Off The Schneid

Leadership

2010-06-09T16:51:00.003-05:00

I read (and shared) a great article today that talked about the many leadership lessons that taught in the US Marine Corps. If you have time to read the whole thing, I would recommend it (And thanks Steve for sending it my way!)

Specifically, what I wanted to share here, is the 14 traits that the USMC specifically call out as crucial to the development of great leaders. This is a great, short list of what make a great leader anywhere, not just in battle. In fact, as you read, see how these apply to you, either as a leader or as someone being led.

JUSTICE
Justice is defined as the practice of being fair and consistent. A just person gives consideration to each side of a situation and bases rewards or punishments on merit.
(Suggestions for Improvement: Be honest with yourself about why you make a particular decision. Avoid favoritism. Try to be fair at all times and treat all things and people in an equal manner.)

JUDGMENT
Judgment is your ability to think about things clearly, calmly, and in an orderly fashion so that you can make good decisions.
(Suggestions for Improvement: You can improve your judgment if you avoid making rash decisions. Approach problems with a common sense attitude.)

DEPENDABILITY
Dependability means that you can be relied upon to perform your duties properly. It means that you can be trusted to complete a job. It is the willing and voluntary support of the policies and orders of the chain of command. Dependability also means consistently putting forth your best effort in an attempt to achieve the highest standards of performance.
(Suggestions for Improvement: You can increase your dependability by forming the habit of being where you're supposed to be on time, by not making excuses and by carrying out every task to the best of your ability regardless of whether you like it or agree with it.)

INITIATIVE
Initiative is taking action even though you haven't been given orders. It means meeting new and unexpected situations with prompt action. It includes using resourcefulness to get something done without the normal material or methods being available to you.
(Suggestions for Improvement: To improve your initiative, work on staying mentally and physically alert. Be aware of things that need to be done and then to do them without having to be told.)

DECISIVENESS
Decisiveness means that you are able to make good decisions without delay. Get all the facts and weight them against each other. By acting calmly and quickly, you should arrive at a sound decision. You announce your decisions in a clear, firm, professional manner.
(Suggestions for Improvement: Practice being positive in your actions instead of acting half-heartedly or changing your mind on an issue.)

TACT
Tact means that you can deal with people in a manner that will maintain good relations and avoid problems. It means that you are polite, calm, and firm.
(Suggestions for Improvement: Begin to develop your tact by trying to be courteous and cheerful at all times. Treat others as you would like to be treated.)

INTEGRITY
Integrity means that you are honest and truthful in what you say or do. You put honesty, sense of duty, and sound moral principles above all else.
(Suggestions for Improvement: Be absolutely honest and truthful at all times. Stand up for what you believe to be right.)

ENTHUSIASM
Enthusiasm is defined as a sincere interest and exuberance in the performance of your duties. If you are enthusiastic, you are optimistic, cheerful, and willing to accept the challenges.
(Suggestions for Improvement: Understanding and belief in your mission will add to your enthusiasm for your job. Try to understand why even uninteresting jobs must be done.)

BEARING
Bearing is the way you conduct and carry yourself. Your manner should reflect alertness, competence, confidence, and control.
(Suggestions for Improvement: To develop bearing, you should hold yourself to the highest standards of personal conduct. Never be content with meeting only the minimum requirements.)

UNSELFISHNESS
Unselfishness means that you avoid making yourself comfortable at the expense of others. Be considerate of others. Give credit to those who deserve it.
(Suggestions for Improvement: Avoid using your position or rank for personal gain, safety, or pleasure at the expensive of others. Be considerate of others.)

COURAGE
Courage is what allows you to remain calm while recognizing fear. Moral courage means having the inner strength to stand up for what is right and to accept blame when something is your fault. Physical courage means that you can continue to function effectively when there is physical danger present.
(Suggestions for Improvement: You can begin to control fear by practicing self-discipline and calmness. If you fear doing certain things required in your daily life, force yourself to do them until you can control your reaction.)

KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge is the understanding of a science or art. Knowledge means that you have acquired information and that you understand people. Your knowledge should be broad, and in addition to knowing your job, you should know your unit's policies and keep up with current events.
(Suggestions for Improvement: Increase your knowledge by remaining alert. Listen, observe, and find out about things you don't understand. Study field manuals and other military literature.)

LOYALTY
Loyalty means that you are devoted to your country, the Corps, and to your seniors, peers, and subordinates. The motto of our Corps is Semper Fidelis!, (Always Faithful). You owe unwavering loyalty up and down the chain of command, to seniors, subordinates, and peers.
(Suggestions for Improvement: To improve your loyalty you should show your loyalty by never discussing the problems of the Marine Corps or your unit with outsiders. Never talk about seniors unfavorably in front of your subordinates. Once a decision is made and the order is given to execute it, carry out that order willingly as if it were your own.)

