I welcome any feedback. The benefit of sharing in a post like this is I can make changes based on your feedback. If you find any of this useful, I’d love to hear from you. This is the outline I used in person as a prompt to fill in the details. If any of it requires more explanation to be useful, please let me know and I’ll add more details.

Creation

Make sure name is available, buy it

• https://www.hover.com
  • $14.99 per year
  • easiest registrar you’ll find

Form an LLC -- varies by state

• https://www.scc.virginia.gov/
• https://biz.sosmt.gov/search/business
• make sure company name is available
• Secretary of State website will describe process
• if forming LLC in Montana, consider using services of https://www.49dollarmontanaregisteredagent.com

Get tax ID

• http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Apply-for-an-Employer-Identification-Number-(EIN)-Online

Get business license

• varies by locality
• Fairfax County requires Business / Professional / Occupational License
  • http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dta/business_bpol.htm

Set up business email (using domain name you bought earlier)

• Consider Google apps
• https://www.google.com/work/apps/business/
• plenty of other options for mail host, including Hover

Register with SAM

• GSA’s “System for Award Management”
• https://www.sam.gov
• you get CAGE (Commercial and Government Entity) code as part of process

Get D & B number

• https://iupdate.dnb.com/iUpdate/viewiUpdateHome.htm
• no longer required for government contracting
• replaced by Unique Entity ID (generated by SAM.gov)

Register as SDVOSB if applicable

• https://veterans.certify.sba.gov
• follow links for verification process

Create Articles of Organization

Operation

Get insurance

• USAA doesn’t provide biz insurance, but has relationship with The Hartford.
• https://www.thehartford.com/business-insurance

Set up website / landing page

• https://www.squarespace.com
• easiest way to create and host a website

Timekeeping

• have a simple way to keep track of time spent by client and project
• Toggl = great for 1 person show
• https://toggl.com

Accounting

• have to consider whether it will remain just you or if you are creating foundation that will grow into small business and beyond
• Quick Books / Quick Books Online
• https://quickbooks.intuit.com

Billing

• make sure you and client understand what Net 30 (or whatever) means

Finances

Have an easy way for people to pay you

• set up Square account and get reader
• https://squareup.com/

set up Banking

• USAA is not an option for business accounts
• consider fees and cost to deposit amounts you expect per month
• NFCU works great for me.
  • cost = $1 per month for electronic deposit
  • minor limits
    • $5000 transfer out per day
    • 2 day wait for large deposits entered via phone camera

Get Credit card

• set up a business credit card

Set up SEP IRA

• Fidelity and Vanguard vary in ability to make / change employer contributions online
• Great way to reduce taxable income
  • Contributions an employer can make to an employee's SEP-IRA cannot exceed the lesser of: 25% of the employee's compensation, or. $66,000 for 2023

Set up PayPal in business name

• I no longer recommend PayPal because of their limitations on free speech. Consider Venmo instead.

Taxation

Set up Estimated payments in Electronic Federal Tax Payment System

• https://www.eftps.gov/eftps/
• you’ll need to make estimated tax payment quarterly

Decide whether you’ll be taxed as corp or self employed

Estimate taxes and pay quarterly

• Taxes may be higher than estimated first year.

State / local taxes

• Virginia expects quarterly payments, YMMV
• Fairfax County takes a slice too, YMMV

Here's the tweet I replied to:

That tweet has been liked by 80K folks, retweeted by over 16K.

My reply is no longer visible.

Below is my reply. I can’t use Twitter again unless I click the “Remove” button:

That was 1 of 2 tweets that apparently violated their Terms of Service. I can't see the other tweet unless I remove the first one.  I'm pretty sure the other tweet is one that misspelled the hashtag #learntocode as #leantocode.  Apparently that's banned because they knew what I was thinking. TBH, if they have a policy to suspend folks for a day who misspell a hashtag, I could get behind this.

My account is suspended for 12 hours.  The 12 hours start when I remove the tweets they don’t like.  Unless I bow to them, I’m suspended forever.

I'm not removing the tweets.

It's a sad state when the platform owner is okay with Senators pushing a false narrative, but not okay for someone to reply with a joke after it's clear the lynching was a hoax.

I’m not deleting my account just yet.  I used twitter for several years while in government as an acquisition professional experimenting with using several platforms to share and refine ideas. To maintain the transparency I valued while in government, I want the account to be easily accessible. Yes, I know, it's all archived, but that's a real pain.

While I was using Twitter as a senior military officer, I was conscious that my words never run afoul of Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice:

Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

After taking off the uniform, I've been free to speak openly on Twitter.  When elected officials lie, I point it out.  When they do things that I think harm the nation, I call them on it.  Does it make a difference to them?  Probably not. They've made up their minds and facts don't matter. We'll fix it at the ballot box.

Can I live without Twitter?  Yes.  Those who know me won't be surprised I'm going to start with an experiment:  I'm not going to use @AgileOutcomes for the next month. Even if the ban on @SimplyDan is lifted, I'm not going to use it for a month either. If I find that I don't miss it, I'll decide what to do from there:  I may delete the account entirely, or delete everything except a single post explaining why I've chosen to no longer participate on the platform.

If I choose to use Twitter in the future, I’ll need to do something about the fact that I’m participating in a platform that censors people who use words they don’t like in a reply to a Senator who is pushing a false narrative to achieve a political end. I don’t know how I’m ever going to feel right about using it unless Twitter changes its policies.  And that is never going to happen. 

So goodbye Twitter for now, and probably forever.

Update Feb 20: 

I had appealed Twitter’s decision as soon as I got suspended. I received the reply this morning:

Hello,

We’re writing to let you know that your account features will remain limited for the allotted time due to violations of the Twitter Rules, specifically our rules against abusive behavior.

