The Hagakure #63: Sunday Round-Up
Why estimates are (almost) always wrong, keeping others (and yourself) accountable, and feedback as natural as running water.
Iโm an introvert who is not anti-social. And I have a tendency to go overboard sometimes in whatever I do.
Sure enough, this past week I dialed (way) up the number of new people I met both online and in person. Result: a full heart, and a depleted battery. Totally worth it. So many incredible people out there. ๐
So, Iโm using the weekend to relax, enjoy the nice weather in Berlin, and to read (savor) a really good book which I will be sharing some bits about on the Hagakure soon.
Finally, thanks to everyone who smashed that โค๏ธ button last week. Loud and clear. I will continue to share weekly my top 3 LinkedIn posts of the previous week, right to your inbox, or Substack app. ๐ฅ
Have a great start to your week, and stay curious (like my cat below). ๐ง
Ever wondered why delivery estimates are (almost) always wrong?
Hereโs some perspective.
โฐ Total time = ๐ฉโ๐ป Active Time + ๐ฅฑ Wait Time
Estimating when something will be done always *implies* both active time (when it is actually being worked on, aka โtouch timeโ) AND wait time (when work is waiting for something or someone).
But when an estimate is given, we are biased to think of active time only. Without distractions, handovers, dependencies, holidays, etc. It's only human. Happy paths are alluring.
The problem is: "wait time" is virtually ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ to predict. Read that again. Blew my mind, too. ๐คฏ
Example: how can you possibly know in advance how long you'll be waiting for code review? It depends on multiple, complex, future interactions.
And the more work in progress there is, the more dependencies, the more multitasking, the more context switching... the more "wait time" you get.
What you end up with is something few teams actually make visible: ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ wait time than active time.
Is it any wonder so many businesses lose trust in engineering? Or that engineers lose trust in the businessโoften refusing to provide any estimates at all?
The model most companies use for product development is fundamentally broken, despite the proliferation of "agile" frameworks, masters, coaches, and consultants.
Change is hard but it's always one step at a time:
โ ๐ฆ๐๐ผ๐ฝ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด, ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด.
Keep your FOMO in check. Resist starting new work when more valuable work is yet to be finishedโand shipped. It's counter-intuitive. But it's also math (see Littleโs Law).
โ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ธ.
What's the biggest culprit of creating wait time in your development process? Get together as a team and find creative ways to measurably reduce it. Then rinse and repeat. (Hint: pair programming can obviate the need for code review.)
โ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ & ๐๐ป๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด (๐๐ฟ๐๐น๐) ๐๐ผ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ.
Working on one thing at a time only makes sense if you consistently work on the most valuable bet. The best teams explore what that is, together, with the freshest information possible. They define success and experiment their way to it. They ship often and learn often.
Above all: start looking at your teamโs development process as a whole system. And embrace the fact that estimates are not predictions.
โข What's your experience with estimates and multitasking?
โข What has worked and what has not worked?
I lost count how many times I have heard managers complain that some of their people are not โaccountableโ.
When I see this pattern pop up in a coaching session, I know how the story usually ends:
With my client realizing theyโre not doing their part. And that it changes everything.
โJake, we need the report by next week.โ
โYep, cool, you got it.โ
Next week goes by and the report is not delivered. Disappointment. Do this enough times and you start believing Jake โisnโt accountable.โ Trust erodes, and next thing you know youโre contemplating letting him go.
Hereโs the thing: agreement is worthless without commitment.
An agreement is a fuzzy statement of intent. A commitment is specific. Whoโs going to do what by when?
You have to move from agreement to commitment and the way you do that is by making a request, and eliciting a promise.
โJake, we need this report done by next week, alright?โ
โYep, cool, you got it.โ
โWhen can I expect it and how will I know?โ
โUmmm, by next Tuesday EOD. Iโll share the doc over email and ping you on Slack.โ
โSounds good. Can I have your promise on that?โ
โYes, you can.โ
When a promise is made, breaking it means your integrity is compromised. How can I trust you if you donโt keep your promises?
And if sh*t happens and Jake canโt honor the commitment? He can always go back to his manager before the committed deadline, explain what happened and why he canโt make it, and then agree together on a re-commitment that works for both.
If this sounds micromanage-y, think again. What you are actually doing is:
Giving the other person an opportunity to say โNo, I actually canโt commit to this. But hereโs what I can do insteadโฆโ
Creating the opening for a conversation about โhaving too much on my plateโ
Leading by example in the organization on how to establish true accountability.
Trust is about making promises and keeping them, consistently, over time.
Learn how to go the extra mile from agreement to commitment. Your team will thank you for it, and you wonโt be wondering so much why on earth people canโt be held โaccountable.โ
5 minutes of feedback. Every 1-on-1.
Thatโs all it takes.
In every such interaction, reserve the last 5 minutes to give and receive feedback.
About how this particular interaction went.
About how weโre working together.
About anything that is nagging me.
About something we should do more of.
โWhat happened in this that you liked? And what happened that you wish were different?โ
By turning this into a habit, you remove the sting out of it, while keeping all the benefits. Feedback becomes as natural as running water.
As Jennifer Garvey Berger writes in her wonderful book Simple Habits for Complex Times:
โ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐น ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ตโ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ท๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ด๐บ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ช๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ต.โ
Take it, acknowledge it, and then if you accept it, declare what action youโll take and take it. It makes others feel they can actually change the way you interact with them.
I canโt think of a much better gift than changing ourselves in response to another.
And all it takes is 5 minutes. Every 1-on-1.
Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this post, please consider hitting the โค๏ธ button, subscribing for future issues on your inbox, and sharing it using the button below.
Until next week, have a good one! ๐
I loved the accountability one the most!
And curious about the book you read! Always open to great book recommendations, almost in any genre :)
Thanks for the summary! I missed the first one about finishing what you started. Love picture of your cat!