ENDURANCE
Endurance is the mental and physical stamina that is measured by your ability to withstand pain, fatigue, stress, and hardship. For example, enduring pain during a conditioning march in order to improve stamina is crucial in the development of leadership.
(Suggestions for Improvement: Develop your endurance by engaging in physical training that will strengthen your body. Finish every task to the best of your ability by forcing yourself to continue when you are physically tired and your mind is sluggish.)

If we all focused on improving these traits in ourselves, every organization would be much better off.

Any that you would add? How about remove?

The fun in googling yourself

2010-02-18T21:30:00.001-06:00

While looking at some old pictures that I posted to Picasa, I wondered if any of them would come up in google image search of my name. I didn't expect so, but I tried it anyway to see if what was there. I didn't find any actual pictures of me, but I did find this old "reader's respond to military hazing" article on theonion.com referencing my name.

I just about fell off my chair. I just love the onion.

I would have found an actual picture of me, if I used a relevant picture of me on this blog instead of my favorite childhood cartoon.

Have you ever "googled" yourself? If you have a fairly unique name, it can be fun to find places you can be found on the web. If you haven't done it before, it is probably a good idea to know what is out there just in case someone else is looking for information about you (oh, and as a somewhat related aside, if you didn't know already, don't give bile a permalink).

Public commitment

2010-02-16T21:30:00.001-06:00

I'm not a huge NBA fan, but something I always thought was great was the story of why Gilbert Arenas wears the number zero. Here is an adidas commercial that tells the story. If you are not familiar, the first line of the video explains it best:

"The reason I wear zero is because, it lets me know what people thought of me, you know, in high school, in college, and in the NBA. So every time I look and put on that jersey, it lets me know that I need to go out there and fight everyday."

Now, if you follow sports news, you'll know that Gilbert has gotten in significant trouble recently, and that has made me remember this story, and I really do love it. Instead of letting those around him influence what he could do, he used their doubt to help inspire him to achieve his goals.

Public commitment is very powerful. People are much more likely to follow through with what they say when said publicly. Gilbert Arenas may not have directly set his goals publicly, but he did put it out for all to see and live up to.

You may not be able to put your goals on your chest, but you can make them more visible. Try posting to twitter/facebook/your blog, or bring them up in conversation with your peers. In regards to groups and teams, public commitment can be used to help make members follow through on what is expected of them and make them more accountable.

So do you have anything to share? Let's hear it.

Laugh it out

2010-01-26T21:45:00.000-06:00

Slowly, but surely I am reading the book: Emotional Intelligence; Why It Can Matter More Than IQ (amazon associates link).

Even though I am not done, so far it is great! While reading, I found something that I thought was extremely valuable, and figured I wouldn't wait to share.

Good moods, while they last, enhance the ability to think flexibly and with more complexity, thus making it easier to find solutions to problems, whether intellectual or interpersonal. This suggests that one way to help someone think through a problem is to tell them a joke. Laughing, like elation, seems to help people think more broadly and associate more freely, noticing relationships that might have eluded them otherwise--a mental skill important not just in creativity, but in recognizing complex relationships and foreseeing the consequences of a given decision.

I have always found that "stretching my legs" helps when I get stuck on a tough problem. I look forward to laughing it out as well.

Try it out. Let me know how it works.

Pro-active

2010-01-20T22:30:00.001-06:00

“Be pro-active, not re-active.”

If you ask any of the players that I coach, I would imagine that this saying would be one of the things that I constantly say to them that they probably get sick of hearing. The idea is to know who you are and what you want to do; be sure not to get overwhelmed with circumstances and dictate how the game is played, on your terms.

Whether projects are running late, or the down economy is putting a squeeze on a business, I recently find myself really wanting to give my soccer advice to these people around me. As your project plan, or business plan strays from your original expectations, don't grasp to try regain your original ideals, plan to learn; move towards your new definition of success.

Reaction is playing another person's game. The best thing you can do, is be you. Regardless if you end up succeeding or failing, don't you want it to be on your terms, not someone else's or outdated terms?

Entitlement and Instant Gratification

2010-01-14T21:00:00.001-06:00

(I recently spent some time cleaning up some old unfinished posts. There were a few that I figured I would finish and publish. This is one of them.)

I read an interesting post recently about the sense of entitlement that is commonly associated with Generation-Y. Although she never comes out and says it in the post, the author proposes that this is a positive trait rather than a negative one as often suggested (usually by those of older generations). She asks:

While a sense of entitlement is seen as a negative trait which has resulted from years of gold stars and coddling*, could it really be a positive trait which Gen Y has evolved into having?

It is a very interesting question, so much so, that I have found myself asking many people of different generations and experiences over the few months or so. I have heard many different opinions and ideas in those conversations. Sadly this post isn’t the finding of extensive research, or even a recording of the diverse opinions that I have heard. Instead, this is my two cents on the topic.

