Kanna, LLC

Ah, I’m back! I have temporarily relocated to Kansas for a long-term contract. So, let me introduce (or re-introduce) myself to you. I am girl geek project manager by day and relentlessly creative person. While I say I am primarily a glass and silver jewelry artist, my creative brain is more like an F5 Tornado churning out an unstoppable debris of creative ideas strewn across the landscape of my mind. I dabble in wirewrapping, chain maille, precious metal clay, low-tech metal-smithing, polymer clay, resin, painting, pastels, colored pencils, water color, marker, knitting, crocheting. If you name it, I’ll want to try it. I am a professional klutz. Well, technically I haven’t been paid, but I have been entertaining audiences from a young age. I have has stumbled through life in nine states plus two years as an ex-pat in Hong Kong. I am owned by Maltese dogs named Molly Dolly, 13 years old, and Sophie Belle, 3 years old. I love southwestern and western metaphors even though I’m just a repressed suburbanite. (These are the dressy cowgirl boots I’m saving up for.)

Part of the reason for blog silence is that I have been taking a business class on re-designing Kanna LLC with soulful intention. (This class is absolutely fantastic for any creative souls trying to start their business the right way.) There are two sides to Kanna LLC: the process of project management and the creative jewelry side. Right now, my mind is ablaze with ideas!!!! Currently, I have this mischievous sense of literary abandon overtaking me where I positively plan to skewer everything I know about the English language. But, more important than skewing, smashing, bashing, and mashing the English language, I wanted to spend a little time on the heart of my business…WHY I do what I do.

WHY

I created a painting for my home with a quote that has been said to me, personally, “I care. You matter.” That really boils down the essence of WHY I do anything that I do in my professional and personal life. PEOPLE MATTER. In a world where people are being treated as objects and relationships are fraying at the edges, the heart of WHY I do anything is because PEOPLE MATTER. YOU matter. I practice, teach, and create art jewelry and project processes because I care and you matter.

WHAT

Professional Project Management: While I recognize that there is no system or process that is a silver bullet perfect solution, I have pinned my heart on to a style of project management, called Agile, because one of the core principles of the Agile Manifesto spoke to me. Techno-Averse and Techno-Phobic people have permission to close your eyes, plug your ears, and sing “lah-lah-lah” for the next until after the parentheses. Or just skip the parentheses. (Agile is a set of project management and software development principles geared toward Information Technology.) The soul-infused principle is “creating a sustainable work pace” which, in my interpretation, means, “I care about people.” When done well and with heart, people can enjoy work, enjoy productivity, enjoy accountability and be rewarded with a sense of satisfaction. I believe this style of wrangling time and tasks has application far beyond the Information Technology sector. I would love to see adoption in every kind of project.

The Chaos Corral – Boxing Up Time and Tasks for Creatives: A particular interest for me is smashing the Information Technology jargon and project management babble out of this form of Time and Task Organization. First of all, people glaze over when you speak techno-babble. Second, I don’t want to scare Creatives/Artists off with the words (shhh, please only whisper these words) “project management.” I want to translate these cool techniques into “artish.” We can pluck our creative dreams out of the chaotic clouds in our minds and wrap a few fun, simple techniques around that creative maelstrom, become productive, and *gasp* maybe even profitable with our creative endeavors.

Creating Jewelry and Teaching Jewelry Techniques: A balancing interest to the organizational process is creating jewelry that helps people value themselves, an anchor to silence the inner critic and put a positive, self-created soundtrack in our head. When you value yourself sufficiently (but not in a selfish way), it is more possible to value, support, and help other people. In addition, the simple process of creating jewelry is a destressifying means of wholesome recreation.

So, if PEOPLE MATTER to you…raise your hand.

Um. Let me re-phrase that since I can’t see your hands.

If PEOPLE MATTER to you, leave a comment. ;-D

Every team plateaus and people come and go. If you’re feeling like you’re at a plateau, joining a new team, or the team has gone through a bunch of changes, run a Team Retrospective using the Speedboat analogy.

