Well, my saga of work stress continues. I slept through most of the night, waking twice, once for who knows why, once when there was a pretty sizeable crash outside. Consequently, I woke up feeling the bite of stress. We've got nine working days before go live (and two days on the weekend), so we are in the final lap of this project. This is the part where everyone should be kicking it into high gear for the finish.
We've still got some challenges though - not the least of which is the classic that Deming identified years ago. People will perform to their perceived reward system. If you structure your reward system to measure and make decisions based on boxes checked on a project chart, people will bend heaven and earth to...check the boxes. Not necessarily to actually do the work that the boxes represent, but to check the boxes. So, my job, in part, is to make sure no boxes are checked until the work is actually done and validated.
That puts me squarely between some hard working folks...and their perceived reward. Of course, I wouldn't be in that position if I wasn't good at it, so don't consider that a complaint about my work. I like what I do, I am good at it, I am rewarded accordingly, both formally and informally. None of which makes me immune to the flying monkey bites and the flying poop. Those just keep me on my toes.
So, after waking up stressed this morning, I deliberately...slowed...the morning down. I took a nice leisurely shower. I am lingering over breakfast. I took the time to shave carefully and closely with a good razor. I ironed my shirt for no reason other than ironing relaxes me. Soon enough, I will slip back into the fray.
But, for now, listening to the morning birds singing is peace enough.
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