I came across the following quote today, and it really made me stop...and think: "Twenty years after my own graduation, I have come gradually to understand that the liberal arts cliché about 'teaching you how to think' is actually shorthand for a much deeper, more serious idea: Learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. " -- David Foster Wallace I know in software testing we try to do our best to 'think' of everything, but can we really? Maybe we all need to do a better job of 'being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to'? What are your thoughts? Gary

Fellow Acato Team Members, Thank you to all who attended the Module 3.1 training yesterday. And a special thank you to Taylor for putting together the training and presenting it yesterday! For those that missed the event or would like to review the recording again, I put the recording on the Acato “Staff Sharepoint” site (see attached screenshot) Here is a link… Self-Managed Orgs - Module 3.1-20210916_100336-Meeting Recording.mp4 Have a Great Day! Gary

So, I got this in my weekly email from James Clear (the author of Atomic Habits)... Let me paraphrase economist Donald Kaberuka on focusing on what matters: "I'm not interested in whether the glass is half empty or half full. I'm interested in figuring out how to fill the glass." Source: Donald Kaberuka: The cautious optimist Hmmmmm! Which view do you tend to argue for in "half full/half empty" situations? Do you think Kaberuka's argument is a better one? Which argument do you think is easier to win? Gary

Fellow Acato Team Members, Thank you again for attending and participating in our Tactical Meeting demos! I want to give an extra “Thanks!” to the Facilitators and Secretaries for each breakout. They are the ones that made both the Governance and Tactical meeting demos possible. If you would like to see the recording of yesterday’s meeting and/or the setup document and Tactical Card, you can find them in the Staff Sharepoint here: Tactical Demo I also put yesterdays PowerPoint presentation in the Staff Sharepoint area: Teal Training-Module 3.2_Session 6 (in development).pptx Have a Magical day! Gary Murray

Fellow Acato Team Members, Thank you all for joining us yesterday for the Governance Meeting training and demos. I hope everyone has a little better understanding of Governance meetings. For anyone who would like to take a look at the slides, here is the link to the Module 3.2 PowerPoints: Module 3.2_Holacracy As usual, I also added the recording of yesterday’s session to the Training Resources folder on the Staff Sharepoint site. Here is the URL: Videos Thanks, Gary Murray

Fellow Acato Team Members, Thank you everyone for joining us today. I have added today’s slides and recording to the Acato SharePoint site… Self-Managed Orgs - Module 3.2-20210721_130017-Meeting Recording.mp4. Module 3.2_Holacracy I would like to encourage everyone to do two things before our next session: Look over the “Notes” in the PowerPoint slides (there is a lot of detail in there that we simply did not have time to go over today) Take another look in Glassfrog and ask yourself: Are the details for the roles I hold “explicit”? If you have any questions, please ask someone…we are in this together. Thanks, Gary Murray

Fellow Acato Team Members, I trust everyone is doing well this week. As I mentioned in the invite, I am attaching a PDF to this email and the invite. Within the PDF, you will find a few questions to work through to prepare for our next training session (Self-Managed Orgs - Module 3.2) that is scheduled for July 21 at 1 pm. See you there!

I came across this quote today from James Clear: "You don't need to predict how everything will play out. Just master the next step and continue moving in the right direction." Are you like me and always want to think about how everything will play out? If so, maybe we just need to take that next step and let the following steps guide us? Gary

I came across this little quote in one of James Bach's heuristics paper on Software Testability. It really made me think: "Time. Having too little time destroys testability. We require time to think, prepare, and cope with surprises." --James Bach Do you agree with his statement? If so, why or why not?

