-
10 things nobody tells you about OKRs, part 5
In past instalments, this series has introduced the topic, dug into OKR origins, checked what else was going on while companies used them, and given ideas on a few things it’s easy to miss. Today, we’ll be talking about one big thing that people might not have told you about OKRs: Honestly, you don’t need…
-
Deliver Sessions: Getting better all the time
In November 2024 Deliver Sessions meetup was hosted at Northcoders’ office in Manchester Technology Centre, for an evening of talks about how people have got better at what they do. We asked speakers to think about: Here’s a few notes on what they put together. From Engineer to Head of Product Delivery: Hard Lessons and…
-
“How do I do that in TypeScript?”: Generator expressions
I wrote in “Some things I love about advent of code” about how I was using Advent of Code to help learn TypeScript. I did some of the old puzzles in Python – a language I’m comfortable with – then redid them in this language I’m brand new to. This gave me a chance to…
-
10 things nobody tells you about OKRs, part 4
We’ve covered several things about OKRs already: Today, in part 4, we’ll look at a few things it took me quite a while to realise. It’s easy to get excited about the promise of OKRs: aim for outrageous success, and if you get anywhere close to it you’ll still have got much further than you…
-
10 things nobody tells you about OKRs, part 3
This is a multi-part writeup of a talk I gave. So far we have: Let’s move on to the next thing that nobody tells you: Various companies have been vocal over the years about using OKRs and how they’ve been important to their success. Most prominent of these is Google, the first place John Doerr…
-
10 things nobody tells you about OKRs, part 2
In part 1, I set the scene for this series, but didn’t get as far as ticking off any of the 10 things – let’s see if we can make more progress this time… I’m interested in the OKR origin story. They were made famous by John Doerr, an investor and venture capitalist who brought…
-
10 things nobody tells you about OKRs, part 1
I gave a talk on OKRs (Objectives and Key Results, a goal-setting framework) after years of using them and looking into how to make them work better for me. I’ve written before about how useful I find writing this kind of talk: The act of just getting a talk planned helps summarise and bring together…
-
Notes from Agile Cambridge 2024
I spent 3 days at Agile Cambridge conference in October 2024. Great range of sessions and attendees to spend time with, all based at Cambridge university – an ideal location to put you in a learning mood. I’ve had a few weeks to think it over, and now I’m ready to write this “What would…
-
Deliver Sessions: Back to school
Deliver Sessions meetup took a Summer break, then returned in September 2024 – this time, to Auto Trader‘s office in Tony Wilson Place. We had a range of speakers sharing what they’ve learned from trying out new things at work. The power of “I don’t know” Chris Burns (head of product) has been reflecting a lot…