To ensure that people feel safe expressing diverse opinions and beliefs on our platform, we do not tolerate behavior that crosses the line into abuse. This includes behavior that harasses, intimidates, or uses fear to silence another person's voice.

Please note that continued abusive behavior may lead to the suspension of your account. To avoid having your account suspended, please only post content that abides by the Twitter Rules: https://help.twitter.com/rules-and-policies/twitter-rules#abusive-behavior.

Thanks,

Twitter

When they say “limited for the allotted time,” they mean “12 hours after you delete the tweets Twitter doesn't like.” So it’s really a permanent ban unless I’m willing to submit to their censorship.

I’m not going to submit.

Instead, I’ll let this be Exhibit A that Twitter should be treated as a publisher, not a platform. What difference does that make? Under Section 230 the Communications Decency Act it makes a world of difference.

No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider

That shields Twitter from a host a laws, most importantly libel laws.

Good luck figuring out a new business model, Jack.

And as icing on the cake, Twitter is suppressing a post I made this morning from @AgileOutcomes to the @FCC that included the hashtag #learntocode. It appears on my timeline, but is not among the search results if one searched by the hashtag. I would not have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

Here’s the tweet that was suppressed from the search results within twitter for #learntocode

I don't make New Year's Resolutions.  For the past few years, I've used the time between years to do something of a personal retrospective on the year and choose three words that represent a theme to shape my goals and actions this year.

My three words for 2014 are balance, appreciate, and matter.

Balance: As my family, friends, and coworkers have noticed, my life has become a bit unbalanced over the past three months.  I am so blessed with a great job, doing meaningful work at a great company leading a fantastic team.  But the rest of my life has become out of balance.  I'm not running, reading, writing, reading, vacationing, or just being with my friends and family enough.  But as a dear friend reminded me, the imbalance isn't forever.  It's just for a season.  Things will get better.  My quest for balance this year is more than just between work and everything else.  I will be more intentional in seeking balance between planing and doing, listening and talking, centering and expanding, simplifying and adding detail, spiritual and physical.  Those details won't make sense to you.  And that's okay.  I'm balancing what I share with you and share only with close friends.

Appreciate:  During the part of last year when I was taking time off between careers, it was easy for me to be build a habit of appreciating what the universe provided. But it's hard for me to maintain that outlook when I'm back to working full time.  So this year I will make a concerted effort to show the same love, concern, and appreciation that came so easily for me during that space last year.  I need to carry that same spirit into 2014.  

Matter:  This is a repeat from last year.  Last year I used it as a reminder to be intentional about the work I did during my final months serving the Coast Guard.  It was also my hope that a path would be revealed to me to find work that mattered after the Coast Guard.  I've been blessed to find that.  I haven't shared many details on the blog, but I'm thankful to be doing work that truly matters.  I lead a great team working on a tough problem that will make a real difference in the way a federal agency accomplishes its mission.  It is work that matters, and I need to remind myself of that more often.  I need to approach my own work in a more mindful way, keeping focused on the things I can do that matter most:  satisfying the mission, teaching others within the team, and developing new leaders for the company.  And I need to bring the same outlook in areas other than work, reminding myself to do the things that matter most as husband, father, and individual being.

Balance, Appreciate, Matter.  BAM.  It's 2014.

Here are my three words from the past:

2010: Focus, Simplify, Connect
2011: Focus, Simplify, Connect
2012: Care, Simplify, Share
2013: Matter, Simplify, Renew

If you think this kind of introspection is something you might find useful, I encourage you to head over to Chris Brogan's blog.  I stole the "three words" idea from him.  Here's a link to the 2009 post that first caught my eye:

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/your-3-goals-for-2009/

And here's his post from today with his list for 2014:
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/my-3-words-2014/

The vacations with my family had a restorative impact on my soul that far exceeded my wildest dreams.   Most of my summer was filled with one-on-one trips with my Amy and each of our kids.  For good measure, I also added a solo week on the motorcycle to just explore.  Before the summer started, I had planned to use this blog to share what we were doing and what I was thinking.  But as you saw, I didn't do much writing here.  I did, however, start a writing habit I'll try to carry into the future:  I made at least three specific entries each day into a "gratitude log" to capture things I noticed during the day.  Many are just small things--small moments that can easily pass unnoticed.  But the simple act of writing them down helped me to live attentively in the moment, notice, and appreciate them.  

Another thing I tried to do this summer was to live more spontaneously.  By nature, I'm a planner.  Some of my closest friends were shocked to hear that Katie and I went to France with nothing planned in advance other than hotel reservations.  But that turned into the best vacation I ever had.  Actually it tied for best with trips to Hawai'i with Amy and Maria, and an RV trip to Ohio and Illinois with Austin.  They were all the best. :-)

I discovered that when I lived without firm plans, good things tended to appear.  Things just worked out as if they were meant to be.  Over and over and over.  And even when things looked like they could be going bad, like when Maria and I got a flat tire descending the steepest road in the country to one of the most beautiful valleys I've seen, a person appeared as if on cue to help fix it.  He had just changed a flat on the exact same model vehicle the day before, so he knew exactly where to find everything.

Someday I may do a proper post to share specifics on the things we did or places we visited.  For now, I've just shared a few of my pictures at the bottom.  I've shared five or so from each trip in chronological order.   And I'll make an offer to travel with you and serve as your guide if you're heading to the Big Island or Paris.  I'm available as soon as I build up some vacation time at work.

What, work?  Yes, I'm going back to work soon!  I started the summer with no idea what I would do in the next chapter of life.   I remained open to see where I was led. 