I believe that there are many times where perceived entitlement is often a lack of patience that is becoming a very common trait of the younger generations (myself included at times). This stems from the fact that most of us have lived in a world of instant gratification. Technology has changed things so drastically (see Here Comes Everybody). In day to day life, kids graduating college today never had to make any weekend plans with a large group of friends before they left school when everyone was together, they would simply wait only hours before and chat with kids online, call cell phones, and today send text messages or propose plans on facebook for all to see.

Technology and the internet have also broken the mold in traditional business as well. No longer do people need to steadily work their way up the corporate ladder to achieve success. Ideas and products can now go viral and in seemingly no time become wildly successful and CEOs can be in their twenties.

Is this entitlement? Or do those people of older generations need to unlearn what they think of how business is supposed to work? If I aspire and push hard to become an owner or head of a company in the next 5 years, do my actions while trying to accomplish my goals make me entitled or simply motivated and inspired by aforementioned changes?

Entitlement is defined as “belief that one is deserving or entitled to certain privileges” by Merriam-Webster. By that definition, entitlement could never be a positive trait. But do young people really expect something for nothing?

Well, I’m sure there are people out there like that…and I believe that is a very negative trait. But I also think that a majority of young people are really products of their upbringing of instant gratification. These kids have lofty goals and want to achieve them as quickly as possible and are eager to do so through non-traditional ways if need be. Is that a bad thing? I’m not so sure. What do you think?

* original text read “coodling”, I took the liberty to fix what I believe was a misspelling of “coddling”

Book: Here Comes Everybody

2010-01-06T20:34:00.000-06:00

I remember hearing about this book, Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky (amazon associates link), when it came out. There was quite a bit of fan fair and praise for it and thought that I would check it out. But, I never really did.

It wasn’t until recently after I saw a video of Clay speaking, 1) that I realized how much I am interested in Clay’s work, 2) how fantastically brilliant he is, and 3) I remembered about his book that I was going to read.

Anyway, this book is a fantastic read. Although not completely evident by its title, this book discusses many different ways the internet and technology are distinctly reshaping our world with interesting, real stories. He then explains how and why these technological changes are making the impact they are with very clear and concise explanations. This is a great book even for the non-techies who are looking to get a clear, thorough picture of how our world is being shaped by the internet and similar technologies.

This was the first non-fiction page turner I've read it quite a while. Good stuff.

Happy New Year

2010-01-04T21:00:00.001-06:00

(I wrote this post before Christmas, but couldn’t get it posted until after my trip…sorry about that)

I know that I am a few days early, but the winter solstice was a few days ago. Every year when it comes around, I'm glad to know that the days will begin to get longer again. Since I was in high school and learned that this day was historically seen as rebirth or new beginning, it always leads me to start looking back to see how I have gotten to where I am today and also to look forward where I want to go.

I’m not real big on resolutions, as they tend to be geared towards things that people don’t like about themselves, and typically can’t change (or have a very hard time doing so). Instead, I try to take a more long term view. It usually boils down to one question that I apply regardless the topic. “Am I better today than I was yesterday (or rather better this year than last year)?” with the main focus on continual improvement rather than very specific goals.

Have you gotten better this year in the things that you would have liked to? Could you do better than you did? What’s the next step, how will you move forward?

If not, what can you do to “right the ship?” Have you adjusted your priorities to meet your expectationw, or do you expectations need to change?

Here’s to another year of being a better you. Cheers!

Busy

2009-12-23T23:20:00.000-06:00

You may have noticed that I didn't make a post last week. (I know...what's new, it not like my posting has been anywhere near consistent in the past) Anyway, sorry about that, I was busy.

A few weeks ago, I went to lunch with a friend and we discussed something that I have been thinking about since. He asked me what I had been doing since the soccer season had ended, and I said, "Oh, you know, staying busy." And very candidly, he immediately responded (I'm paraphrasing here):

"Busy", what does that mean? I always hear from people that they are "busy", but aren't we all? It seems like people are always "busy", but yet they don't really do anything.

Since our discussion, I've been thinking more about what he said and have noticed more when "busy" is used. It seems that when people are busy working, learning, relaxing, or anything that has significant value to that person, they will say so, but otherwise, people will just say that they were "busy". When people are just "busy" (not "busy doing something"), it almost never refers to anything of significance.

How often are you "busy"? Will that change after thinking about it? I know it has for me.

Book: Made to Stick

2009-12-03T21:00:00.004-06:00

I recently finished reading the book Made To Stick (amazon associate link) by Chip and Dan Heath. I had heard a lot about it and has been a very popular (take a look that the amazon reviews), but it actually took a friend lending me his copy before I actually read it...and I am glad that I did.

There are plenty of places the get reviews, so I'm not going to add to the noise. If you're looking for a good book, specifically about communication, you will not be disappointed.

Instead, I want to talk a bit about the persistent "nemesis" throughout the book: "the curse of knowledge." Here is a brief explanation from the book:

"Lots of research in economics and psychology shows that when we know something, it becomes hard for us to imagine not knowing it. As a result, we become lousy communicators. Think of a lawyer who can’t give you a straight, comprehensible answer to a legal question. His vast knowledge and experience renders him unable to fathom how little you know."

