The Mountaintop Scale

Retrospectives, and meetings in general, only really have value when the people involved feel comfortable enough to share what is on his or her mind. That's why we start with a safety check.

Safety checks are typically on a scale of 1-5. The participants write down a number and anonymously put it into a hat. The runner of the retrospective then tallies the results and decides whether it's worthwhile to continue, or something needs to be done to bring up the safety level of the team.

At least, that's how it was until yesterday. Yesterday brought the introduction of the mountaintop scale. Arguably simpler, but undeniably more accurate, the mountaintop scale ranges from 1-6...with 4 being the highest. Here's an ASCII art picture for your enjoyment.

      4
       /\ 5
    3 /  \
     /    \ 6
  2 /
   /
1 /

As our iteration manager so eloquently put it:

It's easy. If you're between a 3 and a 4, you're a 5. If you're between a 2 and a 3, you're a 6.

Happy retrospecting!

Small World

I've been lucky enough to spend 4+ months in some major cities over the past few years. During this time, I've had some déjà vu when meeting new people.

Let's review, in classic dialogue format.

Chicago

Me	...no, I'm actually from Detroit originally.
Person A	Hey! Me too. Go Blue!
Person B	Wow! Did you guys say you're from Detroit? So am I.
	6 more people join in as the conversation turns to Michigan vs Michigan State.

Los Angeles

Me	...no, I grew up near Detroit.
Teammate	Really? I'm from Huntington Woods!

Little Rock

Me	...no, I'm actually from Detroit originally.
Teammate	What! Do you know Eminem? Have you ever been to 8 Mile?

San Francisco

Barber	...and people think the tenderloin neighborhood is dangerous, but I'm from Detroit, so...
Me	Weird... Me too.

Let's Form a Hypothesis

11-08-09 by idovermani on Flickr

Certainly were I member of the scientist group pictured above, we'd be forming hypotheses about any of the following:

• Every US city is 90% Michigan-based
• Eminem has overtaken Henry Ford as the most famous Detroiter
• Detroit is the planet's toughest city
• Detroiters tell more people where they're from than persons of other cities

---

Naturally, there is a photoset.

Well, That's a New One

Last week I was late for our morning meeting.

Ordinarily this wouldn't be any big thing, I'd just take a look at why I was late and figure out how to prevent that from happening again. What was notable, is that to prevent this from happening again, I'd have to take earthquakes into account for each morning commute.

Somewhat comically, I was in a subway tunnel when the small 3.5 magnitude earthquake halted my train last Thursday.

The actual rattling of the earth couldn't be felt over normal train vibration, but it did apparently kick a switch on the tracks. We sat there in silence for what felt like forever. Finally, we began to inch forward into the next station as the conductor informed us that we must remain calm — a small earthquake means that they'll need clearance to proceed manually.

"Well, that's a new one," I thought, as I headed up the stairs in search of a cab.