After a few days in Hawai'i, I tried to tip the scales in favor of staying there.  We met a cat standing guard at Mountain Thunder Coffee in Kona.  If they were hiring, I was ready to start.  I left her my card with a link to my resume thinking "CAN I HAZ A JOB?"  But it just wasn't meant to be.

Throughout the summer, I viewed chance encounters with new people as possible connections to reveal where I was meant to work next.  That openness led to a some possibilities I wouldn't normally have considered.

Once I returned to DC, I reached out to a small handful of places where I thought I could make a difference.   

  At the end of the process, I found myself wishing all five "Dans" at the retirement could each take one of the jobs.   Everyone I met and interviewed with were great organizations where I could see myself working and doing good.   But there's just one of me.   So I've chosen to make a difference with E3 Federal Solutions.  It was a tough choice, but I felt a real sense of peace after accepting the offer.   It sure feels like the right place for me now.

It's been a quite a ride since the transition started at the retirement ceremony in May.  More than anything, I'm so thankful for the five mini-vacations that restored my sense of awe and wonder in the world and in my family.  I'll start the next chapter a grateful man.

 Absolutely!  

She and her colleagues talked with many other leaders, then produced a guide using everyone's input: "Addressing the Complex Challenges Facing Today's Acquisition Professional."

She also wrote a great GovLoop post focusing on the thoughts I shared based on my experience. 

If you're willing to listen to Emily and I for a few minutes, please have a listen.

Yes, it sound a little rough. Of course she asked permission to record it, but I thought the final product was going to be the written guide.  If realized they were going to publish the audio, I would have used my radio voice.  Or at least my cool helo pilot voice.  And I would have tried to silence some of the "ummm's."  But the folks she works with are real professional, and they made us both sound good.  

Please give it a listen, read Emily's post, and download the guide!

With 318 curves in 11 miles, there are plenty of opportunities to practice the basics of motorcycle control.  

I stayed focused on my goal of enjoying the ride safely.  I rode well within my limits and left plenty of margin so I could get clear of the folks who crossed the centerline.

Lately I've been trying to be more intentional about living in the present moment.  I've been trying to focus on now, and not spend energy wrapped up in thinking about the past or the future.  As I reflected on the ride afterward, I realized that part of what made it special is that it was a series of "now" moments.  Each corner demanded full attention.  I was fully present for each moment of the ride.

I didn't think about the past.  Once a corner was completed, it was forgotten.  If I chose the wrong gear or braked too much or too little going into a turn, there was no time to beat myself up or dwell on it.  I simply took notice, learned, and focused on the road in front of me at that moment.  

Nor did I think too far ahead.  I kept focused on the corner in front of me.  Or if there were multiple corners visible, I looked far enough ahead to choose the best line through them.  But I didn't think about what was happening a mile down the road.  I didn't think about the next road I was going to take or where I was going to spend the night.  To achieve the goal of enjoying the ride safely, I needed to be fully present in what was happening now.  That's what I did.  And the reward was wonderful!

I was recently reminded of two things I already knew.  I suspect you do too, but I'll share them anyway to help us remember.

Thing one:  Getting back to basics is a good idea. 

I spent the week after my Coast Guard retirement reviewing the basics of Agile software development to prepare for the Project Management Institute's "Agile Certified Practitioner" exam.  Although I'd been in the trenches leading an Agile project every day for the past 18 months, I was surprised at how useful it was for me to take a step back and review the basics.  Then I remembered that I had the exact same feeling as a pilot when I used to spend one week a year away from the day-to-day work to instead focus on the basics of being a professional aviator.  This is something the Coast Guard did right:  no matter how many flight hours or how many years of experience a pilot has in the cockpit, they still spend one week a year at Aviation Training Center (ATC) Mobile Alabama focused on being a professional aviator.  We get back in the books and back into the simulator to hone our skills.  We get back to basics.  

That rhythm had always been part of my operational career:  taking a periodic break from operating to get back to basics.   But I hadn't done that in my final staff assignment.  There was plenty of training required to become an acquisition professional.  Then there were forty hours of professional development required each year to maintain currency.  But in my final tour at headquarters, I never took an entire week away from producing to focus on reviewing the basics the way I did as an operational pilot.    But once I retired, I spent the first week of my transition period immersing myself in the basics of Agile software development.  I found myself wishing I'd done it earlier.  The week re-energized me professionally, the same way I was energized at the annual pilgrimage to ATC Mobile.   So what's the lesson for me?  In the future, I need to consider setting aside a week a year to focus on the basics of my chosen profession.  I know, sharpening the saw needs to be something that's down more than once I year.   I get that, and I do that.  But the experience reminded me of the value in engaging deeply over the course of a week to re-connect with the basics of my profession.

I was also reminded of something I would have put to use immediately if I hadn't just turned the reins of the project over to someone else.  What was that thing?

Thing two:  Don't start something unless you plan to finish.  

This lesson is going to be a bit specific to folks in the Agile scrum world, but if you bear with me, I think there may be an underlying pattern with broader applicability as well.  Agile scrum methodology divides work into releases that are completed in timeboxed  iterations called "sprints."  The amount of work planned is based on the expected velocity (capacity to do work) of the team.  The sprint plan includes only user stories that can be finished during the sprint.  That's basic agile stuff, and that's what my team did. 

But while executing a sprint, even a a short, two-week sprint, sometimes things don't go as planned.  External factors may keep planned work from getting done during a sprint.  Some work might be completed earlier than expected and some things might take longer.   Reality happens.

But here's the reminder that hit me like a two-by-four:

Team members do not start user stories they cannot finish in a sprint. 

