Small New Years Projects (Cabana Kaizen)

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For those of us who might be sitting in a world of clutter, where a million small tasks have become one daunting one - I DON’T KNOW WHERE TO START! - the only way out of that jungle is through.Since every journey begins with a single step - we can only begin by simply beginning. But that first step is usually the hardest.Homes are especially plagued by little tasks that never seem to get done. They mount up and all seem to be equally important or equally unimportant. Prioritization is difficult, and procrastination ensues.So, I propose the over-all New Year’s Resolution - This year, each month my house will be a little better.To do this, you can create a Personal Kanban for this specific purpose - or a swimlane on your existing board. They would look something like this:The steps here:1. Come up with 12 small, but noticeable projects2. Start with the smallest one3. Do one a month.That really wasn’t too difficult, was it?You’ll find, as I have, that keeping a board like this compels you (in a good way) to want to do many more than 12 of these small projects.Two things are important here:First, start small and stay small. Make incremental improvements that you and others can see. Don’t rebuild the house or put in new floors right away. Again, like in the last post, we are forming habits here. For Gary, the first task he’s taking on is finishing one that has been sitting uncompleted. Before making it a set of tasks - it was part of that daunting sea of blue tickets. Now, that project is alone. It’s manageable. And better yet, the cards are atomic - meaning each car is actionable on its own and in relative short time. If Gary is sitting at his desk in his home office working and wants to take a short break - he can go line up the cans of paint, judge how old they are and what’s needed and move the card. Having moved that one card, he’s now one step closer to getting that bit of existential overhead removed from his life forever.Second, keep that Personal Kanban visible! If you can’t see the Personal Kanban, it can’t remind you and it can’t reward you. If Gary doesn’t see that list of projects he won’t feel any more compelled to complete them than he did before the board. And if he completes tasks he can see that there is progress and will be more likely to continue that progress.We humans are very good at procrastinating - use the board to undermine this natural behavior and get the work done. Completed projects mean a prettier home and a better life. (And yes, relaxing can also be a goal on the kanban - it’s not about work, it’s about life.)

How I Cook

Mixed Wine and Sour Cherry Reduction

I frustrate people when I give cooking classes. They want measures. They want me to tell them what to do. Cooking isn’t like that. Cooking is about flavor, it’s about texture, it’s about the experience. It’s not about tablespoons or grams or whether something is prepared at exactly 375 for 20 minutes.So when your grandmother gives you her coveted, top-secret recipe for baked boiled squirrel al fresco, it will never taste the same as hers… if you follow the recipe. Because your grandmother doesn’t use the recipe, either.Whether it is soy sauce or olive oil or even something as universal as sea salt, a tablespoon from one producer will be very different from another.Just consider the variation among beef:

• USDA select (3rd grade) corn-fed beef from a grocery store that has likely been plumped with water;

• aged, organic, Choice steak (2nd grade) from a natural food market like Whole Foods or Choices;

• a Prime steak (1st grade) from a quality butcher; and

• a super-select Wagyu steak.

Bone-In Pork Chops with Mixed Wine Sour Cherry Reductions and Asian Pear

Bison Burgers with Maytag Blue Cheese and Grilled Naan

All will have flavor profiles and textures that vary wildly. The worst cut of Wagyu will be light years better than even the best cut of choice. So why would you ever expect food to taste the same from mere measurements?Just recently, I picked up a great looking piece of meat at Whole Foods. I decided I wanted to make pot roast in our slow cooker, which I’ve not used in years. I dug it out of storage, cleaned it up, and went to work on the pot roast.My wife Vivian asked what recipe I’d be using. I looked at her perplexed. What recipe? I simply couldn’t fathom using a recipe. I wanted pot roast. Granted, I’ve never actually prepared a pot roast. But that was besides the point.Later that evening we had pot roast, and it was quite good. Did I use a recipe?No.I used 12 recipes.The miracle of the Internet means that I don’t have to consult a book and choose one person’s vision of a particular type of food. I can now get 5, 10, even 100 versions of the same dish and see what is the same, what differs, what makes some unique. I learn about what Pot Roast is…not what one person says it is. Then I can begin to cook. I know what types of ingredients I need, what ingredients I have on hand, and what the flavor is I’m shooting for.Recipes end up being like “best practices.” In business, when a company encounters a problem, they often look for a set series of prescriptive, easily to follow steps that have solved that same problem elsewhere. The clincher here is that most problems are unique.Like ingredients, people are all different. We interact differently, we deal with change differently. Best practices are often followed as rote guides, and then fail.Why?Because we followed the recipe, but we didn’t actually cook.We follow what other people say will work, but we don’t find out what the gestalt is of what it is that we are making. We focus on instructions and not on actual goals.To truly solve problems, we need to be creative. We need to understand the various whys of a problem and then devise solutions. Otherwise we are merely treating symptoms.Remember, when working with visual controls like Personal Kanban or management processes your goals and the system you have employed to realize them are what’s important. The idea is not to become a slave to your board.  Whether it is building software, finishing a report at work, teaching your daughter the alphabet, or creating a perfect pot roast - other people can offer advice, but you are the chef.

InfoPak 3 - Personal Kanban Design Patterns: Inspiration to Discover Your Flow

Info Pak3 Personal Kanban Design Patterns

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Jim Benson

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Modus Cooperandi is pleased to announce the release of its third Personal Kanban InfoPak. InPersonal Kanban Design Patterns: Inspiration to Discover Your Flowwe present a series of patterns for individuals as well as for small "teams." Among the topics discussed: approaches tailored to specific users (i.e. children and authors) and situations (i.e. non-linear work); ways in which productivity tools such as GTD and Pomodoro extend the value of your Personal Kanban; how "coping mechanisms" such as retrospectives shed light on work patterns that have helped or hindered productivity in the past.For best results and access to links, please download the presentation. As always, please feel free to embed, distribute, and/or comment on this or any of our other InfoPaks.