This concept had by far the largest impact on me when I read this book. It's not that I had never thought about the concept, but not until it was pushed a significant villain in this book did I realize how significant of a negative impact knowledge can have. Obviously, continual learning and increasing knowledge is desired, but I know that I personally have always overlooked any possible negative impacts.

"Here’s the great cruelty of the Curse of Knowledge: The better we get at generating great ideas—new insights and novel solutions—in our field of expertise, the more unnatural it becomes for us to communicate those ideas clearly. That’s why knowledge is a curse."

The more that I think about it, this "curse" should not be taken lightly. As you continue to learn and become even greater than you are today, be sure to remember this and spend the time to make sure you can communicate your brilliance, otherwise, how much value does your new found intelligence have?

A day of thanks

2009-11-26T00:09:00.002-06:00

Thanksgiving is a great holiday. Every year, I get a chance to get together with my extended family, enjoy an excessive meal with them and spend time reflecting on the many blessings in my life.

This reflection has once again reminded me how fortunate I am to have so many great people surrounding me...and I would like to just say a quick "thank you" for all that you do. I know that my random ideas, brash opinions, and lame attempts at humor can be overbearing, but I greatly appreciate your putting up with it (all of it).

For those of you who I am not fortunate enough to interact with regularly (lucky you), thanks for reading and letting me share some of my better ideas and discussions with you, and I look forward to continuing to do so.

Cheers!

You are only as good as...

2009-11-17T23:00:00.000-06:00

...the last thing you've done.

I often use this common saying with the soccer team that I coach (slightly modified: "...your last game"). The goal is to emphasize continual improvement. No matter what they had accomplished in the past, there is no way to replace a current failure.

What if you were judged based on what you are working on today or your most recent project? Does it reflect what you think of your work? Are you achieving your potential? Are there things you would want to change before being judged?

Too many of us go through the motions at times and start to coast. Coasting and settling is a slippery slope that so many people get caught sliding down. As you coast, you slow down, and before you know it...you haven't gone too far at all.

What you will do (not can do) defines who you are and what your value is to those around you. Make sure it is great.

Cross-Check

2009-11-11T22:00:00.001-06:00

No, this post isn't about hockey or chess.

I'm sure that you've heard a pilot, before takeoff, tell the flight attendants to "prepare for takeoff and cross-check." Until my most recent flight, I always thought that I had a pretty good idea of what "cross-check" was and what it meant. In the past I may have pretended to "know" what that really meant and made an educated guess...and gotten close, or been partially right.

But, that doesn't mean that I understand "cross-check" or can really have any educated discussions about it.

Yet, this is exactly what happens daily with software professionals when talking about agile. Those who have never read the Agile Manifesto talk about agile like they actually understand it just because they can define the word, make educated guesses, and maybe even be partially right. It also typically leads them to uneducated conclusions (e.g. agile is a fad).

Agile is most certainly not a silver bullet, but it cannot be dismissed until you truly understand what it is all about.

photo credit, Osdu

When to rule, when to lead, and when to watch

2009-04-29T23:30:00.001-05:00

Jurgen Appelo recently wrote two very interesting articles that discussed different management styles. The first was entitled Leader vs. Ruler and the second Accountable or Responsible?. I think they are both interesting reads if you have the time. But to summarize, he seems to think that managers, by virtue of their role are naturally rulers, and rely to heavily on ruling. He also believes that it is more than their job to just lead, but also to "cultivate" leadership. The second article touches on the concept that rulers assign accountability whereas leaders inspire responsibility.

His posts are great, and all managers should take note if they didn't already understand his message. But managers manage people, and all people are different, and so is each situation or project. What seems to be missing for most managers to be truly effective is knowing when to rule, when to lead, and when to sit back and watch.

Jurgen is right, "It's the managers' job to make sure that leadership is cultivated, and that the emerging leaders are following the rules." It is also the managers' job to know and understand their employees, some need rules to follow, some need to be lead, and some just need a nudge in the right direction.

Recommended Blogs

2009-02-02T22:00:00.002-06:00

Here is a list of blogs that I really enjoy. I've broke the list up by main focus. I'll pretend right now that I will update this list over time, but that may or may not happen.

Programming:

Management/Project Management:

Steve McConnell's 10x Software Development (sadly he rarely posts)
Rands in Repose
Paul Graham's Essays
Agile Advice
Tyner Blain

Web:

A List Apart (not real big on web stuff, but this blog has good informative posts)

Other:

Parkinson's Law - A lesson in estimating

2009-01-28T00:30:00.006-06:00

I came across Parkinson's Law about a month ago.

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

This small but powerful statement originated from a humorous essay(pdf) by Cyril Northcote Parkinson which was published in The Economist, and later reprinted with other essays as a book. Although its original intent was humorous, I think there is quite a bit of truth to it.

