Simon G's Blog

A simple approach I have found works well when thrown something to look at and unsure of where to start is to focus on what you are trying to achieve and working back from that. I first had this approach shown to me using post-it notes (aka sticky notes) and have used this approach (albeit usually with Visio) many times. The steps to follow are very simple: Write down on a post-it note what the ultimate outcome is. Write down on separate post-it notes for each activity or output required what needs to occur before you can get to the ultimate outcome, and stick this to the left of (1). For each task that is a predecessor of (2), write it down and stick it the left and repeat until you are back far enough that you have a plan of attack. The beauty of post-it notes is that you can’t write much on them, so write just enough in simple terms so that you know what is required (which may be outputs, tasks, workshops or anything else of value). It is also easy to add missing...

Photo credit: Jane Gianoutsos A contractor recently gave me some simple pearls of wisdom that are relevant beyond a contracting role and can apply to working on any project: Have 2-3 wins each week. Don't overstay your welcome. Deliver what you say you are going to deliver. Manage your stakeholders. I like the simplicity of these and the focus they drive.

I am a big advocate for sharing information, be it personal or more business-oriented information. I share information from experiences at restaurants, what I thought of books I have read, where I am, links to things I think are interesting, productivity tips, experiences with programming languages and the list goes on. There is obviously also information that I do not share widely (if at all) due to confidentiality reasons, or if I do share it I only share it to a closed community. Why? I share information for a number of reasons, including: Sharing enables others to learn from my experiences. I can learn from others, and by Sharing this lets others know what I am up to or what information I am finding that I think is interesting. I may not even know initially that they have knowledge or interests in a particular area. Communities of Interest and Friendships evolve by finding people with similar interests. If you don’t convey to others what your interests are, you are closing out ...