Rick Austin — Ramblings

When Can We Meet?

Sun, 19 Feb 2017 03:03:22 GMT

Coordinating schedules can be a challenge, this is exacerbated when calendars are not shared. As a consultant, my company calendar has to be my one source of truth. Scheduling meetings within our company isn’t a challenge since we can see each other’s availability. This is not true when you are trying to coordinate across most

Bye Bye Google Reader, Sniff

Mon, 24 Jun 2013 16:53:00 GMT

Google Reader has been in my stable of tools as long as I can recall for aggregating stories across a variety of blogs, about 170 at the moment. If you haven’t been hiding under a rock you know that Google is retiring Google Reader and as of July 1st it will no longer be available.

MINI JCW GP – Clicking For A Friend

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 02:57:00 GMT

Helping a friend in their quest to win a contest for a flipping awesome 2013 MINI John Cooper Works GP. You can help by clicking these three links. Pretty please? http://t.co/VzV3n2E5http://t.co/jExgzRX1http://t.co/fzXZRoDy

Guest Post: Focus On What To Leave Out

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 21:01:00 GMT

I will continue to blog here but as a LeadingAgile employee I’ll also be writing blog posts on the LeadingAgile blog. I wanted to share my latest post there called Focus On What To Leave Out. Feel free to join the conversation by commenting on the post. Come visit my blog and post a comment.

MINI GP Contest

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 07:20:00 GMT

My pal and MINI expert Waylon of Way Motor Works is in a heated battle for votes to win this contest. It takes just a moment and I would appreciate it if you could take a moment to help. Below are three links. Each will add a point to his score. MINI GP wallpaper linkMaking

A Year of Photos

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 19:32:00 GMT

November 17, 2010 marked the beginning of a photographic journey that has forever changed how I see. It has been a year that improved my technical and composition skills as well as my ability to define a vision and execute it photographically. In 2010, I was invited by Tim Stoklas to participate in a Photo

It Get The Point, Story Points That Is

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 13:55:00 GMT

So, this story point thing… what’s up with that? When estimating effort for user stories most people use either ideal hours or story points. My recent experiences have been with ideal hours. This works well but there has always been something that keeps me thinking about the value of using story points instead. I’ve never

Juggling Features

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:20:00 GMT

How often do you really take a look at the amount of work in process you have going on? I often find when I stop to do so I start to understand why my arms are so tired… juggling balls is hard work! Too much work in process will destroy your productivity even in the

Are You Talking To Me?

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 08:45:00 GMT

I’ve lately had a number of conversations with colleagues on the frequent disconnect between IT and the business. Does business look at IT and say, “are you talking to me?” As my friend and colleague Brian Sondergaard (http://blog.softwarearchitecture.com) likes to say, we create this situation and we do it to ourselves. We do this because

Suffocating – Our New Music Video

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 03:05:00 GMT

The band I’m in, Exit Strategy, is made of of three other great friends and we’re going on 14+ years at this point. We’ve come a long way since performing covers to only original material. Well, with sufficient arm twisting we might pop out a cover or two. The last few years we’ve tried to

Google Voice In Gmail

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:57:00 GMT

I knew that Google had made and update recently that integrated Google Voice with Gmail but I had not experienced this feature until last night. What a useful and wonderful surprise that was… I was working in my office at home and had left my Droid upstairs. I started hearing a “ringing” sound that was

Apple Magic Trackpad

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 03:33:51 GMT

Wow! This thing is fantastic. But first I must say that after using a Macbook Pro at work for the last few weeks I will never, ever by another PC for use at home again. They may have a premium but I get it. One thing I did find missing once I “docked” the Macbook

Check Your Creativity At The Door

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:51:00 GMT

There is little doubt that companies that foster a culture of creativity will outperform, by a large margin, those that do not. A number of sources have proven this fact and I recommend reading The Future of Management for great examples. Unfortunately, it seems to be difficult for companies to actually create an innovative culture. One

Squeak, Rattle, and Silence…

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 06:54:00 GMT

Ever since I removed the center console side pillars and other items to put in my Craven shift well, I’ve noticed an increase in rattles in the cabin. I’m okay with that since I know that a sporty suspension is not necessarily a smooth ride. MINIHERO is rougher than some because of the lowering springs

Getting Ahead, Really?

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:34:00 GMT

Have you ever been in a situation where you have not gotten enough sleep for some period of time? At some point you are able to sleep normally again which does wonders for your recovery. In times of extreme exhaustion we might want to sleep more than a normal amount. We believe we can make

How Many Startups Have You Invested In?

