@mhsutton

heart.head.work.life

Tag: perseverance

  • May 2 – Retro: Ongoing…

    By: Grant Kwok

    Check In

    • I’m glad I’m making progress, it’s slow and with plenty of emergence, but it’s progress.
    • Glad that I’m learning and having fun doing this.
    • Mad that every 10 steps forward I discover 100 more miles to go!
    • Glad that I will have the approved chat hosts functionality in place, it’s so close I can smell its perfume.

    I’m anxious. I’m In. 

    Achievements Since Last Retro

    • Incorporated plans and accounts
    • Explored Hootsuite apps as a possible partner channel. They have 6 million users, I have 367 (from ChittyChat!).
    • I updated my fiddle with some revised pricing. It is still unvalidated with a customer (hoping that happens next week).

    How The Trello Board Now Looks

    It is fundamentally unchanged.

    I Learned…

    • Messing with CSS and style takes time. Thankfully I work in 59/10 which means I review my work every hour to see if I should still be doing it.
    • That we can regrow lost forests with a commendable attempt at preserving diversity!

    I Loved…

    Sitting in the sunshine for a whole hour – with coffee, code and music. Even the wasps were friendly.

    I’m Grateful For…

    All the options for marketing, partnership and support that have emerged and are emerging.

  • April 23: Scary Challenges

    By: costa rica beauty

    Check In

    I’m glad that just after my entry yesterday, I was able to knuckle down (aided by some wine) and fix my issues.
    I’m sad that, as a result,  I went to bed pretty early in the morning and so today was tiring.
    I’m glad that I spent time with my wife, having coffee and catching up in the sunshine.
    I’m excited that my WordPress blog site for ServiceChat is almost completely styled and ready for beta soon.
    I’m excited at the options that emerged to run ServiceChat app with its blog – making life much easier for me.
    I’m glad I pushed myself to exercise even though it was pretty late.
    I’m afraid about the challenges that lie ahead and whether I will get through them.
    I’m glad that right now I feel I can.

    I’m in. 

    Achievements Since Last Retro

    • ServiceChat chat is completed and ready to rock!
    • Blab.by – the pub/sub platform I wrote for ServiceChat is completely refactored. and is more robust, stable and faster!

    I Learned…

    1. How to optimise WordPress and a whole heap of DevOps know how.
    2. People are a bundle of stories and it is always worth it to have the conversation.

    I Loved…

    • Stopping for 45 minutes to have a long conversation with a stranger on the street, helping them feel better and helping myself make a new friend.
    • Trying to help a friend with some empathy and thinking round a personal challenge.

    I’m Grateful For…

    Broadband , which spelt forwards spells ‘FREEDOM’

    Next Desired Outcomes

    1. In-chat invite functionality ported to ServiceChat
    2. Basic info pages sketched out
    3. Two hours of language study (I think it’s going to be a 6am start)

  • April 19 : Leaps and Bounds!

    By: Ivan Mlinaric

     

    Check In

    I’m glad that I only worked a half day today, I got to spend the afternoon with my sons.
    I’m glad  that I was inspired to steal, with permission, Olaf’s template that he was inspired to make by reading this blog (everything is connected!) – Please let me know what you think of the format.
    I’m mad that I had intermittent network issues with my broadband.  If I only lived 200 meters closer to the exchange!
    I’m sad that the week has come to an end, I feel like I could just make and make and make.
    I’m glad my wife went to the Alhambra palace with her Mama – I think when we get bigger with children of our own we neglect experience-making with our own parents.
    I’m sad about the bombing in Boston – it is an unnecessary was of lives
    I’m mad that the first instinct of the media is to try and paint the perpetrators as muslim and stoke the flames of intolerance.

    I’m in.

    Achievements Since Last Retro

    1. I reviewed my business model canvas (I use BMFiddle.com – it is really awesome)
    2. I hired someone to work on a wordpress site for the ServiceChat blog to make it look seamlessly with the rebranding – he should be done by Monday
    3. The chat page of the rebranding is further ahead than I expected , though still not complete
    4. I got the first public not-self-initiated contact about ServiceChat today.
    5. Getting feedback from trying to deploy a beta version of ServiceChat. Lots broken in deploy, but better to know now.