Yes, that sounds obvious.  But I was surprised how easy it had been for my team to break this basic rule.  If a team member completed everything they thought they could contribute toward finishing the stories planned for the sprint, they started work on stories they expected to be part of the next Sprint.  We were working from a groomed product backlog, and there was little question that the story they were working on would be in the next sprint.  They were starting important and valuable work that would eventually have to be done.  

But I allowed them to start it knowing they were not going to finish it.  Once not finishing user stories became acceptable, we started losing the satisfaction that comes from ruthless prioritization to define a sprint's worth of work, then working together as a team to get it done.  

It's natural for a seasoned professional within a team to look for things where his or her specific expertise can be most efficiently put to use.  If there are no more of those tasks left in the work of the current sprint, it's natural to want to get a jump on the work of the next sprint.

But after taking another look at the basics, I'll do things a bit different next time.  Before starting stories that can't be finished in a given sprint, I'll encourage team members to use their capacity to help others finish planned stories.  Or if we're going to bring additional stories into the sprint, we'll do so only if it can be finished.  Perhaps an existing story can be divided into smaller chunks so that some part of it can be finished within the sprint.  

By allowing the dev team to start work they knew they couldn't finish, we created some tracking and measuring challenges for ourselves.  But much more importantly, we lost some of our discipline around finishing what we started.  Rather than start another story that can't be finished in a sprint, an agile team should use any excess capacity to complete planned stories.  If that work is outside the person's specialty, that's okay.   The cross-pollination will yield long-term benefits by broadening the individuals skills and helping the team work more effectively.

This isn't meant to be an indictment of me or any of the members of the team.  I was amazed at how we'd managed to be doing most of the basic things right.   But in the future, I will have a much greater awareness of the need to make sure team members don't start something that can't be finished in a sprint.

Starting only what one can finish might be good for more than just agile software development.  

Why start unless you plan to finish and deliver something awesome within the constraints you know exist?  

I'm retired!

Sort of. 

On May 31st, I gathered with friends and family to celebrate the end of 24 years serving as a Coast Guard officer. 

Now I'm in this ominous sounding period called "terminal leave."  Thankfully it isn't terminal. It just means that I'm taking saved up vacation days and am not going back to my Coast Guard desk again.  My Coast Guard work is complete.  

Today I just want I share some photos and memories from the retirement ceremony.  It was a wonderful celebration with family and friends from all over the country and every unit I'd served.

One of the things that happens during a military retirement is that the retiree receives an official retirement certificate.  It is signed by the Commandant and normally it is presented by the Presiding Officer. But since my Dad made it to the ceremony in his uniform, we decided to have him do it. It was a fitting  bookend for my career, since my Dad gave me my commission back in 1989 after receiving it from President Bush on the stage in New London. 

He also received my final salute and returned the silver dollar I gave him back in 1989 after my first salute.   The sound isn't great, but here's a neat video of that part of the ceremony.

When it was my turn to speak, I shared a (too long) series of stories from my career.  I had two simple messages:  

1.  I am grateful for the chance I've had to do what the Coast Guard does. As a pilot, it is an awesome privilege to be an instrument of God's mercy in saving those in distress. 

2.  I am grateful for my family for the many sacrifices they made to allow me to do the work of the Coast Guard. 

That can be further boiled down to, "I thank my family for the sacrifice required for me to be part of the Coast Guard family."

I won't drag you through every story in this post. (You're welcome!) Some friends asked me to post the pictures that I shared as I spoke, so I uploaded a video version to YouTube.

I may share more details later.  But for now, I'll just say it was the single day I was the most grateful to wear the uniform.  I felt so blessed have been able to execute Coast Guard missions from the bridge of a ship, the cockpit of a helicopter, the hangar deck of an Air Station, and behind a desk.  No, I haven't lost my mind.  Many parts of driving a desk at HQ over the past few years have sucked.  But on that day, all I could think from the staff tours was the fantastic group of people I was privileged to lead to deliver the IT systems our operators depend on to do the mission.  That's the way I plan to remember that part of my career:  as a privilege leading people committed to doing everything in their power to deliver tools to the men and women doing the mission.

So what comes next?  The short version is that I'm going to do exactly what I said I would do in my first post this year:  

As I approach my military retirement, much of my energy this year will be used doing stuff related to that event.  But it's no surprise that I'm not really "retiring."  I'll just be filling my time with things other than serving as an active duty military officer.  Once I transition from the military, there will be another purpose I'll fulfill.  I don't know what it will be, but I'm excited to find out.  I will frame this event as a "renewal" rather than a "retirement."  This year I will let go of my role in the Coast Guard, then enjoy some down time to reconnect with my family, then move forward purposefully in a direction that hasn't been revealed to me yet.  I've chosen "Renew" to remind me each day to frame this year as a year for renewal, not retirement.

Now I'm off to enjoy a little down time!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the ceremony and reception.  Enjoy!

Amy thought it would be great to arrive on two wheels. She was right.

The Color Guard always looks good.
 

The buddy system at work. Now my MSM has a friend.

Amy receives her note of thanks from the COMDT.

Maria gets a "Thank You" from the Vice, Dad gets a hug.

Austin gets a "Thank You" from the Vice too.

Happy Family (Minus 1. Katie was on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to do hands-on archeology in Italy.) 

Dad presents retirement certificate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_box

My turn to say how thankful I am to be a part of the Coast Guard family, privileged to do what we do every day.

 Maybe?

I guess I'm doing okay if half the guys behind me have their eyes open. The chaplain was praying that I'd end soon.

Got to meet a girl I'd helped save 18 years earlier. Great way to end my career.

 Letter from her father that I read portions of is at http://simplydan.com/aviator/

She continues to be a part of the Coast Guard family - married to a First Class Petty Officer who also flies helicopters.

