Shipulski On Design

Archive for November, 2023

X: When will you be done with the project?

Me: This work has never been done before, so I don’t know.

 

X: But the Leadership Team just asked me when the project will be done. So, what should I say?

Me: Since nothing has changed since the last time you asked me, I still don’t know. Tell them I don’t know.

 

X: They won’t like that answer.

Me: They may not like the answer, but it’s the truth.  And I like telling the truth.

 

X: Well, what are the steps you’ll take to complete the project?

Me: All I can tell you is what we’re trying to learn right now.

 

X: So all you can tell me is the work you’re doing right now?

Me: Yes.

 

X: It seems like you don’t know what you’re doing.

Me: I know what we’re doing right now.

 

X: But you don’t know what’s next?

Me: How could I?  If this current experiment goes up in smoke, the next thing we’ll do is start a different project.  And if the experiment works, we’ll do the next right thing.

 

X: So the project could end tomorrow?

Me: That’s right.

 

X: Or it could go on for a long time?

Me: That’s right too.

 

X: Are you always like this?

Me: Yes, I am always truthful.

 

X: I don’t like your answers. Maybe we should find someone else to run the project.

Me: That’s up to you.  But if the new person tells you they know when the project will be done, they’re the wrong person to run the project.  Any date they give you will be a guess.  And I would not want to be the one to deliver a date like that to the Leadership Team.

 

X: We planned for the project to be done by the end of the year with incremental revenue starting in the first quarter of next year.

Me: Well, the project work is not bound by the revenue plan.  It’s the other way around.

 

X: So, you don’t care about the profitability of the company?

Me: Of course I care.  That’s why we chose this project – to provide novel customer value and sell more products.

 

X: So the project is intended to deliver new value to our customers?

Me: Yes, that’s how the project was justified.  We started with an important problem that, if solved, would make them more profitable.

 

X: So you’re not just playing around in the lab.

Me: No, we’re trying to solve a customer problem as fast as we can.  It only looks like we’re playing around.

 

X: If it works, would our company be more profitable?

Me: Absolutely.

 

X: Well, how can I help?

Me: Please meet with the Leadership Team and thank them for trusting us with this important project.  And tell them we’re working as fast as we can.

Image credit – Florida Fish and Wildlife

X:  Me:  format stolen from Simon Wardley (@swardley).  Thank you, Simon.

What could we change to become happier? 

Happiness comes when our reality (how things really are) compares favorably with our expectations. If happiness comes from the comparison between how things are and our expectations, wouldn’t we be happier with any outcome if we change our expectations of the outcome? But how are expectations defined? What makes an expectation an expectation?  Where do our expectations come from?

If we expect to have no control over the outcome, wouldn’t we be happier with any outcome?  Aren’t we the ones who set our expectations? And hasn’t the Universe told us multiple times we don’t have control? If so, what’s in the way of giving up our expectations of control? What’s in the way of letting go?

What could we change to become more thankful?

Thankfulness comes when our reality, what we see or recognize, compares favorably with how we think things should be. If thankfulness comes from the comparison between what is and what should be, what if we changed our shoulds?  Wouldn’t we be more thankful if we lessened our shoulds and reality compared more favorably? But how are shoulds defined?  What makes a should a should? Where do our shoulds come from?

If we can help ourselves believe we don’t have control over how things should be, wouldn’t we be more thankful for how things are? And aren’t we the setters of our shoulds? And hasn’t the Universe often told us our shoulds have no control over it? If so, what’s in the way of giving up the belief that our shoulds have control over anything? What’s in the way of letting go?

Shoulds and expectations are close cousins and both influence our happiness and ability to be thankful.

At this Thanksgiving holiday, may we be aware of our shoulds and enjoy our friends and family as they are. May we be aware of our expectations and enjoy the venue, the food, the weather, and the conversations as they are. May we suspend our natural desire to control things and be happy and thankful for things as they are.

And may we love ourselves as we are.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Mike

 

Image credit — Bennilover

What does it mean to have enough?

If you don’t want more, doesn’t that mean you have enough?

And if you want what you have, doesn’t that mean you don’t want more?

If you had more, would that make things better?

If you had more, what would stop you from wanting more?

What would it take to be okay with what you have?

If you can’t see what you have and then someone helps you see it, isn’t that like having more?

What do you have that you don’t realize you have?

Do you have a pet?

Do you have the ability to walk?

Do you have friends and family?

Do you have people that rely on you?

Do you have a place where people know you?

Do you have people that care about you?

Do you have a warm jacket and hat?

When you have enough you have the freedom to be yourself.

And when you have enough it’s because you decided you have enough.

Image credit — Irudayam

I was invited to an important meeting.  Here’s how it went.

I was invited to an important meeting.  I want you to attend with me.

I was invited to an important meeting with my boss.  Will you join me?

I was invited to an important meeting but I cannot attend.  Will you go in my place?

I was invited to an important meeting but the company will be better served if you attend.

I heard you were invited to the meeting instead of me.  I think that’s great.

Here’s a presentation I put together.  I want to explain it to you.

Here’s a presentation I put together.  What does it say to you?

Here’s a presentation I put together.  What’s missing?

I want you to create a draft of a presentation which we’ll review together.

I want you to create the presentation.  I’ll review it if you want.

I want you to create the presentation and deliver it.

I heard you helped someone create an interesting presentation and it went over well.  I’m happy you did that.

This is the situation and this is what I want you to do.

This is the situation and this is what I think we should do.  What do you think?

This is the situation. What do you think we should do?

This is the situation.  What are you going to do?

What’s the situation?

What’s the situation and what will you do?

What was the situation and what did you do?

I heard you helped someone with their situation.  That made me smile.

Image credit — Bastian_Schmidt

When you are stuck, often the problems you can describe are not the problems that are in the way.

The problems you solved last time make it more difficult to see new problems this time.

The problems you know of are not the problem.

When you have no problems, you have big problems.

When you have no problem, there is no way to justify additional resources.

When you have no problem, you better finish on time.

When you’re stuck on a problem, make it worse and solve it by doing the opposite.

Problems are not bad, even though bringing them to everyone’s attention may be bad for your career.

And if talking about problems is bad for your career, you are working at the wrong company.

Until you can explain the problem in plain language, you do not understand it.

And when you do not understand a problem, you can’t solve it.

Solutions start with a problem.

Two questions to ask: Where is the problem and when does it occur?

Problems are solved with microscopes and not telescopes. Get close to the problem.

Your problem is not new.  Someone has solved it in a different application, context, or product.

There are at least three ways to solve a problem: before it occurs, while it occurs, or after it occurs,

Sometimes solving a difficult problem requires the generation of an easily solvable problem. So be it.

Problems are more powerful than opportunities.  Call them by their name.

Because without problems, there can be no solutions.

Image credit – Andy Morffew