Fellow Acato Team Members, Thank you all for joining us for the demo. I heard everyone enjoyed the “breakout” time. We will try to incorporate more of those in future training sessions. If you missed it, we did record the demo itself (but not the retrospective portion). The video can be found here: Self-Managed Teams - Module 2.2 Demonstration-20210624_132949-Meeting Recording.mp4 Have a Fantastic Friday! Gary Murray Tel: (865) 381-1120, Ext 7005

Fellow Acato Team Members, I hope everyone has had a terrific Thursday. For those that may have missed the Module 2.2 training session yesterday, here is a link to the recording: Self-Managed Teams - Module 2.2-20210616_130008-Meeting Recording.mp4 Thank you all for joining us and participating! Gary Murray

Fellow Acato Team Members, As promised here is the URL for the “Teal Training Tuckman Team Maturity Questionnaire”. If you would, please fill out the questionnaire by close of business on Monday, June 21. This way I will have time to compile the results for our demo on Thursday. Please keep these things in mind while filling out the questionnaire: Remember this questionnaire is designed for a scrum team of 5 to 7 people. We will be compiling all of our answers (and we are not all on the same scrum team), so don’t take the results too seriously. When the survey uses the word “team” or another variation, think of it in terms of Acato as a whole. When the survey uses the word “scrum master” or another variation, think of it in terms of “Cathy” as a leader. If you have any questions, let me know. https://forms.gle/iUonGN1JcEPG5RYn9 Thanks, Gary Murray

Fellow Acato Team Members, I hope everyone enjoyed today’s training session. Thank you all for participating. I am sure most of the concepts were not new to you. We would like for everyone to have the opportunity to think a bit more deeply about the concepts. Therefore, I have attached a PDF that contains a few activities for you to try. P.S. The PDF mentions taking a “Teal Training Tuckman Team Maturity Questionnaire”. I will send out the link for the questionnaire in a separate email shortly. Thanks, Gary Murray

Fellow Acato Team Members, Wow! I think we had a great time yesterday. I know that the “Tactical Meeting” process for all of us feels odd for sure. However, many of us that have been working this way for a while have found it enlightening and productive. For those that missed yesterday’s demonstration, here is a link to the recording: Self-Managed Teams - Module 2.1 Demonstration-20210615_140408-Meeting Recording.mp4 I have also attached the “Tactical Meeting Card” to this email if you can’t find a copy. Thanks, Gary Murray

Fellow Acato Team Members, In preparation for tomorrow’s Self-Managed Teams - Module 2.2 training session, take look at the attached PDF. Give some thought to each question. There are no real right or wrong answers. The questions are designed to get your creative juices flowing in the areas we will be discussing. Thanks, Gary Murray

Fellow Acato Team Members, Now, that you all know the Five Dysfunctions that can hold back a team and what SAFe says creates a great team let’s put some of these ideas to paper. I have attached a PDF that has a few exercises for you to give a try. One of which is Patrick Lencioni’s team assessment. Go ahead and take the assessment for the team you are working with today. See how your team scores. Then give some serious thought to giving Lencioni’s ideas for combating the dysfunctions a try (for reference I have attached the PowerPoint presentation from yesterday). P.S. Look in the "notes" section for each slide for a description of each of Lencioni's ideas. If you have any questions, reach out. We are here to help.

Fellow Acato Team Members, Happy Friday! I hope yesterday’s training left at least a small impression on you. Or maybe it brought up at least a question or two in your mind as you drifted off to sleep last night. In either case, thank you for joining us yesterday. As I mentioned yesterday, we did record the session for those that may have missed it and for future Acato team members. Here is the link to the recording: https://acato-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/r/personal/gary_murray_acatoim_com/Documents/Recordings/Self-Managed%20Teams%20-%20Module%202.1-20210610_133014-Meeting%20Recording.mp4?csf=1&web=1&e=B9Xiaw Have a great weekend! Gary

Fellow Acato Team Members, In preparation for our next training session to be held NEXT Thursday (I do apologize for the multiple changes), I have attached a PDF that contains a few activities that we can use to prepare ourselves before the training. If you have any questions, let us know. Thanks, Gary Murray

Fellow Acato Team Members, Thank you again for attending the GTD demo. And a BIG THANK YOU goes out to Amanda for putting all the GTD training together. For those that missed the demo, here is a link to the recording. https://acato-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/r/personal/gary_murray_acatoim_com/Documents/Recordings/Teal%20Training_%20Module%201.2%20Training%20Demo-20210525_113121-Meeting%20Recording.mp4?csf=1&web=1&e=C4u0x3 Gary P.S. How empty is your Outlook Inbox right now? :)

Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler Ross on how beautiful people are made: "The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen." Source: Death: The Final Stage of Growth