She continues to be a part of the Coast Guard family - married to a First Class Petty Officer who also flies helicopters. 

 It was such a blessing to meet the girl I hadn't seen since she was barely conscious in the back of my helo 18 years ago. She and her husband Mike -- a Coast Guard Petty Officer and flight mech -- were gracious enough to travel from Florida to provide a wonderful ending for my Coast Guard career. Thank you!

It was such a blessing to meet the girl I hadn't seen since she was barely conscious in the back of my helo 18 years ago. She and her husband Mike -- a Coast Guard Petty Officer and flight mech -- were gracious enough to travel from Florida to provide a wonderful ending for my Coast Guard career. Thank you!

That's a lot of 89-ers still on active duty.

Right behind me is my swab summer roommate, Marc.  It was great that we could attend each others' retirements at TISCOM.

This is my final post as the CG-LIMS project manager.  It has been an absolute delight to serve you.  I am so proud of the work we've done together.  I know it has been a tough road at times.  If this business was easy, we all would have left it for more challenging assignments long ago.  Hopefully you choose to stay because this is important work.  Aircraft don't fly and boats don't get underway without the support of IT systems that are over 20 years old.  We're replacing the oldest systems with more modern, integrated tools.  Once we replace ACMS at the unit level, we will have fielded a mission critical system that maintainers and operators trust with their lives.  That's an awesome responsibility, and an awesome privilege.  The system you deliver will be an integral part of the great and noble missions accomplished using the assets managed in CG-LIMS.

Before I close, I'll share something Jim posted on his cubicle.  He can't look at the computer without seeing it out of the corner of his eye.  It's a single slide from the presentation I shared with the whole development team when Mythics came aboard in March 2012.  Given the many changes in direction we've all experienced, it was nice to see something that is as relevant today as it was on day the dev team was formed at ALC.  I shared three main topics that day:  Project basics, What success looks like, and How Mythics can add value.

Here are the five things on the "Success Looks Like" slide that Jim posted by his screen:

Reduce the burden on our field units 

Poster child for Agile COTS implementation 

Transparency within team and users 

SDLC docs match real work of development team 

Replace ACMS and AMMIS with COTS tool that meets enterprise requirements and scales to replace other systems

That's as true  today as it was in March 2012.  That's what success looks like.

Right at the top is the most important thing we must accomplish:  Reduce the burden on the field.

Finally, I want to share just five of the things I think we're doing well.  I could have listed 500, but here are just five things I think we did well together.

1. We brought real users into the development process from the start.  From the day the development team stood up in E City, we've included end users in the development team in a real way.  It was easy when the user was based in Elizabeth City.  We also found a way to make it work with the real end users were in Mobile.  One of the keys to making an agile process work is having user involvement at the beginning of a sprint to define the work and agree on the acceptance criteria, then having a user as one of the folks who affirms the done-ness at the end.  We've done that.  Your respect for the users of the system and your persistence in keeping them involved will be one of the keys to the team's further success.  Keep asking the users great questions. 

2. We had the guts to pilot a prototype when the whole release wasn't done.  It's easy to not share something with the customer because it's not perfect yet.  We had planned to start the pilot while we finished Release 3.  But when it came to actually sharing our work and letting Mobile use it, we met our natural internal resistance to shipping.  There was no perfect time to start the pilot. We wanted to tool to be done enough that we weren't wasting the unit's time.  You should take pride in the respect you all have for the end user's time.  But we'll never get it right without sharing our work and letting users use it in an operational environment while it's still fixable.  I think we timed the start of the Release 3 pilot well.  Even though we didn't have the MDL done, we had enough done to start getting feedback.  It turns out we needed that feedback to find out that some of the things we'd planned to push to release 4 were "must haves" for release 3 from the user's perspective.  I encourage you to be equally thoughtful in future releases about getting feedback on early prototypes, while it's still early enough for people to tell us that we need some help.  

3.  We have tapped into the experience, lessons, and knowledge of the Air Force and the Marines using cMRO and EBS.  Anyone can learn lessons by making their own mistakes or looking back on their own successes.  But that's expensive and takes a long time.  It's much better to do it the way you've done it:  by reaching out directly to the GCSS-MC PMO to learn their lessons on what worked and didn't work with implementation, and by reaching out directly to the USAF developers with firsthand knowledge of the requirements that drove many of the functional changes in cMRO RUP 5 so it could support military aircraft.  Those relationships will bear fruit over the long term as you continue to cultivate them.

4.  We delivered solid, useful, context sensitive help with the UPK.  Based on feedback from the folks in Mobile and lessons from the Marines, we're making it even better.  This level of support will help show our future users that we care about them and want CG-LIMS to be as easy-to-use a tool as we can possibly make it.  I know there's some inherent complexity in EBS and cMRO -- "Complex" is the product's first name after all -- but I think users will appreciate the investment we're making in them by delivering good online context-sensitive help.  If we can deliver on a promise of being one click away from an lifeline from anyplace in the application, it will help turn them into fans of our work.

5.  We serve as a living example of a team doing its best to configure and deliver a COTS system using an Agile methodology.  In addition to all the CG-LIMS stakeholders who participate in our Agile reviews, folks are joining in from all over the Coast Guard to experience what we are actually doing so they can steal what works and apply it to their projects.  You should take pride in your willingness to share so openly and transparently.  You're making a bigger difference that you'll ever know.  

6.  You shipped Release 1 less than six months from the we completed source selection for the software.  (Remember the software award we made on December 22nd, busting the myth that nothing gets done between Thanksgiving and Christmas?  That's another thing we did well.)  Shipping Release 1 in less than six months took incredible prioritization and discipline.  We showed how much working software we could deliver to production in a fixed amount of time.  That was an important first step.  You transformed CG-LIMS from a vision to working software.

