Senex Rex
  • Team
  • Blog
  • Resources
  • Contact

Agile Resolutions

Posted on January 5, 2014 by Dan Greening Posted in Personal, Scrum

January is “New Years Resolution Month” for me. I plan what I’ll improve in the rest of the year and how I’ll do it. Roughly 88% of people who make New Years Resolutions fail [Lehrer 2009]. Twenty years ago, software projects had extremely high failure rates like this. The software industry started adopting “agile” management practices, bringing project failure rates down to less than 50%.

 

Principles

Agile thinking can help us succeed with New Years resolutions, too. Here’s how to create “agile resolutions”, and succeed in ways you’ve not done before.

  1. Agile resolutions are moderate.
    • Making risky bets invites stress and disappointment. For example, “get a 5% gain in stock market investments” is too likely to fail. Instead, consider learning or process resolutions, such as “study stock market techniques for one hour per week,” or “experiment every month with a new stock pick.”
    • Consider habituating behavior the goal. Rob Myers has a great article on this [Myers 2011].
  2. Agile resolutions require only your commitment.
    • Relying on others creates risk. For example, “Workout every other day with my friend” is riskier than “workout every other day.” If working out with a friend helps you, find a friend to go with you, but leave it off your resolution. If your friend isn’t available or unpredictable, go anyway.
  3. Agile resolutions iterate; they have value when partially completed.
    • Big audacious goals are great, but make small, measurable improvements to get there. For example, “Clean the garage sufficiently to park a car” will depress you mid-year when you appreciate the distance to success. Contrast this with “Increase open floor space in the garage by 4 square feet every week, until you can park the car in it.” You have an opportunity to improve anytime. We get satisfaction seeing progress. At the end, if you didn’t make your ultimate goal, but made progress, take the win: things got better.
  4. Agile resolutions increase your freedom to adapt.
    • Reduce inventory. If you have lots of stuff lying around that you never use or  have real estate holdings that don’t generate a net profit, it usually decreases freedom. Owning stuff is not valuable in itself. My family once had two storage sheds worth of old stuff. When we considered the yearly cost, we could have bought everything in the sheds for our yearly storage shed rent. In the end we gave most of it away, putting the remainder in the garage. We save money and time having our stuff at home.
    • When you can work from anywhere, that’s freedom. Consider transitioning to a laptop, tablet or the cloud for most of your work.
  5. Agile resolutions build resiliency.
    • You need friends that would come to your rescue if you needed them to. Deepen relationships with likely candidates. This can greatly increase your resiliency. Find stable, loyal, honest, resourceful people, and befriend them by being stable, loyal, honest and resourceful with them. (At the same time, reduce your dependency on unreliable or drama-generating friends. They can decrease your resiliency.)
    • Invest in and use an automatic backup system. If someone steals your computer, if the disk drive or SSD crashes, if your house burns to the ground, you should be able to walk into a store, buy a replacement, and keep working. Too many people I know have lost photographs, records and important records when the inevitable data disaster happened.
    • Make sure your financial and email passwords are very strong, and make sure your online banking sites each have different passwords. If hackers steal your cash, don’t let them steal your stocks, credit or identity.
    • Diversify your assets. Have some cash savings, some stocks and some tangible assets.
    • Save money.
  6. Agile resolutions promote teamwork.
    • Consider making another person successful, with the side-effect that you become successful, rather than focusing solely on yourself. This can build long-lasting bonds of friendship. For example, we suggested you not depend on others for your success; “I couldn’t work out every other day, because Jeff was never interested in going with me.” We went to “workout every other day.” Now we go to, “help Jeff work out every other day.” Will this work? Honestly, I’ve never tried it, but I’m going to try it this year.
  7. Agile resolutions eliminate contradictions and complexity.
    • When you are honest and realistic, you make better decisions. Consider sharing more of your aspirations, your attributes, your capabilities with others; seek their feedback and support in reconciling contradictions and simplifying your life.
  8. Agile resolutions demonstrate value.
    • Prove your worthiness to others by contributing reliably, arriving when promised and telling the truth.

Examples

What are my resolutions this year? Because resolutions are more successful when carefully considered [Wiseman 2007] I give myself until January 31 to decide (by my rules.) Here are some candidates:
  1. Experiment with one new stock pick each month. Reconcile Nick’s and my algorithm with published stocks picks in related algorithms: when are they right, when are we right?
  2. Increase the garage open floor space by at least 2 square feet per week, until there is room to park a car.
  3. Help Ron and Bobby exercise at least once per week by bringing them along with me or through some other means.
  4. Increase my network of influence by writing one article per month and getting feedback from two potentially paying consumers of the article’s content.
  5. Attend at least one event per month where I am likely to identify a stable, loyal, honest and resourceful friend candidate.
  6. Help Vince, John and Rob demonstrate at least one significant contribution to world knowledge per month.
  7. Identify business relationships with synergy, seeking others’ help in my field to gain new business once per quarter at minimum.
  8. Co-author one article per quarter.
What do you think? What agile resolutions have you come up with? Post them here or on the Senex Rex Facebook page.