I recently joined a new team, and reviewing our Agile Scrum cycle, ran a Speedboat Retrospective on the implementation of Agile and gathered team insights on our level of maturity. I found this tremendously insightful. It gave me my own Scrum Master backlog of things to focus on. It also gave me a list of things that were working and I shouldn’t try to break them. It’s good not to come with assumptions of the problems the team may have. You may observe some things that may or MAY NOT be true. Run a Team Retrospective about how Agile is being utilized and see whether the team confirms or dissuades you from your initial impression of issues on the team.

I’ve decided to mix a little of my quirky personality into my blog posting. (Girl geek that loves Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Dr. Who, Monty Python, and Dilbert. And chick flicks, knitting, and making jewelry.)  I’ve been blogging as an artist for several years now. I was considering combining the two blogs, but I think the audience is different enough that two blogs makes more sense. But, one thing I liked doing on my art blog was telling little bits and pieces of my stories and experiences that didn’t totally relate to my art. I liked being human behind an impersonal medium. Now, don’t worry, I’m not going to share every little mind-numbing detail. I portray only a slice of my full personality. But, knowing me is important to understanding how I write.

I have an draft post called “Rule of Engagement.” I’ve been around IT people long enough to know we like a vigorous debate. Or a discussment. In full disclosure, this is the major reason I’ve held back from participating online. I feel like I can contribute something (I’m still defining the “something”) but I’ve been worried about controversial discussions. I’ve worked very hard to maintain my art blog as a place of enjoyment, beauty, entertainment, and inspiration. And so far it has worked. However, changing the way we work, is going to involve some heavy-duty discussions. As long as people are prepared for respectful and appreciative engagement, I’ll be fine with that.

I plan to take a Conversational Tone  with this blog. Yes. I know it’s a professional blog, but the reality of how we communicate in the workplace is a mix of business, humor, wackiness (on the best teams), business, fun, and business. Why can’t we have fun with that model in a written form? Also, some of the reasons for adopting the conversational tone are as follows: 1) I’m not a definitive source of information for all things Agile. I’m only one of many source sharing my experience. 2) I want to be conversational to help people feel free to participate and contribute to our mutual development and knowledge in the Agile world. I feel intimidated by “professional blogs.” So, please, come in, get a cup of coffee, and let’s talk Agile!

While I contemplate my “Rules for Engagement” (i.e. if a controversial discussion starts happening), I’m going to share a little bit of how this quirky, klutzy girl geek project manager views life.

My sister calls me a “female Chandler.” No one knows what I do. The silly way I describe my day job is as a “Girl Geek Project Manager” (even though I’m a CSP – does anyone outside Agile know what a CSP is? Neither does my sister. Or my father, who was an IBM’er for 28 years.) Pathetic, I know. Which makes me realize, I’ve really got to hone in on that 30-second elevator pitch that Peter Saddington recommends you develop about “What is Agile”? Yeah. Mine is still 11 pages and 30 minutes long. Working on that.

Second, the title of this post: just received an offer that will take me to Kansas. Kansas? You CANNOT talk about Kanas without a reference to the Wizard of Oz. So, first, the next month is going to be a slow motion tornado of activity of packing, going out for a few weeks to find places, coming back for “stuff” and getting settled in Kansas. Another thing to know about me is that I have Maltese dogs. Molly, my 13-year-old whom has been part of my life since she was 3 months old. Well, she owns me. The other one, Sophie, is a new addition as of 2 weeks to my family. I think I own her. The reason I say that is because she’s obedient. Her first owner gave her obedience training. As long as she still listens to me, I will say I own her. But, once she converts to Molly’s approach, then I’ll have to say I’m owned by my dogs. (They’re not spoiled, I’m just well trained.) Anyway, that little aside is leading me to feel the need to dye her black and rename her to Toto just so I can say, “Toto, I think we’re in Kansas again.” Or I might rent a Toto just to say it. Then I could have Sophie be the antitheses of Toto and say, “Sophie, I don’t think we’re in South Carolina anymore,” and then say to the rented Toto, “We’re back in Kansas!”

Sophie Belle (aka to be dyed black and called Toto when we enter Kansas)

In any case, I’m excited about the new role! I’ll be a Scrum Master of multiple teams…the next level of development as a CSP into a Teams Coach! Hooray!