Clarion Coughlan, Jayne Paterson O’Connell, Justin Blass & Simon Watson
This fortnight, Simon has been contemplating Stakeholder Management and the significant efficiency of proactive stakeholder management compared to reactive approaches. When we maintain high levels of organisation and have access to real-time information and metrics, the need for reactive stakeholder management diminishes greatly. Though easier said than done, the effort is undoubtedly worth it. On an entirely unrelated note, Simon recommends checking out a fascinating YouTube video that offers a unique data-driven perspective on a popular topic: Sleep! Titled, How Optimizing My Sleep is Making Me Limitless.
Meanwhile, Justin has been collaborating with others to define a team health check. Instead of copying and pasting from others, they've adapted it to fit their context and discussed what matters in their situation. It has been a fun and good reminder to give people and teams a clear definition of success and a way of assessing and improving. They referenced the Agile Fluency Model by James Shore and Esther Derby; a summary can be found here.
Jayne is a week and a half into her new life in Ireland. She is staying in rural Kilkenny, being charmed by the hanging baskets of flowers and the plentiful pubs. Progress is slow (by Jayne’s standards) in terms of getting her visa sorted, allowing her to start working. She's applying for jobs, looking for a new home in Dublin, and trying to live in the moment on Ireland time. It's a humbling experience to apply for roles in a new country and feel like a small fish in a big pond. But that's all part of the ride. In honor of how the Irish live, here's some wisdom from Marcus Aurelius about living in the moment, because after all, the present moment is all you've got.
Like many people in the tech industry, Clarion has been trying to understand AI better. While she finds the discussions about its potential risks intriguing, her primary focus lies in understanding how AI will impact product operations and product management, and the very way we build products in this AI-driven age. Recently, she came across a gem of an article, How to Use AI to Do Stuff: An Opinionated Guide. This article serves as a compass to help folks navigate the current state of AI and its practical applications.