Today I finally found a time to share my new found knowledge, which I did in this tweet:

[I] Looked over our last 3 months of work...we've hit our original estimate almost dead on. Good estimates or Parkinson's Law? http://is.gd/hqAH

At the time, I meant it as more of a rhetorical question and a way to brag about my estimates but imply that I've been sandbagging. But after getting this reply from my friend Chris, I thought more about it.

@NateSchneider Definitely a hazard of conservative estimation. Was your estimate conservative or aggressive?

It is a very good and valid question. Sadly, I'm not sure if I know the answer. This project has been a few different "firsts" for me, and without any prior experience, I'm not sure if I know.

This was the first time that I have ever done estimating for a team of people instead of just myself. It was the first time I, alone, have estimated that much work at once. And finally, it was also the first time that I used agile/scrum methodologies for organizing, managing, and estimating tasks. (Instead of making estimates of how long I thought a task would take, I gave it a size value relative to other tasks. I then tracked the total amount of points of all of the tasks that I completed in a two week period, took that number and multiplied it by the number of resources to estimate the how much work could get done in a two week period of time).

So, did I strike gold with my estimates or are we just bums slacking since we have time? The fact that this has been my first go around in several aspects would suggest the latter. But then again, frequently agile is championed for its predictability. Then again, it could just be beginner's luck.

Here is what I think I know.
Agile planning (the use of story points) does provide a reasonable forecast once a team has an established velocity. This seems to help create "realistic" estimates of how much you typically get done over a certain amount of time...and not how much you think you can/will get done (which in my experience has often been a significant difference). This has severed me well since, historically, I tend to be much more of an idealist instead of a realist. I know that I will continue to use it, if for nothing else, to have actual data to help back up the estimates that I make and help show their progress over time.

Here is what I think I think.
Agile planning as described above does a great job of tracking and planning for what typically gets done. But without a strong, active manager helping his/her developers get as much done as possible (maxing out their velocity), Parkinson's law can seep in and hold people back from completing as much as potentially could. That means for poor employees, they lallygag and don't do much else. For better employees, they do things beyond their responsibilities like helping others, doing additional research or doing work "beyond done".

I do feel that my estimates, were realistic and reasonable. But looking back, I can also think of things we did which were a bit more fluff than actual required work.

What do you think? What role do estimates play in limiting Parkinson's law if any? Any suggestions for how I could have done something different or should change in my next go around?

Reading List

2008-12-08T22:00:00.010-06:00

A few years ago, my reading list became almost completely non-fiction. Although it is a sign of being old and boring, the non-fiction reading list has helped fulfill my eagerness to learn more. Sadly, I find books much faster than I can read them, so below is my current list books that interest me and I plan to read (all link Amazon associate links). They are in not in any particular order. If you have suggestions that you would like to make or would be willing to read a particular book with me (I always enjoy having another person with whom to discuss a book), feel free to contact me nate@nateschneider.com.

The Ruby Way, Second Edition: Solutions and Techniques in Ruby Programming

The Rails Way

Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams

Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction

Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules

Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art

Emotional Intelligence; Why It Can Matter More Than IQ

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition

Envisioning Information

Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative

Beautiful Evidence

The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity

Out of the Crisis

Head First Servlets and JSP

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character)

Classic Feynman: All the Adventures of a Curious Character

What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character

PHP in Action: Objects, Design, Agility

Web Application Design Handbook: Best Practices for Web-Based Software (Interactive Technologies)

The Design of Everyday Things

Here are books that I have finished that I would suggest:

User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development

Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit

Head First Design Patterns

The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition (2nd Edition)

The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less

The Art of the Start

Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition

Micro-ISV: From Vision to Reality

Eric Sink on the Business of Software

Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition

Made To Stick

Normal Distribution in the Work Place

2008-11-24T22:00:00.004-06:00

Throughout my school years, for some unknown reason, I always held "working in the real world" as being something extraordinary. I was under the impression that all workers were task-oriented and efficient in what they did. Even though I wised up a bit through college, I was still extremely surprised to see how lazy and inefficient most workers were once I entered the workplace. This may not be news to anyone, but I noticed that the amount of "great", "good", "average", etc. workers were similar to the bell curve grading scale given to students in school.

Since realizing it, I rather like the "bell curve" analogy, in fact I've been sharing it quite a bit. Much like other sayings that I enjoy, this one has gotten plenty of use. But I do believe that normal distribution properly describes the general workforce, not only programmers.

SO, what "grade" have you earned so far at your job? What would your boss say your grade has been? Has it gone up or down since you started?

Being happy at work

2008-11-17T23:00:00.004-06:00

Frequently, many people are dissatisfied with their jobs or careers. Often people feel lost and helpless in these situations. Over the summer, I was one of these people. I took quite a bit of time thinking about the things that were bothering me and figuring out how and when I feel successful. With quite a bit of reflection (and emotion), I wrote this post.

