Urgency Versus Importance - Which Drives Your Work, Teams And Why We Need Them, Conversations with Jeremy Willets and Jeremy Berriault, SPaMCAST 822

The Software Process and Measurement Cast 822 features a discussion that Jeremy Willets and I had during the Work Intake Summer Camp. The tyranny of the urgent often eclipses work that is merely important. Not understanding the difference between the two concepts and the long-term implications of ignoring what is important can be catastrophic. 

We will also have a visit from Jeremy Berriault, the Evolutionary Agilist. We discussed why teams exist. The answer can be simplified into four words. Getting to those words is a wild ride. 

Learn To Tame Your Work Intake Beast!

Work Intake Summer Camp is in session!  Like a swimming pool, there is always time to join the fun. Jeremy Willets and I are celebrating summer in the northern hemisphere with a summer camp. We’ll look at the primary causes of work intake problems… and how to solve them! Join us for an entertaining and informative LinkedIn Live event. The last weekly session begins at 12:30 EDT on August 7th (LinkedIn).

 

Each session will:

1. Define one work intake problem per session, 

2. Identify how to recognize the problem, 

3. Offer a pragmatic approach to tackling the issue, and

4. At least one scary story of work entry gone wrong (this is summer camp)

We would like you to register at our Maven page https://bit.ly/3HEsKK7 so we can remind you when the session goes live. If you register we also have a Work Intake Problem Worksheet that we use in our workshops that we will email.  However, if you’d rather not register on Maven you can set a reminder on LinkedIn (Session 7). In either case, we will announce when the sessions go live on LinkedIn.

Replay Week 1: Goal Conflict 

Replay Week 2: Need Outstrips Demand

Replay Week 3: Pay Practices

Replay Week 4: Project Thinking v Product Thinking

Replay Week 5: Urgency v Importance

Replay Week 6: Classes of Service

Replay Week 7: Control

Share the invitation with others, wear sunscreen, and be kind to your fellow campers!  

Re-read Saturday News

Chapter 10, Making of Meaning, culminates the book, Flow. Meaning provides a yardstick to evaluate the human condition and to consider what it means to be a human being in the context of our world. “Meaning” is a catalyst to provide energy and stimulate the intellectual vitality required for optimal experience. Without meaning it is difficult to find the rationale for tasks and cares that may feel mundane but are necessary to reach a goal or as we pivot toward another. 

Next week we will flow into concluding thoughts.

Buy a copy and read along – https://amzn.to/4b5kPmb 

Week 1: Preface and Logistics – https://bit.ly/3WLjFHU 

Week 2: Happiness – https://bit.ly/4dUSpNg 

Week 3: Consciousness – https://bit.ly/4bEu3pN 

Week 4: Enjoyment and The Quality of Life – https://bit.ly/4eeknDQ 

Week 5: The Conditions Of Flow 

Week 6: The Body In Flow

Week 7: The Flow Of Thought

Week 8: Work As Flow

Week 9: Enjoying Solitude and Other People

Week 10: Cheating Chaos

Next SPaMCAST 

The SPaMCAST 823 will feature our discussion with Kirk Marple, Technical Founder and CEO at Unstruk Data. We will discuss AI, knowledge graphs, and how organizations learn as they understand their data.