Yes, I lied about stopping at five.

Now I invite you to take a moment to think about -- and share as a comment --  something you think we've done well as a team.

I thank you for the privilege of serving you as the CG-LIMS PM.  I wish you all continued success as you continue to deliver, one small step at a time.

(crossposted at https://cgportal2.uscg.mil/units/cg9/3/3/4/blog) 

Today I had the honor to join in the 15th Annual Ride of the Patriots and the 26th Annual Rolling Thunder Run.  This was the right way for me to celebrate Memorial Day this year.  It was an emotional way to spend the last weekend before I retire from the Coast Guard.  

Here's why we do this (from the Rolling Thunder site):

The major function of Rolling Thunder®, Inc. is to publicize the POW-MIA issue: To educate the public that many American Prisoners of War were left behind after all previous wars and to help correct the past and to protect the future Veterans from being left behind should they become Prisoners Of War-Missing In Action. We are committed to helping American Veterans from all wars. Rolling Thunder®, Inc. is a non-profit organization and everyone donates his or her time because they believe in the POW/MIA Issue that we are working on.

As the motorcycles gathered on Fairfax Boulevard near Patriot Harley Davidson, I already felt a sense of being part of something big.  Thousand of bikes lined up four abreast for more than a mile down the road.  A few were still on active duty, many were veterans, but all were gathered for a cause greater than themselves:  to raise awareness for those who gave their lives in service to their country, or who are still POW's and MIA's.   It felt like a few thousands friends gathered for a holy purpose.  Before we left, one rider told me that no matter where I park, make sure to walk over to where the first bikes to leave are staged.  There I'd find a man who demonstrates as a POW imprisoned in a cage.

The trip from Fairfax to the staging area at the Pentagon was something special.  As we were escorted the police, many gathered at overpasses to wave and show support.  Many brought their flags, their kids, their smiles, their love.  Those were the ones who planned to watch the parade of motorcycles.  At every ramp to Route 66, we also saw folks who had not planned to be stopped.  Cars lined up behind police motorcycle officers who blocked every exit.  But I didn't see a single person who seemed upset by the wait.  Most got out of their cars.  Many covered their hearts as bikes with big flags rumbled by.  I was moved by the mutual demonstration of support among so many strangers.

It took a while to get 400,000 or so bikes parked at the Pentagon.  But I've never met a more patient group of people.  Maybe it's because we knew that once we parked, we'd just be waiting until the first bikes to leave at noon.  Then we'd each wait our turn to leave over the next few hours.  Maybe riders are patient because waiting takes on a special meaning at Rolling Thunder. 

We ride to raise awareness for those who are waiting.  We raise awareness for those POW's and MIA's who are waiting to be returned home.

During the morning, I chatted with folks I'd just met and enjoyed the camaraderie of motorcyclists gathered in perfect weather. It was a pleasant way to spend a gorgeous holiday. 

Then I took a walk to the bikes staged near the front.  I happened upon the man in the cage.  The person back in Fairfax who told me about him  said he hadn't been able to take a picture.  Neither could I.  I just didn't seem right.  As I paused to watch the man sweating in the cage, exposed to the hot sun, motionless, with longing deeply-set eyes, I could do no more than stand.  And watch.  And cry.

There was a small container for donations to cover expenses as he travels to raise awareness for the plight of the POW and MIA.  As I made a donation, a gentlemen pressed a card in my hand with  basic information about Gerald McCullar and the POW Tiger Cage.  I'm sure you can use a search engine to find pictures if you'd like.  But pictures don't do justice.  There's no substitute for seeing a real human being, a real veteran, looking into your eyes from inside a cage.  It was a truly haunting site.  I'd encourage you to make the trip to the Pentagon next year, see him, and allow yourself to be moved to take action.

I was one of the lucky ones.  

It's been a week since I crossed the finish line.  My heart goes out to those who suffered and died that day.  The sadness is overwhelming.

But I will try not to let the act of terror define my memory of the 2013 Boston Marathon.  You see, when I crossed the finish line, I had far exceeded my goal for the day.  I wasn't trying for a specific time.  My goal was to thoroughly enjoy the experience.  In the 2012 race, I lost sight of my goal in the 90 degree heat and barely finished.  I pledged to make this year different.  I decided to take the time to embrace the experience and have fun with it.

The fun started from the time I lined up at the starting line.  Normally that means lining up someplace in a mass of roughly 9000 people who start in each of three waves that begin twenty minutes apart.  I was assigned to the first corral of the second wave.   After the first wave left the chute, I made my way to the front to find an empty corral.  So I started the marathon from the starting line.  The feeling of being in the front row at the start of the Boston Marathon was an immediate high.  I started the race grinning from ear to ear.  And I kept the smile for the better part of 26.2 miles.  

The communities along the route provide such wonderful support and energy.  Thousands of kids reach their hands out to give a high five to runners.  I made it a point to try to reach out to every single one of them.  In truth, I missed a few.  And there was one little girl who pulled her hand back at the last minute.   I turned around as I ran past and got the sheepish "I'm so sorry" look from the mom who held her.  That kept me laughing for a while.

I wore a bright yellow shirt with a "RunTex" logo on it and a wonderful poem on the back.  Run Tex is a fantastic running store in Austin where I bought the shoes that carried me through my first marathon in Austin in 1998.  I just visited their site and read about the remembrance they held on April 18th.  The picture above that post is taken as the second wave crosses the starting line in Boston.  I'm the guy near the bottom right of the frame.  I didn't realize people had passed me so quickly.  But like I said, I was there to enjoy the race, not win it. :-)

For me, the shirt was a connection to all my past marathons.  For the crowd, it gave them something specific to shout to me.  "Run Tex!"  "Texas!"  "Hook em!"   "Tex!"  It didn't matter why they were shouting to me or what words they chose.  The point is they were cheering for me.  I took in their energy and allowed it to propel me forward.  And I acknowledged every shout.  I smiled, made eye contact, and either cheered back, clapped back, pumped a fist, a gave them a thumbs up so they knew I heard them.  Which just made them cheer louder.   Marathon crowds are like that.  

