Metrics
Derek Huether
Most Important Metric for an Enterprise

As an executive, you will be faced with the choice to do the pivot (if you can) or persevere (if you have no other choice). This will lead to a series of “bets”. You lead with a hypothesis that the things you change will allow you to operate at pre-event levels. But, how long will it actually take for you to validate your hypothesis and have a bet pay off with pre-event levels? If you run out of time to figure it out or run out of bets you can place, then you either lose your standing in the market or worse risk going out of business.

Derek Huether
How to identify dependencies with Tableau and ...

Regardless of the organization or institution, there will always be dependencies. The larger the organization, the greater chance of the existence of dependencies.
This template is available for download from Tableau Public

Video
Derek Huether
Value Stream Management

In the following interview (both video and audio), Dave Prior and I explore why Value Stream Management is so important, how it works, the connection to Value Stream Mapping, and how you can get started with it.

Derek Huether
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are metrics that are used to evaluate the performance of an organization or individual. They are used to measure progress towards achieving specific goals or objectives and to determine whether an organization or individual is meeting their targets.

Enterprise Insights, Jira Align, Metrics, Tableau
Derek Huether
How Atlassian Jira Align Supports Flow Metrics

I keep getting asked, does Jira Align support Flow Metrics, as defined in the Flow Framework and SAFe? The short answer is yes. If you believe these metrics will help unlock the potential of your teams, use this community post to see working examples of Tableau reports I have created using Jira Align and Enterprise Insights.

How Atlassian Jira Align Supports Flow Metrics

Finish

Provide Value To Your Customer And Thank Them

Gary Vaynerchuk Thank YouBack in November (2009) I was watching Episode #24 of This Week in Startups featuring Jason Calacanis.  His guest that week was Gary Vaynerchuk, of Wine Library TV fame and countless appearances on TV.  Sometimes I arrive a little late to the game.  I Don't watch a lot of television so I hadn't seen Gary before.  While on the show, he promoted his new book Crush It! and I was absolutely intrigued by his level of passion and drive.  My motto is anything is possible through passion, commitment, and skill.  It doesn't matter if you're a project manager, developer, or entrepreneur.  You can and SHOULD have all three, regardless of your trade.

I've been itching to get this book.  Because I have a lengthy commute, I waited until it was available in audio version.  I downloaded it last night and started listening to it this morning.  After my commute today, I arrived to the office not wanting to turn it off.  The book is inspiring, motivating, and I identify with several things Gary has experienced and promotes.  I am a firm believer if something is bad, you can say something about it.  But, if something is good, you need to stand on the tallest hill and yell at the top of your lungs.

The hill, in this case, is Twitter.  I wrote just a single tweet:

Started listening to Crushit! by @garyvee on my drive in today. Get the audio version (extras), even if you have the actual book.

Within a few minutes, Gary tweeted back

thank u !

Now that, people, is commitment to customer service!  With almost 850,000 people following him on Twitter, he took the time to thank me.  Though it was something so simple, it's a level of customer service everyone should and WILL come to expect in the coming years.

When I deal with my customer(s), I get excited, optimistic, and passionate.  I work HARD.  Why?  I love it!  Sure, I get paid for providing value but I make sure I thank them from time to time.  There must be a commitment to customer service.  The interesting thing is, it can be contagious.

So, work hard and be passionate about what you do.  Be committed to deliver value to your customers.  And don't forget to be skilled at how your implement your solutions.

Disclaimer:  I will not financially benefit from the positive review of Gary's book (but I hope he does).

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Starting Is Easy; Finishing Is Hard

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I once saw (via video podcast) a wise man (Jason Calacanis) say "starting is easy; finishing is hard." When he said that, it was a moment of absolute clarity for me.  I'm not saying he verbalized the meaning of life.  He did state, however, what I've often conceptualized but was never able to verbalize.

What Jason stated in 6 words is what I've seen many colleagues struggle with.  Who doesn't have projects and tasks to complete and deadlines to meet?   I've tried multitasking, thinking it would make me more efficient.  I've tried using a productivity pyramid.   All I did was start more tasks, not finish more.  That's the key right there.  It doesn't matter how many things you start if you never finish them.

The solution to my past problems has been the use of kanbans, referring to them as information radiators.  These information radiators were large billboards strategically placed around the office so anyone could passively see the status of the current project.  You could see what the highest priority was, what was currently being completed, and what was being delayed.

I believe the key to those successes was in the ability to visualize our work.  Everyone knew exactly what they needed to complete and everyone else knew if it was getting done.  People were not allowed to go on to ancillary activities until their assigned tasks were completed.  Another important facet of the kanban, we limited our work-in-progress.  This forced-focus on limited tasks and constant feedback loop is very powerful and very productive.

If you would like to read my complete guest post at the Personal Kanban website, on how I visualize my work and FINISH it (don't forget the comments), just follow the [link].