Let’s meet 6 months from now

By my calculations, September 10, 2008 will be just about 6 months to the day, from today.

Here is a sure-fire way to decide if someone else is skilled at managing their time – set a phone call for September 10th, at 12:30pm.

Someone with a weak time management system close to that of a novice won’t be able to make the appointment. In fact, they might not even know what to do with it.

Some will get tricky, and say, “Remind me of it closer to the day.” When we rightly refuse to play the part of their reminder system, what will they do next? Others will demur saying, “I don’t plan that far out.”

The Green Belt merely schedules the engagement into their calendar, and makes the appointment.

More Space = Better Code

I had the good fortune to attend a training course conducted by Tom deMarco and Tim Lister. (I may be swapping an “i” for an “o” in their names, and my apologies go to them if I am.)

Tom and Tim were experts in software productivity back in the early 1990s, and their research revealed a stunning finding: software productivity was most strongly correlated with the space of one’s office.

Not experience. Not programming language. Not age. Not education.

Space. As measured by square feet (or metres). The more space programmers had, the better they performed.

The reason was profoundly simple. Continue reading “More Space = Better Code”

A Powerful Coaching Tool

star-wars-luke-and-yoda-caption-generatorphp.jpg One of the side-benefits that I am realizing from the 2Time system is its value as a coaching tool.

In much the same way that a master coach like Yoda or Rafiki could look at their proteges and very quickly discern what they were doing wrong, a coach who understands the 11 practices of 2Time can help someone else they are coaching quite easily.

All they need to do is to look at the trainee’s practices to see which level they are at, and what needs to happen in their system of habits to move to the next level. They may offer tips, and new tools, but the strength of their coaching would be in seeing which new habit must be learned.

With a knowledge of the different ways to help people to change their habits, they can quickly help co-create a new course of action.

This can help a manager to become tremendously efficient in boosting the productivity of their unit, and help them to focus on the important basics, rather than the trivial fluff that floats by everyday that promises to improve productivity.