The most energetic crowds are at Wellesley College.  In 2012, the "Scream Tunnel" brought me back to life after thinking the race was over for me.   After two miles of walking, that enthusiastic group gave me the energy to pick up my feet and jog the rest of the way through.  This year, I felt great when I got there, so I just soaked up the energy, smiled back, and even took the time to make a brief recording: https://vine.co/v/bFwZWLh7eup. Sorry you have to rotate your head 90 degrees.  Now I know Vine expects video in portrait mode.

I took the time along the way to thank the police officers who lined the street. Most didn't say anything, but many nodded to accept my, "Thank you for what you do, today and every day."  I'll cherish the one high five and huge smile from one member of the BPD.

My most cherished memory of the day comes from about a half mile from the finish.  A small girl stood along the crowd barricade and just watched me go by.  She didn't have her hand out, so I just smiled to her.  But I turned my head as I ran by and her dad caught my eye and waved me back to him.  So I turned around came.  "Would you give my daughter a high five?" he asked.  Of course, that's why I was there.  I crouched down to get to her eye level, showed her how the whole high five thing worked, then we practiced a couple times.  Then I scooped her up in my arms and her dad took a picture us:  his little girl in the arms of a stranger on the course of the Boston Marathon.  It was a beautiful scene for the three of us.  The folks around us seemed to enjoy it too.  Perhaps they thought there must have been some real connection for someone to stop and spend that much time so close to the finish.  Nope, just sharing a little joy with a perfect stranger and fellow traveler.

That brief exchange with father and daughter boosted my spirits for the final few blocks down Boylston Street.  I was the guy who was hooting and hollering my way down the street, waving my arms to get the crowd fired up.  When I stopped once to catch my breath, a lady next to me mustered all her energy to whisper, "Keep doing that, I need it."  Now I had a specific cause in mind, and I became the guy yelling to the crowd to make some noise to help the particular lady I was pointing at across the finish line.

I felt wonderful after crossing the finish line.  I summed up my feelings on Facebook this way:

I shared my happiness on Twitter too:​

I made my way through the lines to get my medal, some food and water, and finally the bag I'd left at the starting line.  I was walking on air as I made my way to the parking garage on St. James Ave east of Berkeley Street.  I heard and felt an explosion, but didn't see it. 

It wasn't until I made it to my car and was plotting the course home that I saw the news on Twitter.  I immediately posted that I was safe and headed home.  

I didn't think there was anything I could do at that point to help other than to get out of the city and let the authorities do their job.  As I left town, I saw State Troopers streaming in.  God Bless those who go to danger to protect us.  

I may write more later, but I'll end this post by saying thank you.  Thank you to all the people who came out to watch the 2013 Boston Marathon.  You made this marathon my best ever.  It makes me so sad to think that some gave their lives just to show their support.  Thanks to all the volunteers.  Without you, events like this can't happen.  Many of you were pressed into service far more horrible than you ever imagined.  Thanks to the all the first responders.  Amidst the tragedy, you saved lives.  The day went terribly wrong, but more lives would have been lost if it weren't for your action.

I haven't seen much of the coverage of the finish line itself.  For me, that day, it was a place of pure joy.  I refuse let the images of terror take that memory from me.

I've seen coverage of the scene at the finish line with all the flags torn down.  I choose to remember Boylston Street with the flags waving in the background, a crowd shouting at me, and me yelling for them to shout even louder for another racer who needs the support.  

May God Bless all of you who came out to the race that day in a special way.  You shared something special with me amidst all the chaos.

In a previous post, I shared a recommendation from a great book for folks in transition: Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment.

The book motivated me to think clearly and specifically about the answer to three questions: what gives me meaning, what do I enjoy, and what are my strengths. Identifying the intersection of those answers has been a useful tool to help me focus my future work.

Since writing that post, a few friends who are also navigating the transition process said they've been reading this blog and have found it useful. That feedback felt great!

For the past few months, I've been building the answers in a simple text file and adding to it when I think of it.  Armed with the knowledge that I have an audience of at least four, I decided to take the openness a step further and share my current answers to those three questions.  Here is the current version of the answers.  They aren't  final.   I'll keep changing and updating them over the next few months.

My goal in sharing is two-fold: First, I want to motivate one of the readers to actually sit down and make their own list.  Perhaps by seeing mine, they'll realize it doesn't need to be perfect.  The most important thing is to just start.

Second, I want to motivate myself to keep up the hard thinking to refine my own answers to help decide what I want to do in the next iteration.

Matter:  I intend to use my remaining 150 days for maximum effect.  This is the time for me to live out the guidance to "only do what only you can do."  For me, this will mean there are many important one-time things I need to do while I still have the chance.  But it also means taking stock of the recurring things I do and making sure that I've taught someone else to do them.  Or if it's not important enough to pass to someone else, I will intentionally let it go.  This process will create many opportunities for sharing within my team and throughout the organization.

Simplify:  This year I need to sharpen my work team's focus so we can turn the product we've been iterating throughout 2012 into something that is a truly useful tool for the folks who work so hard to support and maintain the Coast Guard's aircraft, boats, and shore facilities.  I've tried many experiments at work and at home to do work smarter.  Some cruft has built up in the lab.  This year I'll intentionally lock in those changes or let them go. 

