Author Archive: Paul Epps

Hard-Earned Wisdom

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Once again, my kid and I are at the gas station where you can’t lock the pump handles in place and you have stand there and hold them. Except that thanks to our previous visit, he now knows how to keep the pump on by wedging the gas cap in the handle, so while everyone else is standing around holding pump handles, he’s sitting in the front seat next to me. “Look at everyone holding the pump handles,” I point out. “Don’t say I never improved your life by passing along my hard-earned wisdom.” “Holding the handle builds character,” he says. “So get out and hold it then. I don’t care. At least now you have options.” “Nah, I’ve already got enough character.” Read more →

Agile Manifesto 2.0

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I’ll share with you what I do in one of my standard presentations — I play with the class or with the audience a game called “Rewrite the Agile Manifesto (link) with your thoughts and feelings now.” Here is one of the outcomes: Beyond individuals and interactions to hyper-productive swarming jelled teams and communities of practice. Beyond working software to high-quality, well architected and well-tested user-centered software services. Beyond customer collaboration to user collaboration and user involvement. Beyond responding to change to prioritizing and optimizing for change. — Mike Beedle Read more →

This Is How I Avenged Myself

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O crowd, whose love I coveted until the day of my death, this is how I avenged myself for your indifference: I let you buzz all around me, without hearing you. My attitude may be compared to that of Aeschylus’ Prometheus toward his tormentors. Did you think you could chain me to the rock of your triviality, of your agitations over the inconsequential? — Machado de Assis, Epitaph of a Small Winner Read more →

Advice for the College Bound

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HER: My son is going to be going off to college soon. It’s a big step for him. I hope he’s ready to make good decisions. HIM: When my daughter left for college, I gave her these simple words of advice: “Don’t get photographed sucking a dick.” HER: That sounds like excellent advice for your daughter, but it wouldn’t be of any help to my son. HIM: That’s not what I’ve heard. Read more →

The Star Thrower

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As the old man walked the beach at dawn, he noticed a young man picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. Catching up to the youth, he asked why he was doing this. The answer was that the stranded starfish would die if left until the morning sun. “But the beach goes on for miles and there are millions of starfish,” countered the other. “How can your effort make any difference?” The young man looked at the starfish in his hand and threw it to safety in the waves. “It makes a difference to this one,” he said. — Loren C. Eiseley, The Star Thrower Read more →

Monday Morning Sets the Tone for the Week

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L.A. Fitness at 5 a.m. I don’t like exercising in a crowded gym. I also don’t like to get up early, but not as much as I don’t like exercising in a crowded gym, and if you get in there at 5 a.m., the gym isn’t crowded. For 2011, I started doing different exercises every day of the week and changing up the entire workout every four weeks, instead of doing the same basic routine that I’d been doing since, like, forever. I’m taking all major muscle groups by surprise on a regular basis. They have no idea what’s coming next. If you’re not incorporating the element of surprise into your exercise regimen, you’re blowing a major opportunity. Read more →

The market for something to believe in is infinite. — Hugh MacLeod

Kanban and Scrum: Making the Most of Both

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Free download courtesy of Henrik Kniberg, Mattias Skarin and InfoQ.com. The book includes: Kanban and Scrum in a nutshell Comparison of Kanban and Scrum and other Agile methods Practical examples and pitfalls Cartoons and diagrams illustrating day-to-day work Detailed case study of a Kanban implementation within a Scrum organization Read more →

Riddles

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Q: What will you find in a prison library? A: Prose and cons. Q: What do you call a choice between cinnabar and galena? A: Either ore. Q: Where do Brahmans build their houses? A: Caste lots. Read more →

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