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:58:00 GMT

Does this look familiar? Someone comes up with a new idea. That idea is shared and has promise. It is then sent up the “chain” where it increasingly meets resistance. More often than not, it is killed. Why? It is too different from what we do today We don’t have resources that can be taken

Let Me Count The Waste – Burning Tax Dollars

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 03:22:00 GMT

Wow, how impressed I am that the US Census Bureau would take the time to send me a letter to alert me that I will be receiving a census form from them in the next week. I will be watching the mailbox for the next 7 days with great anticipation. This may indeed be the

Lighting MINI Parts

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:01:00 GMT

I’ve had a recent photography project where I’ve been taking shots of parts. I thought it would be a fairly boring set of photos to take but I was wrong. First off, how do you make parts look good? Not too many options and for me, interesting lighting was the best approach. Below is an

Can I Help You Sir?

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:52:00 GMT

How much of your time is spent helping colleagues across your company? Are you so entrenched in your day to day work that you don’t have the time to help when you could? Are pressures on to ignore those in need, those that could benefit from your skills? I’ve been thinking about this lately and

Call Me Windows, Call Me Nuts!

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:21:00 GMT

Let me first state that I’m impressed and generally satisfied with my Windows 7 64-bit experience. It is indeed a much better operating system than we’ve seen from Microsoft since DOS…. Now that the honeymoon is over, I see some of the same unstable behaviors of Windows past. I’m convinced Windows has multiple personality disorder.

Do I Know You, Can We Collaborate?

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:30:00 GMT

What is collaboration? How would you define it? A simple definition that works for me is: Collaboration – one or more people working together to accomplish a goal. We almost always accomplish our goals by working with others. Teams working int he same location will find it relatively easy to accomplish a common goal. I

Droid and iTunes

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 02:22:00 GMT

Just watched this video and learned a few things about copying iTunes music over to the Droid. Watch the video for more details but here are some things I learned: Add the “Kind” column to a view to quickly determine what in your library is protected by DRM. If you see Protected AAC then you

How My Droid Does

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 20:51:00 GMT

A number of friends that are considering buying a Droid have been asking me about the applications that I use and would recommend. To save myself some time I thought I would just create a blog post on what I’m using rather than repeat the discussion over and over. How’s that for efficient collaboration! Weather

Uh Oh, Bad UI Design?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:53:00 GMT

I’ll admit to being a Google fan boy but a recent experience with the Google Reader UI on my Droid has my scratching my head. First off, for those of you not using Google Reader… why not? Just do it. I currently have over 150 blogs in my read list and none of this would

MINI Clock

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:21:00 GMT

The fun factor of the MINI brand is the best. I never tire of the fun things they come up with either from their YouTube channel or on the MINI USA site. They just came out with a MINI clock that will reside on your computer’s desktop. Looks like the speedometer but instead of speed

What’s Different?

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:20:00 GMT

As a child I remember cartoons which had two slightly different images and your task was to figure out the differences. Sometimes the differences were hard to spot but eventually, I was able to find them all. Of course, it might have taken me days to do so… I always like that game and it

My Next MINI, Who Will NOT Get My Money

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:45:00 GMT

This is a tale of two MINI dealers and differences in attitude that can make or break an organization. In the new world created by Web 2.0 technologies, a world where the customers are in control it would be wise to remember the importance of customer service. Those that do not will be left wondering

My Photography Site

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:32:00 GMT

After much prodding from Cher, I’ve finally made a commitment to my photography hobby and now have a photography website. Check out my site which is http://www.differentduckphotos.com Though I’ve been posting lots of photos through the years on my Flickr site, this feels different and is begging to make me be a bit more serious

Tilting and Shifting

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:00:00 GMT

I’ve been intrigued by the look of a tilt shift lens and though I don’t have one, it is possible to recreate it effect using Photoshop. Or at least approximate the effect. There are a number of sites that provide instructions on how to do this and I’ll provide links below. In my case, as

Been Locked Up?