References

Jonah Lehrer, Blame It on the Brain: The latest neuroscience research suggests spreading resolutions out over time is the best approach, Wall Street Journal, December 26, 2009.

Rob Myers, Gentle Discipline: Making Agile Happen in the New Year (2011).

Richard Wiseman, New Years Resolutions Experiment (2007).

Share this:

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
« Converting from Waterfall to Scrum – The First 30 Days
How We Charge Our Clients »

Leave a comment Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Continue with Facebook
Continue with LinkedIn

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Pages

  • 5 Points
  • Account
  • Agile Capitalization
  • Agile Capitalization Video: Greening and Rudd
  • Agile Training
  • Agility Language
  • Call for Papers: Agile/Lean at HICSS (Kauai, January 5-8, 2016)
  • Call for Papers: Agile/Lean at HICSS
    (due June 15, 2016)
  • Certified Enterprise Coaching
  • Clients
  • Contact Us
  • Courses: Agile Capitalization Workshop
  • Courses: Agile Development
  • Courses: Agile Product Management
  • Courses: Executive Introduction to Agile
  • Courses: Scrum@Scale Practitioner
  • Dan R. Greening
  • Enterprise Scrum: Scaling Scrum to the Executive Level
  • Glossary
  • Home
  • Jeff McKenna
  • John Horton
  • Kay Lynn Gabaldon
  • Login
  • Logout
  • Members
  • Password Reset
  • Premium Content
  • Premium Content 2
  • Privacy Policy
  • Register
  • Release Duration and Enterprise Agility
  • Resources
  • Rob Myers
  • Senex Rex Team
  • Short Course: Agile Manager
  • Sign up for Premium Content
  • Software Moneyball
  • Subscribe
  • The First of Five Challenges to Large Organizations that Force Agility
  • Troy Magennis
  • User
  • Vincent T. Mills
  • Senex Rex Blog Posts
  • Rapid Agile Forecasting

Archives

  • August 2018
  • February 2018
  • February 2017
  • March 2016
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • February 2015
  • August 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • December 2011
  • July 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • January 2010
  • May 2009
  • March 2009

Categories

  • Advocacy (11)
  • Agility (10)
    • Agile Base Patterns (7)
  • Calls for Papers (4)
  • Enterprise (23)
  • Events (5)
  • Job Search (1)
  • Marketing (2)
  • Metrics (12)
  • Personal (7)
  • Personal Improvement (2)
  • Portfolio Management (11)
  • Product Management (9)
  • Quality (6)
  • Scrum (31)
  • Software (4)
  • Training (2)
  • Uncategorized (5)

WordPress

  • Log in
  • WordPress

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Pages

  • 5 Points
  • Account
  • Agile Capitalization
  • Agile Capitalization Video: Greening and Rudd
  • Agile Training
  • Agility Language
  • Call for Papers: Agile/Lean at HICSS (Kauai, January 5-8, 2016)
  • Call for Papers: Agile/Lean at HICSS
    (due June 15, 2016)
  • Certified Enterprise Coaching
  • Clients
  • Contact Us
  • Courses: Agile Capitalization Workshop
  • Courses: Agile Development
  • Courses: Agile Product Management
  • Courses: Executive Introduction to Agile
  • Courses: Scrum@Scale Practitioner
  • Dan R. Greening
  • Enterprise Scrum: Scaling Scrum to the Executive Level
  • Glossary
  • Home
  • Jeff McKenna
  • John Horton
  • Kay Lynn Gabaldon
  • Login
  • Logout
  • Members
  • Password Reset
  • Premium Content
  • Premium Content 2
  • Privacy Policy
  • Register
  • Release Duration and Enterprise Agility
  • Resources
  • Rob Myers
  • Senex Rex Team
  • Short Course: Agile Manager
  • Sign up for Premium Content
  • Software Moneyball
  • Subscribe
  • The First of Five Challenges to Large Organizations that Force Agility
  • Troy Magennis
  • User
  • Vincent T. Mills
  • Senex Rex Blog Posts
  • Rapid Agile Forecasting

Archives

  • August 2018
  • February 2018
  • February 2017
  • March 2016
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • February 2015
  • August 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • December 2011
  • July 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • January 2010
  • May 2009
  • March 2009

Categories

  • Advocacy (11)
  • Agility (10)
    • Agile Base Patterns (7)
  • Calls for Papers (4)
  • Enterprise (23)
  • Events (5)
  • Job Search (1)
  • Marketing (2)
  • Metrics (12)
  • Personal (7)
  • Personal Improvement (2)
  • Portfolio Management (11)
  • Product Management (9)
  • Quality (6)
  • Scrum (31)
  • Software (4)
  • Training (2)
  • Uncategorized (5)

WordPress

  • Log in
  • WordPress
Copyright ©2013-2015 Senex Rex LLC. All Rights Reserved.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT