Poetry and Storytelling by Kai
WORDS BY KAI. This site is the home of creative expression fueled by passion and inspired by the sparks of a my starlight muse. On these pages you will find my creative voice in lines of poetry, thoughtful essays and commentary, creative storytelling, and in an array of beautiful words to inspire the logophile in us all.
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Learn new words with the Word of the Day and the topic Word Lists. Build your new vocabulary with new words, old words, obscure words and untranslatable words from faraway lands.
THOUGHTS AND COMMENTARY
Commentaries and essays on a variety of topics including parenting, the capacity for love, emotions, mindfulness and social issues.
Directory Informational Articles
System Refresh
I don’t make resolutions. I have too much pressure as an engineer and a mother that it’s too much to expect of myself. Instead I do a system refresh.
A system refresh is a 3 month cycle for change management in my life. In software development a refresh can be as easy as minor (change to existing feature), moderate (addition of new elements or deletion of elements) or complex (major changes affecting all areas of the application). For example, a minor change would be a process change to how I do something (would be how I organize my bills and make my payments). A moderate change would be a change that solves a specific problem (starting a new exercise program or cutting out sugar from my diet). And finally a complex change would be a change that affects my life as a whole and requires several changes being made at the same time (buying a house).
This range gives me the opportunity to change anything of any magnitude. My refresh cycles are 3 months starting in January so I have 4 cycles a year quarterly. This ensures a full year of a variety of changes across all areas of my life. A resolution on the other hand starts and usually dies in January and people wait until New Years to try again. My cyclical approach is psychological. The brain likes the idea of a short-term change that provides results fast. This means motivation and determination are high and you have a better chance to succeed.
My refresh cycle plan for change management is based on the software development project management methodology of Agile. Read more about Agile here.
A refresh is known as a cycle and each cycle has the following parts:
Reflection
Reflection in software design is called requirements planning. This part of the cycle defines each problem, determines if there is a feasible solution (problem becomes a change), designates the specific outcome desired, identifies any roadblocks for the success of the change so that other changes can be defined, and finally established the rewards for each successful change. Defining requirements is vitally important and time has to be spent thinking about each problem. For example, the problem is your pants are too tight. After thinking about it you have decided to lose ten pounds in 3 months. This is achievable. The reward will be a new pair of pants.
Schematics Design
Schematics is design and planning (how am I going to make this change?) A project plan is developed with exact specifications for the change. The plan includes a list of all the tasks needed to be done, the schedule for deadlines for each task, and the budget needed for each task. For example, the change is to lose ten pounds in 90 days, 3.1 pounds per month. The tasks would be eat 1500 calories per day (30% carbs, 70% protein, 10% fat), exercise (cardio 1hour MWF), weigh in weekly (Sat) and budget $50 for diet supplements and $50 for the gym. Supplemental data to be included would be the meal plan, the exercise schedule and setup of the weigh log.
Implementation
Implementation is putting that refresh to work. Begin the tasks outlined in schematics, meet all deadlines as specified, and produce the changes in your life. For example, you start the diet and exercise program and you implement the plan every day consistently. You track your progress and keep notes for your lessons learned in case you have to do this again.
Verification
Verification comes at the half way mark of the cycle and it is to ensure the plan is working, the tasks are being completed on time, the goals are being met and there are no problems executing. For example, you evaluate your loss (4 pounds lost, met diet goals 80%, met exercise goals 50% and spent $110). As you can see from these results the plan isn't working at peak efficiency. You are behind on the weight loss because you have not met your diet and exercise goals. Verification has failed.
Anything that fails verification goes back to reflection to ensure it is truly needed, what went wrong and if there any other changes I need to make before resubmitting this one. If verification fails and reflection concludes it is not possible then I delete that change. I do not regret a failure because I know I did everything I could to get it to release. In our example reflection confirms the change is necessary and feasible so schematics redesigns the tasks and goals. For example, The tasks would be eat 1200calories per day (20% carbs, 70% protein, 10% fat), exercise (cardio 1hour MWF and weights TT), weigh in twice a week (Wed/Sat) and budget $110).
Release
Release is when the change has passed verification, the problem has been solved and the solution implemented and the refresh is considered successfully complete. Time to buy a new pair of pants!
I collect data for each refresh cycle and I celebrate positive verifications by marking them released and reward myself for success. I also compile lessons learned during the quarter so I can come up with new ideas for reflection or adjust schematics. The point is the cycle is flexible and there is no pressure. The cyclical process is 3 months so its fast turnaround. I know that each change only has 3 months so I don’t have to stay stuck in an implementation that isn’t working. Bugs can send a change back to reflection at any time so I’m not pressured to keep trying if the design is bad. If implementation takes too long and can’t be complete by the deadline then I either re-examine schematics for flaws or I extend the cycle to accommodate. It depends on the change specifications.
A system refresh is a 3 month cycle for change management in my life. In software development a refresh can be as easy as minor (change to existing feature), moderate (addition of new elements or deletion of elements) or complex (major changes affecting all areas of the application). For example, a minor change would be a process change to how I do something (would be how I organize my bills and make my payments). A moderate change would be a change that solves a specific problem (starting a new exercise program or cutting out sugar from my diet). And finally a complex change would be a change that affects my life as a whole and requires several changes being made at the same time (buying a house).
This range gives me the opportunity to change anything of any magnitude. My refresh cycles are 3 months starting in January so I have 4 cycles a year quarterly. This ensures a full year of a variety of changes across all areas of my life. A resolution on the other hand starts and usually dies in January and people wait until New Years to try again. My cyclical approach is psychological. The brain likes the idea of a short-term change that provides results fast. This means motivation and determination are high and you have a better chance to succeed.
My refresh cycle plan for change management is based on the software development project management methodology of Agile. Read more about Agile here.
A refresh is known as a cycle and each cycle has the following parts:
- Reflection
- Schematic design
- Implementation
- Verification
- Release.
Reflection
Reflection in software design is called requirements planning. This part of the cycle defines each problem, determines if there is a feasible solution (problem becomes a change), designates the specific outcome desired, identifies any roadblocks for the success of the change so that other changes can be defined, and finally established the rewards for each successful change. Defining requirements is vitally important and time has to be spent thinking about each problem. For example, the problem is your pants are too tight. After thinking about it you have decided to lose ten pounds in 3 months. This is achievable. The reward will be a new pair of pants.
Schematics Design
Schematics is design and planning (how am I going to make this change?) A project plan is developed with exact specifications for the change. The plan includes a list of all the tasks needed to be done, the schedule for deadlines for each task, and the budget needed for each task. For example, the change is to lose ten pounds in 90 days, 3.1 pounds per month. The tasks would be eat 1500 calories per day (30% carbs, 70% protein, 10% fat), exercise (cardio 1hour MWF), weigh in weekly (Sat) and budget $50 for diet supplements and $50 for the gym. Supplemental data to be included would be the meal plan, the exercise schedule and setup of the weigh log.
Implementation
Implementation is putting that refresh to work. Begin the tasks outlined in schematics, meet all deadlines as specified, and produce the changes in your life. For example, you start the diet and exercise program and you implement the plan every day consistently. You track your progress and keep notes for your lessons learned in case you have to do this again.
Verification
Verification comes at the half way mark of the cycle and it is to ensure the plan is working, the tasks are being completed on time, the goals are being met and there are no problems executing. For example, you evaluate your loss (4 pounds lost, met diet goals 80%, met exercise goals 50% and spent $110). As you can see from these results the plan isn't working at peak efficiency. You are behind on the weight loss because you have not met your diet and exercise goals. Verification has failed.
Anything that fails verification goes back to reflection to ensure it is truly needed, what went wrong and if there any other changes I need to make before resubmitting this one. If verification fails and reflection concludes it is not possible then I delete that change. I do not regret a failure because I know I did everything I could to get it to release. In our example reflection confirms the change is necessary and feasible so schematics redesigns the tasks and goals. For example, The tasks would be eat 1200calories per day (20% carbs, 70% protein, 10% fat), exercise (cardio 1hour MWF and weights TT), weigh in twice a week (Wed/Sat) and budget $110).
Release
Release is when the change has passed verification, the problem has been solved and the solution implemented and the refresh is considered successfully complete. Time to buy a new pair of pants!
I collect data for each refresh cycle and I celebrate positive verifications by marking them released and reward myself for success. I also compile lessons learned during the quarter so I can come up with new ideas for reflection or adjust schematics. The point is the cycle is flexible and there is no pressure. The cyclical process is 3 months so its fast turnaround. I know that each change only has 3 months so I don’t have to stay stuck in an implementation that isn’t working. Bugs can send a change back to reflection at any time so I’m not pressured to keep trying if the design is bad. If implementation takes too long and can’t be complete by the deadline then I either re-examine schematics for flaws or I extend the cycle to accommodate. It depends on the change specifications.
STARLIGHT POETRY BY KAI
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View Me on Twitter @kairosoflife
See Creativity Chaos - a Creativity Blog by Kai
About | Reprints & Copyrights | Home
© 2019-2020 Copyright Starlight Poetry
VIEW FULL SITE DIRECTORY