I would never pretend that I went from incredible disappointment to sheer happiness after going through the following process, but I can honestly say that I am a much happier person today.

I am not really one for giving lists or steps to success. I don't like how preachy they usually come off. I tend to believe that every person resolves issues differently, and in fact, I typically encourage everyone to find their own way. Instinct and intuition often help people solve their problems.

But anyway, instead of telling you how to fix this type of problem, I will tell you the critical things that I needed to do, and hopefully it may help.

Remind yourself: Life is not fair. In fact, there is no such thing as fair. So stop the “pity me” mind set. You are not entitled to anything. (This means focus on what is directly in front of you, not what may be beyond the horizon.)
Listen to yourself. Write down what makes you happy and what you enjoy throughout your day. Similarly also note what really bothers and discourages you.
Step back and figure out how you got to where you are. How did it happen? Can you right the ship?
Make a plan of attack. Decide what you need to do help maximize your happy moments and minimize the others.

That was it...nothing earth shattering. After looking at this list, I have to admit that it seems pretty obvious, but it was much harder for me to actually do than it may seem on the surface. Being caught up in the moment and having significant emotional involvement made those four actions a difficult and time-consuming process for me.

The biggest change that I have made so far is the amount of importance that I put on my work and professional betterment. Previously, I believed that "a job was just a job" or a that it was just a "means to an end" and "wasn't that important to me." Sadly, I was lying to myself. Once I realized that being in bad mood for at least 30 mins after work became part of my daily routine, I knew how much of an impact my job was having on my life and how important it was to me personally.

Today, I understand the importance of my job and career in my life and have given it a much higher priority than I ever have before. Previously, I always ~~gave reasons~~ made up excuses of why I couldn't do the things that I wanted to do. I would say things like "I don't have enough free time," or "I have too many commitments already." Now, I allocate time to put towards my goals and do my best to meet the rest of my commitments after that is done. This priority adjustment reminds me of a concept proposed by Robert Kiyosaki in the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad. He says (I'll paraphrase here):

If you want to save a certain amount of money per month, you need to pay yourself first before paying for anything else, including bills. If what you are doing is important enough to you, you will figure out how to make it work.

I haven't implemented that concept with money yet, but I have done so with my time and it has been dead on.

Additional reading:

The book 48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller was suggested to me by a coworker. It didn't really hit home for me since it talks a lot about changing jobs, but was an interesting read. I can see it being useful for those completely lost professionally. I will warn that it has a religious tone. It's not obnoxious, but may be more than expected if not forewarned.

Here is an insightful post from Seth Godin that contradicts the 48 Days book a bit. It emphasizes doing what you love, even if not as a job or career, but just because you love it.

Once you do start doing what you love, remember it will be (and should be) hard.

Return to blogging

2008-11-10T22:00:00.001-06:00

It has been a few months since I have had any activity on this blog (which is no surprise given my previous activity). My recent absence was due to my commitments of coaching a local high school team. It was a long season and as much as I love doing it, getting my free time back and working on other things will be nice. Coaching is a truly great thing for me. Other than that obvious time commitment (added on to my regular life), and the additional stress, coaching has been an incredibly positive experience. I hope to post about that in the future, but for now, I love doing it, but am glad to be done and focusing back on my professional career.

Speaking of my professional career, I have had quite a bit of activity there in the past few months as well. Since the main manager of my current project changed jobs, I have taken on his responsibilities (just for this project) and have broken into the world of project management. I am not exclusively a manager by any means, but I organize and manage the development work on top of my regular work. I have had many "learning experiences" (read "growing pains") in this new role which have been great opportunities for me to challenge myself and grow professionally.

Beyond my progress at work, I am finally able to return to my pursuit of becoming a better software professional outside of work. I have finally gotten back to my growing list of books, and backlog of blog posts in my reader. As I continue to read and learn, I hope to share my new found knowledge here on this blog.

Also with my new responsibilities at work, I hope to explore management as a whole and learn more about it and share that here as well. (I’m still working on exactly how).

While I get caught back up on my reading (and writing), I have become quite active on twitter recently, so please follow me there in the meantime. I also share interesting articles in Google reader which you can also access here.

Cheers!

Totally Looks Like

2008-08-26T13:15:00.001-05:00

Just recently, I discovered this website: totallylookslike.com, which is made by the i can has cheezburger people, and have been thoroughly entertained.

Today, I started following ZeFrank on Twitter. When I opened his twitter stream, I was shocked when I saw his picture. It totally looks like an ex-coworker's picture on facebook:

It may not be the best one ever...but I love it =P

Step 1: Identify the Problem

2008-08-07T00:00:00.004-05:00

For some time now I have been working hard in my spare time to try to advance my career to the next level by trying to continually learn. So far I haven't committed to any additional or new work outside of my current job since I already feel over committed with some of my other commitments. But for the past two weeks, I have been really struggling to fill out a self appraisal which is needed for our annual corporate reviews. It's not that I am having trouble evaluating myself; the problem is that I am so underwhelmed in what I have done so far in my brief career that I am struggling to judge myself in the context of my very limited professional opportunities instead of my lofty expectations.