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:43:00 GMT

Are you inadvertently locking up your knowledge? Are you hiding information from your peers? Are you limiting the spread of useful information? I’m on a campaign, of sorts, to get people to think outside the inbox. A campaign to start leveraging more collaborative capabilities for sharing information and working together. Does this scenario feel familiar,

Jason’s Glass Blowing

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 07:16:00 GMT

Our son, Jason, is following in mom’s footsteps and has started down a path of creating art. After just a few glass blowing lessons he is creating some wonderful work. Just a couple of examples below. I expect this to be just the tip of the iceberg! and

MINIHERO – The Disappearing Bonnet

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:06:00 GMT

Played around with a technique last night where you can “see” through the bonnet, that would be hood for the non-MINI crowd, into the engine bay. You take an exposure with the bonnet closed, another with the bonnet open, and then do a bit of work in Photoshop to get this effect. Easy to do

Gigging

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:05:00 GMT

We had a short gig last night at Smith’s Olde Bar for a fund raising event for Morningside Elementary School. It is always a blast for us as performers and as audience members. The night is filled with a large number of bands playing 30 minute sets. It is cool to see how quickly some

The MINI Dirty Butt Problem

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:47:00 GMT

If you happen to own a MINI Cooper then you are certainly aware of what I call the “MINI dirty butt problem”. The aerodynamics of our favorite little car are such that it scoops everything it can find off the road and dumps it onto the back of the car. My goodness, how frustrating it

Social Media Changing Our World

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 06:21:00 GMT

See what you think.

Lightroom Love

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:00:00 GMT

Bless those Lightroom developers and product managers!!! Just discovered a behavior in Lightroom that surprised and delighted me. I use a collection for all of the images we put on my wife’s art site. We’ve decided to create a “current work” page and an “archived work” page since the number of images had gotten to

MINIHERO Flyer

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:10:00 GMT

I’ve noticed a lot of folks that participate in car shows create auto show signs for their car. Since I usually enter MINIHERO into show events I decided it was bad form for MINIHERO to not have a sign as well. So, firing up Photoshop and Lightroom, I dug through some of my shots of

Upcoming Class Reunion

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:34:00 GMT

It has been 30 years since I graduated from high school. Seems a lifetime ago, well, I guess it has been. I’m pretty excited about seeing classmates and seeing the journeys our lives have taken. My graduating class was very small with only 18 seniors. That should give you an indication of how small our

MINI Tow Hook

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 02:26:00 GMT

I’ve purchased a number of products for my MINI from Outmotoring.com and have been very happy with their prices, speed of delivery and quality of products. One exception is the red anodized tow hook. Apparently there seems to be a wide variance in quality with anodized tow hooks. After about 60 days my red tow

Set Them Free, Stay In Radio Contact

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:24:00 GMT

Short post today and here I go again preaching for the continued demise of command and control management. I currently have the pleasure of managing, and I use that word lightly, the highest performing team I’ve ever had the good fortune to work with. They rock and I’m sure I would still have a full

Felling Trees, One Forest At A Time

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:47:00 GMT

Do you ever feel like you are cutting down a forest of trees by walking up, taking a swing, walking to the next tree, taking a swing, and repeating as necessary? It will take a long time before you get the satisfaction of felling that first tree. Everyone I speak to these days, including myself,

If I Just Had…

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:43:00 GMT

Have you ever let the absence of something block your passion? I think back to situations when I had little in material resources but was able to accomplish so much. My passion was greater than my need for “things”. It is troubling that as we begin to have more resources and capabilities such as money,

Do More Of The Right With Less

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:26:00 GMT

It is a tired old phrase. It creates great frustration. It strikes terror in our hearts. It is the phrase “we must do more with less”. It is increasingly heard in tough economic times. Is this a phrase you have heard in the past few months? Lean times often finds that our ranks have been

Killing Me Softly With My Job

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:45:00 GMT

Are you slowly killing yourself at work? I don’t mean working an abundance of hours to the point of exhaustion. I do mean working in an environment where you are depressed, stressed about work, worried about the economy, worried about your continued employment, and a multitude of other workplace stresses that impacts your emotional well-being.

A Christmas Story

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:45:00 GMT

This will not be a normal Capability Development post. It concerns an event that recently took place that I would like to share. I live on Lake Norman in Duluth, Georgia which has a typical migrating population of Canadian geese. In late spring of this year, we saw that a goose had become entangled in

Moving The Small Rocks

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 07:38:00 GMT

Part of my job involves helping teams identify potential improvements in the way they do work. A lot of focus revolves around eliminating waste, implementing more productive practices, and increasing collaboration in an effort to increase stakeholder value. This, in turn, causes changes in the way work is accomplished. Change is difficult for most organizations.

Are You A Union Shop?