    I Learned…

    1. The spanish word for pig sty – ‘Pocilga’ (don’t ask me why I learned this)
    2. My business model canvas is indispensable as a coherent memory of the assumptions I made waaay back.
    3. My business mode canvas is only as good as the information I take the time to put into it.

    I Loved…

    1. Watching my HootSuite research dashboard of the 4 companies I’m searching, wow – what a stream of pain.

    I’m Grateful For…

    Spotify. I am having so much fun singing, dancing and discovering new music during my working day.

    Next Desired Outcomes

    1. The Chat screen completely restyled and working responsively on common handsets and browsers.
    2. Blog titles and synopses written up and ready for discussion with my collaborator on Sunday

  • 18-April-2013: Habits are forming!

    Check In

    I’m glad that today (day 3 ) of this new way of doing my thing, is the first day that it all pretty much worked.
    I’m delighted that I have never been happier.
    I’m glad I took time to sketch out the skins, made things go a lot faster and smoother.
    I’m sad that my friend had a really hard time last year (lost his Mama – and now he is an orphan) and I knew nothing about it.
    I’m glad I took my breaks at the timer
    I’m very glad that I was able to do 60 pushups and 30 squats during my 10 minute breaks.
    I’m mad I didn’t review my business model canvas as I had expected.

    I’m so in.

    Desired Outcomes For Today

    Two days of toil and I recognise the truth that my rebranding is not a 2-day job. I am at peace with that and very happy with the results so far.
    Therefore I am revising my outcomes. I expect to still be working on rebranding ServiceChat – specifically skinning the chat screens to make them responsive and to pare them down to the basics (ChittyChat has some bits I actually don’t want in the MVP for ServiceChat).

    3 Things I Learned

    1. Progress is slow when I am learning how to do the work and doing the work. I must think about this, identify when this is the case and manage my expectations accordingly.
    2. My gut is very wise – it knows what I need
    3. Design takes time and thought (all kinds of design!)

    3 Things I Will Improve On Before The Next Retro

    1. Reading a customer service oriented blog
    2. Getting out of bed on the first alarm.
    3. Get to bed before midnight (might help with above 😉

    Something I’m Grateful For

    That, inspite of myself, I am able to learn new things and that I’m loving the process of learning. Awesome!

    Outcomes For Tomorrow

    1. The Chat screen completely restyled and working responsively on common handsets and browsers.

  • 17-April-2013: Sloooow!

    By: PeterWebb

    Check In

    I’m frustrated that everything I tried to do today took longer than I thought it would.
    I’m glad I stopped to consider why and what I could do about it.
    I’m mad that I needed to continue my task to research customers (this shit is important!!! and urgent) and I was not able to.
    I’m glad I decided to use a template instead of handcrafting the ServiceChat temporary skin – it made the day less sloow!
    I’m afraid that it is Thursday tomorrow.
    I’m frustrated that I can be let down by tech (my network) and entire hours can be swallowed up trying to solve it
    I’m glad that I can see an end to the re-skinning task tomorrow and I should get an opportunity to get on the Customer Discovery work.
    I’m glad that I had almost no distractions (just pain!)

    I’m in.

    Desired Outcomes For Today

    From my high of yesterday I had to reach my outcome of ServiceChat having its own visible identity and completing the work I needed to have at least 2 potential customers researched.

    I’m farther along, just not as far as my outcomes. Progress is progress – as they say in Spain  “poco a poco”.

    3 Things I Learned

    1. Sometimes I need to step back as a developer and look at what solution is required – I don’t have to build everything.
    2. Sometimes the people I pay to do things can do them better than me.
    3. Sometimes I really am the best person to do the thing I hired someone else to do.

    3 Things I Will Improve On Before The Next Retro

    1. Sketching/wireframe out what I want the new ServiceChat UI to look like (so I don’t overly experiment when I code)
    2. Taking my break when the timer goes off.
    3. Update my neglected Business Model Canvas!

    Something I’m Grateful For

    The huge list of stuff that I have done in my life. Skills that I cannot consciously recollect have been internalised in me and they crop up when I need them the most. I just know how to do certain things. Awesome!

    Outcomes For Tomorrow

    1. Continue to reach my original outcomes ( a rebranded  ServiceChat app that does atleast as much as ChittyChat does AND have at least 2 customers researched)
    2. An updated business model canvas that reflects what I have learnt since I last updated it 3 weeks ago.