So in order to "Get Things Done" and also to serve as a reminder of how to keep myself professionally satisfied, here is a short list of things that need to happen soon to help me meet my professional expectations.

1) Setting short and long term goals
Individually, I need to gain a sense of direction of what I want to accomplish. Long term goals will give me that sense of direction and short term goals will help get me going to gain some inertia towards those goals.

Orson Welles said, "Always have a vision. Why spend your life making other people's dreams?" That quote has really hit home for me. I need to discover my employer's short and long term goals for me and make sure that they match up with mine or help me accomplish them.

2) Gaining more robust and diverse development experience
This may seem pretty obvious, but in order to get better, I need to start and continue to develop beyond my current abilities and in different domains.

3) Forcing change or progress
In my professional career up until this point, I have waited or asked politely for my work to move towards what I have been interested in doing. So far, I have had minimal success. Going forward, I will need to ensure that some how I have work that will help me accomplish my goals instead of waiting for it to fall in my lap.

4) Shifting priorities and mindset
In order to "force change or progress" towards my goals, my career and work will need to become a higher priority than it is today. Exactly how high? I'm not sure, but right now it seems that it will need to be high enough to start putting my wants and needs before others (in the workplace).

So, what now? Well, a 1000 mile journey starts with 1 step (or "step 1").

New Blog URL

2008-07-21T10:11:00.002-05:00

In case you hadn't noticed (which is likely), I have updated this blog's URL to http://blog.nateschneider.com/. I am going to get a personal site up soon (http://www.nateschneider.com/) but haven't gotten that far...so no making fun of the lame Google Apps page that shows. :-)

Machu Picchu Trip

2008-07-08T00:00:00.001-05:00

Note: Even though it is a bit off topic, I have written this post as an easy way to easily share my trip video, pictures, and information with many people by simply giving them a URL. Also, since it was truly a fantastic experience, I also want to capture as many details and suggestions for any people interested in doing this in the future.

Well, the idea for this whole trip started well over a year ago after Smitty and Ben (my father-in-law and brother-in-law) went to Arches National Park and decided to go "bigger and better" the follow year. I don't know at which point I got invited, but I know I didn't hesitate to accept. Machu Picchu has been a place that I have been interested in since I first saw it as one of the default options for Windows wallpapers, and have been mildly obsessed ever since.

I took my new digital camcorder on the trip: Pure Digital Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder (60-Min, Black). I considered writing a review post about the camera, but it didn't feel right, so I figured that I would lump that in with this post. If you want to know more about the camera you can see this Scott Hanselman blog post and see the videos below to make your own judgment.

Anyway, I took the camcorder and kept sort of a mini "vlog" of my trip for my wife since she didn't come with us. Once I got back and watched the videos with her, I figured that it would be nice to share with everyone along with as many details about the trip if anyone would be interested in taking the trip as well.

So without further ado, here is an overview of our ten day trip to Peru to hike the Inca Trail to see Machu Picchu. If you are interested to see my whole web photo album, go here.

Day 1 - Travel to Peru (Lima) (video)
First day was nothing but a travel day for us. We left around 5:30am and didn't arrive in Lima until almost midnight. The video linked above was filmed in our hotel that we stayed in that night before we could catch a plane to Cusco.

Day 2 - Travel to Cusco, Relax
We arrived to Cusco after a late morning flight from Lima. We had nothing planned other than to relax after the traveling. We did a bit of wondering around the city to find dinner. We left the hotel and only had to walk a few blocks to get to the city square which was actually quite taxing given that Cusco is approximately 11,000 ft above sea level. Here is the video that I recorded for my second day.

Day 3 - City Tour of Cusco
Before our city tour of Cusco in the afternoon, we headed to the city square and caught one of the many parades that were going on for the celebration of the winter solstice. I caught a little video (surprise) of the parade and tried to do a 360 of the square before we went on the tour.

The afternoon city tour took us to Coricancha, the cathedral in the city square, and Saqsaywaman (which sounds a lot like sexy woman). The tour was very informational and was a great way to learn about the Incan culture first hand.

Day 4 - Sacred Valley of the Incas Tour
The Sacred Valley of the Incas Tour took us to Pisaq, Ollantaytambo, and a few other small stops. Here is some video from our first stop of the day at a small market. The most interesting part of the tour were the terraces of pumatallis, here is the view from up above on the terraces.

Day 5 - Rafting
I didn't take any video or pictures while rafting since I didn't want to ruin either my camera or my camcorder. But the rafting took place on the Urubamba River and was actually more fun that I expected. I hadn't done any rafting before, and I figured that this was going to be real basic (read boring) rapids. But we actually had a couple class 3 rapids and the whole trip concluded with a 6 foot drop.