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:52:00 GMT

Do you find yourself in an organization that is functionally aligned? Where each “function” has a specific role? Where your ability to be the best you can be at your function is valued higher than ensuring project success? Welcome to a union shop. My definition of a union shop is one in which each employee

Shoot For The Moon

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:59:00 GMT

When President Kennedy committed the US to putting men on the moon by the end of the decade, the 60’s, do you think anyone really know how that goal would be accomplished? Did they understand all of the challenges they might face? Did they wonder how they would get from here (Earth) to there (the

Where Have All The Children Gone

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:13:00 GMT

I was in a class recently where it was stated that by the age of 40 we only have 5% of the creativity we did when we were kids. I heard myself say “that really sucks”. Everyone else heard it as well since I let it escape from my, obviously, uncreative noggin. Do we accept

Power to the People

Wed, 14 May 2008 01:21:00 GMT

How do you drive change in your organization? Your organization is continually looking for needed changes, right? How do you decide what to change? Our world is very different than that which existed at the end of the industrial revolution. Workers in the industrial revolution had tasks to do, they were just one more cog

Band Gig / Wonderful Art Show

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:47:00 GMT

This weekend my band, Exit Strategy, is performing at a local fine art show. The art show is Barefoot In The Park in downtown Duluth, GA on April 19 – 20. Great event with a huge focus on children with many free art activities for the kiddies. My band plays on Sunday April 20 from

Commanders Intent

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 05:31:00 GMT

Organizations that excel in today’s competitive environment are those that quickly respond to market change. Do those organizations figure everything out up front? Do they create a detailed plan from start to finish and stick to the plan at all costs? Do they ignore unexpected situations or changes that come up during project execution? Recently

Just Know – How Might We Collaborate

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:20:00 GMT

Over the weekend, my wife and I had a conversation in which we didn’t need to complete our sentences or thoughts as we moved the conversation forward. We have built such a strong relationship that we just know. Does this represent a perfect state of collaboration? (I need to stop and credit my friend Mike

Midtown HDR Image

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:16:17 GMT

Midtown Atlanta HDR image I took in November 2007 (via Rick Austin)

Don’t Ask Me What I Want For Christmas

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:15:19 GMT

My Band’s Christmas Video (Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Spreading the Virus

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 01:28:00 GMT

I’m reading Lean Product and Process Development which is by Allen C. Ward and was posthumously published by a number of his colleagues. It is a thought provoking read and contains this quote: “Unless you keep spreading the virus, the immune system of the organization will reject it”— Jim Luckman This got me thinking about

Learning, Growing, Improving

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 22:47:00 GMT

Learning, growing, and improving – this is part of our job responsibilities. It is at the heart of capability improvements since we are learning, growing, and improving the organization. If this is the approach taken to improve our organization then can’t we apply this same approach to our personal development? As professionals we have to

Upgrading the “Machinery”

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:38:00 GMT

Capability development does not just “happen”. It takes time and a commitment to effect the type of changes required to improve capabilities. When an organization is running at break neck speeds it becomes difficult to take the time needed to identify improvement areas. It is especially difficult to invest the time required to make and

Snake Oil

Thu, 31 May 2007 22:39:00 GMT

It has been said that process improvement is a journey and not a destination. Often, organizations become caught up in the process of the day and are convinced it will become that illusive silver bullet. Organizations that become focused on the process can loose site of the customer. Process improvement is about looking inward to

Gene Pool Cleansing

Fri, 01 Apr 2005 08:30:00 GMT

I almost fell out of my car on my way to band practice tonight. While stopped at a light during rush hour at a major Atlanta intersection I saw a grown man turning onto North Druid Hills Rd. from the I-85 off-ramp on a pocket bike. This guy had to have a death wish. He

Ableton Live

Mon, 28 Mar 2005 03:28:00 GMT

Downloaded a demo version of Ableton’s Live product. What a very cool product. Much more powerful than Sony’s ACID Pro (at least to this untrained music wanna be). I went through the included demo and then tried my hand at creating a short song using the included samples. That was fun! Then I decided to

What A Washer

Thu, 24 Mar 2005 21:04:00 GMT

Our Kenmore bit the dust and after determining Sears service could not come out for 3 days I decided to roll up my sleeves and fix it myself. The good news is there are a lot of sites out there with detailed information on how to service/repair washers. A few of the best are: http://www.cheapapplianceparts.com/washer_repair.htmhttp://www.applianceaid.com/procedures.htmlhttp://groups.msn.com/Appliantology/washers.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=529