martes, 21 de junio de 2016

Done is better than perfect

A study by the University of San Diego looked at if exceeding expectations was symmetrical with disappointment — meaning, if going above and beyond was perceived with the same intensity as failing. It wasn’t. The study showed that breaking promises is costly. And on the flip side, exceeding expectations might not be worth the effort.

Done is better than perfect — Medium


Keith Frankel, Creative Director at Hubspot, wrote an article in 2014 about how to tell when a deliverable is good enough. His guidelines were:
  • It successfully solves the problem, addresses the need, or conveys the message intended
  • It’s clearly and distinctly on brand
  • The quality of work is consistent with or above the level of previous work
  • It has been thoroughly yet objectively scrutinized by other qualified individuals
  • The final decision of preference had been left in the hands of the creator

domingo, 19 de junio de 2016

el arte de conversar

el arte de conversar | iniciativa vorpalina

Muchos lingüistas y expertos en comunicación desde Saussure dicen que los condicionamientos culturales son los que más influyen para el entendimiento humano. Sin embargo, a raíz de los últimos descubrimientos en anatomía, neurología, psicología social y psicología cognitiva, opino que en una conversación entre personas sin duda nos condicionan mucho más los que he llamado nivel biológico (cerebrales y estructurales del Hombre), nivel inconsciente (irracionales y a menudo difíciles de controlar) y nivel expresivo (de forma y conducta).

He aquí las 15 lecciones de Montaigne sobre el arte de conversar:
1.- Abraza y celebra al que piense diferente.
2.- Reconoce la virtud del otro cuando la veas
3.- No te hagas el listo, se cercano
4.- Recuerda que puedes estar equivocado
5.- Cuando te burlas del otro, te burlas de tí mismo
6.- Cuando juzgas a otro, a menudo no te juzgas a tí mismo
7.- Tu teoría no sirve sin tu práctica
8.- Cállate si lo que tienes que decir no es más respetable que tu silencio
9.- No todo lo que suena bonito, es cierto
10.- Habla de ejemplos concretos y no generalices
11.- Lo que distingue al tonto del listo son las formas, no los contenidos
12.- Habla de forma ordenada
13.- Trabaja tus argumentos
14.- Evita sermonear
15.- Pon en valor tu cosecha y respeta la de otro

The assumption is the mother of all mistakes

 How To Write Project Task Descriptions

…We are all familiar with this scenario: We start our workday as we open our team’s task list and our eyes pop in front of something reading “Upgrade website”, “X integration”, “Write an article”.

Now, let’s see what’s behind this mess, and if there is a way to handle it. We find:
Vague Task Descriptions
Example: “Anchor links on blog”
“Insert anchor links to subtitles in the X blog article”
•  Oversimplifying Complex Tasks
Example: “Write blog content”
“Blog request: Write an article about how to write better task descriptions.” (With subtasks)?


How to Write Better Task Descriptions
• First, define the purpose by asking “Why?” You need to know where you’re going before plotting the course.
• Next, start with the end in mind. To figure out how to do something, visualize the end result.
Then, you can start articulating tasks.


Each task needs:

  • A clear deliverable
  • A verb to describes the action performed
  • Specific details such as due date, responsibilities
  • A context around timelines, effort, priority, and type of work…

Clear Deliverables
Keeping the end in mind is paramount to knowing what the next action will be. These are the deliverables to complete. Describing them in this way helps to closely identify your priorities.

Tasks As Action Steps
Using verbs indicates that an action must be completed. To keep it simple, construct the task in a form: “verb the noun with the object to accomplish”. This way, you get a better-defined task with clear objectives from beginning and to end.
It also enables you to stay on track and know what comes next. This also ensures a distinction is made between single, and multi-step tasks.
• Put simply, there are verbs to suggest a single physical next action, and there are verbs that suggest a desired outcome with more than one step. Here are few examples:
- Multistep: Finalize, Organize, Design, Implement, Install…
- Single step: Draft, Call, Email, Review, Edit, Look into…
Certain tasks can appear larger when you start to think of all the steps to finish it. Breaking these down into simpler tasks makes them less burdensome complete.

Provide Specific Details
• Providing enough details to make tasks trackable, but so much to make your team lost can present a challenge. This is where you address “who is involved?”, “when?”, “how?”, and “to achieve what?”.

Give Context
• Being able to understand where and why each other work fits into the bigger picture can be incredibly helpful for all your team members. This starts by adding deeper meaning to the tasks.
• Make sure to include the time frame, so everyone can understand when something needs to be done. Prioritize tasks in a clear way that describes which are most important. Specify the type of the work, or to which project certain tasks are referring.



…If your tasks are written in a lazy and imprudent way, it’s likely that you'll execute them that way.…

sábado, 4 de junio de 2016

La excelencia operativa de la Apple de Tim Cook

Inside Apple and Tim Cook's Operational Brilliance -- The Motley Fool

More recently, Apple added Pegatron, that's a name I mentioned earlier, as another contract manufacturer. I think this was maybe 2012 or so, 2013. I think there were two big reasons for this. One of them was diversification, to downplay the risk of relying solely on one contract manufacturer so heavily, like Foxconn. I think maybe another was in a response to the company's increasingly complex fragmented product offering. They wanted to have that split among a couple different suppliers, just because of some of the specialization required to produce the different sizes, models, and form factors. If you're listening to this show on an iPhone, chances are it started out in a Foxconn or Pegatron factory, most likely in China.

miércoles, 1 de junio de 2016

Why You Need To Develop A Growth Mindset

…a person’s true potential is unknown (and unknowable)…

For twenty years, my research has shown that the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life. It can determine whether you become the person you want to be and whether you accomplish the things you value.
Believing that your qualities are carved in stone — the fixed mindset — creates an urgency to prove yourself over and over. If you have only a certain amount of intelligence, a certain personality, and a certain moral character — well, then you’d better prove that you have a healthy dose of them…
Every situation calls for a confirmation of their intelligence, personality, or character. Every situation is evaluated:Will I succeed or fail? Will I look smart or dumb? Will I be accepted or rejected? Will I feel like a winner or a loser?
There’s another mindset in which these traits are not simply a hand you’re dealt and have to live with, always trying to convince yourself and others that you have a royal flush when you’re secretly worried it’s a pair of tens. In this mindset, the hand you’re dealt is just the starting point for development. This growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts…
Do people with this mindset believe that anyone can be anything, that anyone with proper motivation or education can become Einstein or Beethoven? No, but they believe that a person’s true potential is unknown (and unknowable); that it’s impossible to foresee what can be accomplished with years of passion, toil, and training.