Rafting concluded our days of getting acclimated to the altitude of the Andes, which I highly recommend. By day 5 (our fourth at altitude), we had gone from being winded after simply walking around to hardly noticing any difference than normal. This was crucial for our hike on the Inca trail since the significant inclines and declines that we were going to incur while walking all day were enough work on their own without the additional problem of altitude sickness. In fact on our first day of hiking we saw several people with altitude sickness that had to turn back and miss out on the hike because of it.

Day 6 - 1st Day of our Hike on the Inca Trail
After an early wake up call and a few hours in a car to get to the start of the trail, we arrived at the starting point of our hike (video) by mid-morning and started our four days of hiking. Ben, Smitty, and I were part of a 7 person group, the other four were two couples from Northern England. Paul and Glad Cook and Morris and Liz Brown, both from Yorkshire, England. Paul a practicing orthodontist and Morris a family doctor actually live near each other, but didn't know each other before the trip. (Yes he's Doc Brown, but I couldn't really make any good Back to the Future jokes since he had never seen the movies. Even worse he was Scottish which set me up for a "Great Scott!" reference). Here is video while on the trail and here is video once we arrived the our camp site for the first night (towards the end Ben gets hit on the sunglasses by one of the porters putting a tent up).

Day 7 - 2nd Day of our Hike on the Inca Trail
The second day of the hike was probably the toughest of the 4 days that we spent on the trail, it wasn't the longest day but it was significantly uphill. We hiked to the highest point of our trip "Warmiwanuska" which was 4215 meters high (13,829 ft). We left early again (before 7:00am) and stopped for lunch about halfway up the climb around 10:30am (video). Here is some quick video I took up on top of the peak of our hike (it is probably best listen without audio since the wind make it too loud to hear in most parts). We then had couple hours down from the peak to our campsite. Once we arrived to our campsite, and the sun went down, the clear sky made way for the most amazing view of the stars in the sky the you could ever imagine. I tried several times to take a picture, but nothing came out. I finally understood, first hand why the Milky Way is called that...and will probably never see skies like that again.

Day 8 - 3rd Day of our Hike on the Inca Trail
On the third day we had another long day, a lot of up and down all day. We didn't go as high as the second, but we hiked much longer this day. Here and here are the videos from our third day. The third day had a very diverse scenery and many beautiful views. The reward of our final full day of hiking was a campsite that had running water where (for a small fee) we could take a warm shower...which never felt better. That night we went to bed early since we had to get up early the next morning. And with the bulk of the hiking behind us, we all felt that we had earned our admittance to Machu Picchu.

Day 9 - 4th Day of our Hike on the Inca Trail/Machu Picchu
The morning of our fourth day on the Inca Trail came early since we got up at 4am to get to a trail checkpoint before 5:30am when they opened. We then had about and hour or hour and half hike up to the "Sun Gate" where we saw the sun rise over the mountains onto a foggy Machu Picchu. We were there on Sunday, June 22nd, the day after the winter solstice, which was very significant to the Inca people and their culture. It was their New Year and indicated to them when to start planting the crops again. Here is a video that tries to show the sunrise shining onto the ruins.

After another hour or so down from the "Sun Gate", we arrived to Machu Picchu. I'm not a writer by any means, so I don't expect any explanation of my experience to do it justice, but it really was the true meaning of special. I know that many people have described it as "spiritual", which doesn't quite work for me, but it was very serene and intense. It is an experience that I hope you get a chance to experience to fully take it in.

Day 10 - Rest and travel home
Nothing to really report here. Our day of relaxation and travel gave me some time to reflect our journey. It really was an opportunity to do some soul searching and learn more things about life. This isn't a post about any of those things I experienced, but rather an experience to witness a true wonder of the world where you can learn something about yourself.

How to book this trip
I don't have a specific place for you to set this up for yourself, but I can tell you what Smitty did and I think was a wise move (especially since we met some people who booked online and got screwed). Smitty contacted our local travel agent who he knew had booked the same trip for others in the past.

Chaska tours was the agency that was used for the Inca trail tour (I'm fairly certain this is the correct website). I cannot emphasize how fantastic our guides were. Our main guide, Alain Cori (I'm not certain the spelling of his last name, but he told me it is the Quechua word for "gold"), was absolutely phenomenal! In fact if you ever plan on making this trip, I really think it is worth your while trying to book the trip with specifically this guide...he was that good! Enough said! Let me tell you, you will not be disappointed with him! (and if you are there is something wrong with you :-) )

Well, that is it. Thanks for barring with my indulgence of my trip. It was a lot of fun. Please leave any comments of your thoughts, suggestions of similar trips you would like to share, or your experiences and input on this type of trip.

Reminder! Euro 2008 starts tomorrow

2008-06-06T16:17:00.003-05:00

Just a reminder that Euro 2008 start tomorrow with the first game kicking off at 11:00 central time. Here are the fixtures which also show the TV schedule. It should be great!