in need of diagnosis/repair/surgery/etc; without the continual practice of medicine we would not have the life expectancy that we have as humans... not to mention how horrible it would be to go and visit a doctor.
To me, while we often seek to have best overall practices, it is more important to remember to aim for the definition of acquiring skills and proficiency in what we are doing at this time and on this project, taking into account that the same skills and proficiency may not be of benefit on the next project, challenging us to grow our skills.
One of the first things that I took notice of was the conditions of the team. A couple of us had worked together, but most had not. Because of this, the condition of the team was that of a new team. A new team generally goes through the Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing model. However there seems to be a big difference in the way these stages of the model are approached when each of the team members is geared more towards the overall success of the project and not in a competitive mode.
One obvious thing that makes a team have an easier time to get to the Performing stage is communication. A noticable benefit of working with a team that is using agile practices is the amount of communication that takes place. This can often start out a bit awkward for the team, who may not be used to talking about what they are doing, but as the practice continues, the communication becomes more open and beneficial to the team and the project.
Another benefit of being on this type of team is that there are no real defined practices. We have the added advantage of creating our own way - and changing it when/if it needs to change. It is freedom with responsibility. Allowing the team to be individually creative while the whole group keeps each other on task toward the goal.
The word practice can incite a lot of different feelings depending upon the context that it is used in. I personally like the word because it inspires me to continue to learn and grow, while allowing me the freedom to try things out and see if they fit - which grants me permission to fail on occassion. While this is not what I hope/expect the outcome to be, it is necessary to be permitted to have some failures along the road to success, otherwise nothing would ever improve personally or professionally.
One pretty good example of the inspiration of the word practice that I find helpful is when it is used in conjunction with medicine. Doctors are referred to as Practicing Medicine. Their offices are referred to as Practices. Now, while this would not sound good to the ears of a person in need of diagnosis/repair/surgery/etc; without the continual practice of medicine we would not have the life expectancy that we have as humans... not to mention how horrible it would be to go and visit a doctor.
To me, while we often seek to have best overall practices, it is more important to remember to aim for the definition of acquiring skills and proficiency in what we are doing at this time and on this project, taking into account that the same skills and proficiency may not be of benefit on the next project, challenging us to grow our skills.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Continued Success... Requirements
I first heard of Richard St. John by Simon Godfrey when he posted a comment on one of my earlier blog posts. I have since decided to continue to explore the world of TED myself, since this is where the link was originally posted.
It was during this morning's visit to the web site that I found another podcast from Richard entitled Success is a Continuous Journey. A 3 minute 58 second talk about how it is vital to continue to have:
Passion
Work
Focus
Push
Ideas
Improve
Serve
Persist
The 8 Secrets of Success need not end when we reach a level where we feel comfortable. There should never be a level we reach where we feel this apathy toward growth. The same is true in every endeavor in our lives.
For example, I like to garden. I like to plant life in the soil and watch it grow. However if I feel that I have done enough, do not check water or weeds, what will happen to my garden? Will the healthy plants be choked out by the weeds? Will the plants die for lack of water?
How about relationships? Do they not need tending the same way? What happens when the passion fails here? Or when the desire to meet any of the "8 Secrets to Success" burns out? Does the relationship survive?
The same is true for a career in software testing. The "other half" of the relationship continues to need the "8 Secrets" in order to continue to prosper. It is very important to keep these close to heart in all aspects of life... for balance, for health, for success.
It was during this morning's visit to the web site that I found another podcast from Richard entitled Success is a Continuous Journey. A 3 minute 58 second talk about how it is vital to continue to have:
Passion
Work
Focus
Push
Ideas
Improve
Serve
Persist
The 8 Secrets of Success need not end when we reach a level where we feel comfortable. There should never be a level we reach where we feel this apathy toward growth. The same is true in every endeavor in our lives.
For example, I like to garden. I like to plant life in the soil and watch it grow. However if I feel that I have done enough, do not check water or weeds, what will happen to my garden? Will the healthy plants be choked out by the weeds? Will the plants die for lack of water?
How about relationships? Do they not need tending the same way? What happens when the passion fails here? Or when the desire to meet any of the "8 Secrets to Success" burns out? Does the relationship survive?
The same is true for a career in software testing. The "other half" of the relationship continues to need the "8 Secrets" in order to continue to prosper. It is very important to keep these close to heart in all aspects of life... for balance, for health, for success.
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