Renew:  As I approach my military retirement, much of my energy this year will be used doing stuff related to that event.  But it's no surprise that I'm not really "retiring."  I'll just be filling my time with things other than serving as an active duty military officer.  Once I transition from the military, there will be another purpose I'll fulfill.  I don't know what it will be, but I'm excited to find out.  I will frame this event as a "renewal" rather than a "retirement."  This year I will let go of my role in the Coast Guard, then enjoy some down time to reconnect with my family, then move forward purposefully in a direction that hasn't been revealed to me yet.  I've chosen "Renew" to remind me each day to frame this year as a year for renewal, not retirement.

Matter, Simplify, Renew.  My three words for 2013.

2012 3 Words:  Care, Simplify, Share

Yesterday I re-posted my three words for 2012.  Before I post my three words for 2013, I'll share a bit of reflection on the 2012 words: care, simplify, share.  

One element I described within the "share" theme was to reconnect with my family.  I had some specific ideas in mind, but little did I know that the universe had a different plan in mind.  In February, my mom was diagnosed with cancer.  Her illness and death within four short months provided a focus like no other.  The process led me to reevaluate my relationships and my work.  I've had a wonderful career in the Coast Guard, and this summer I decided it was time to consider how I'll make a difference during the next chapter of my life.  In July, I made the formal request to retire in 2013. 

An approved retirement date also  provided a measure of focus for my actions this year.  During the transition process, I had high hopes of sharing things in this blog that would help others as they make their transition.  But hoping isn't the same as making time. So for now, I'll reduce it to three pieces of advice for military folks:

1. Take a TAP (Transition Assistance Program) class well before you plan to retire.  Many people told me the same thing, and I'm glad I took their advice.  I went through the TAP class in 2008 and again last month.  I found it helpful to let the ideas simmer on the back burner of my mind until making the final decision to retire.

2. Read an article Brian Kelley wrote to share his perspective looking back on his recent transition from military to civilian life.  Many of his thoughts resonated with advice I received from others, but he took the time to boil it down to writing and share it. 

3. Read two books, both recommended to me by really smart folks.  The first, Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes by William Bridges does a great job describing the transition process in three parts, the letting go of one role, the in-between time, and the new beginning.  The second was recommended by a mentor I've known since the summer I joined the Coast Guard.  It is Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment by Tal Ben-Shahar.  It's a great read, whether you're considering a new job or just reframing your view of your current role.  The book motivated me to think clearly and specifically about the answer to three questions: what gives me meaning, what do I enjoy, and what are my strengths.  Identifying the intersection of those answers has been a useful tool to help me focus my future work.

With that intro out of the way, the next post will describe my three words for 2013. 

I'm not much of a New Year's Resolution guy. The end of the year is a good time to take stock of the past year and plan for the next, but they idea of letting the calendar dictate when to create REALLY BIG GOALS never made much sense.

A little more than two years ago, I was inspired by a post from Chris Brogan describing how he invested time creating a theme for his year.

My three words for next year are Care, Simplify, Share.

Care. It's not that I didn't care last year. Nor was "careless." But I was pulled in a lot of directions and spent precious time on things that I didn't truly care about. This year I need to ensure my time and resources are spent on important things I truly care about. I need to do things that make the most difference. Before committing myself or others to do things, I need to understand the goal of the activity well enough to know when it's "done enough" or when it's just not worth doing. That will require me to ask better questions, particularly of those who want my time. I need to care enough to ask hard questions of myself and others. For things that aren't worth caring about, I need to simply say, "No." I'll do work I care about and do it well.

Simplify. I will simplify my work. [CAUTION, this may make sense only within my work group. ] I need to help my team focus like a laser on only what needs to be done to deliver software in short intervals. I need to help them say "No" and do only the work needed to ship product. I need to focus them on the work this year of doing a technology refresh of ALMIS using COTS software to meet enterprise requirements. I will help them radically decrease the amount of acquisition and software documentation produced to that which is absolutely necessary. One of the most important ways I can exert leverage is to keep the project as small as possible. Small enough to succeed.

Share. I need to share more in 2012. I will create an environment where there is transparent sharing among the three groups responsible for implementing the COTS software package: the folks doing the configuration, the folks hosting it, and the HQ project office responsible for it. To succeed we must share everything: vision, requirements, water cooler discussions. I spent some time over the last month of 2011 purging paper-based stuff accumulated in my office over the past few years on the project. Through that process, it hit me like a brick upside the head that any plan or idea that lived on a piece of paper inside a folder or a binder in my office wasn't doing a bit any good. It had ceased to be useful once it was stored away in a single place where only I could get to it. And I rarely needed it. That experience convinced me that I need to work to make sure neither me nor anyone on my team creates stuff that isn't really needed. If shelf-ware is useless, why make it in the first place? Anyone can see it's useless after the fact. This year I'll try to be smart enough not to let it be created in the first place. For artifacts that are born digital, I'll lead the team to create them in a way that is shareable. I will also make new connections through sharing. Now that we've chosen the software package the team will be implementing, I will connect to other users to share lessons. This sharing is critical to forging the most direct path from shrink-wrapped software to useful tool that provides business value. The most important connection I'll focus on in 2012, however, is with my family. Last year provided a reminder for me of what is truly important. The focus and simplification of work will provide me the space I need to share a deeper connection with family.

The specifics probably make no sense for you. And that's okay. The list is for me more than it is for you.

If you think this kind of introspection is something you might find useful, I encourage you to head over to Chris Brogan's blog.

Here's a link to the 2009 post that first caught my eye:

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/your-3-goals-for-2009/

And here's his post from today with his list for 2012:

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/3words2012/

Happy New Year!