Happy St. Patrick's Day

The Indy Canal dyed green. Pretty cool.

Let's keep it to a low roar today before firing up the engines for March Madness tomorrow.

Rippin and Runnin

The results from the Progeny Paintball war were as expected. Undefeated on the afternoon. We lined up against a group of guys bringing their own gear and wore em out. They simply were not ready for the intensity that we were bringing to the game. We outflanked, outmaneuvered, out-thought, outhustled, and out busted a cap in their hind parts.

One interesting angle was the group of young kids that were divided up between the two teams. We’re pretty sure that Andy Blum was using 11 year old kids as human shields.

Below are some photos from the post war Icelandic-viking-like celebration victory party at the RAM brewery…featuring frothy beverages and a tour of the brewery.

We stopped at India to refuel the tanks.

And the victory celebration continued.

Thank you to everybody for coming down and making this a great event.

…and if anybody says they are not sore they are lying.

Progeny Battle

Here is the schedule for Saturday. We're goin in rippin and runnin packing heat.

11:00 Battle Preparation - (featuring cocktails) at my house
No explanation necessary.

12:30 Dark Armies - gear up and instructions http://darkarmies.com/
If anybody is late we get fined or something. Seriously. If you miss the insurance talk you can't play.

1:00 Battle begins
You are strongly encouraged to wear a protective cup over your marbles.

All entry fees are covered by Progeny. Paint is $12 for 100 shots.

3:00 Battle ends
Bring something to change into so that we can head downtown. It's a brewery. You don't have to be pretty.

4:00 Post War tour and beer tasting at the RAM downtown http://www.theram.com/
Tour lasts for about an hour. I'm guessing it will be over at 5:30.

Beer tour costs are covered.

And then it gets a little fuzzy.

There are rumors that there is a chicken limo at 7pm but they are not confirmed.

7:00 The Chicken Limo picks us up at the RAM and drops us where we say. http://www.chickenlimo.com (turn down your speakers before you click that)

Rip and Run.

Hoo-ra.

More Feedback

This time from across the pond...from two separate institutions...

There is a lot of hard work behind this. Congrats to everybody.




“Progeny has changed our lives”, “Progeny has improved the way we work”, “Progeny has saved us weeks and months of time”, “The web version is fabulous, it’s exceeded our expectations”, “I recommend Progeny to everyone”

“Since going multi-user we’ve seen the value of Progeny to us snowball”, “Progeny is so full of features, we’re barely scratching the surface”, “We’re really pleased with how you handle problems and get us a solution”

9=8

Even at the highest levels...themes are used to bring teams together.

In an attempt to get his team all pulling from the same side of the rope Manager Joe Maddon gave a speech in training camp that explained his 9=8 theme for the year.


9=8 essentially translates to nine players playing hard for nine innings every day equals one of eight post-season berths. It also explained that in order to make the playoffs they needed

nine more wins because of hitting
nine more wins because of pitching
nine more wins because of defense

Some players rolled their eyes. Others stared straight ahead with blank looks on their faces.

"I'm so used to the eye roll. I'm so used to the scoff," Maddon said, looking back on that first day of camp. "I'm so used to it, and I'm really immune to both … At some point, corny can turn into cool."


The Rays finished last in the AL East in nine of their first 10 seasons. They won 66 games last year and finished with the worst record in baseball.

They clinched a post-season berth for the first time with their 93rd victory — exactly 27 more than a year ago.

"Our program's been validated. Our concepts have been validated," Maddon said Tuesday. "It's not anything complicated. It's the basic stuff. Running hard, good turns. Playing catch. Fastball command. First to third. Those kinds of things. Everybody thinks we're so fancy, but we're so basic."

They emblazoned the 9=8 on T-shirts and posted it in the clubhouse and weight room.

"The whole point was to just have it out there on a daily basis, so when someone's walking behind somebody, they can see it," Maddon said

"We have little signs on the wall, again, reminding. I know a lot of times they will walk by and not focus on it, but sometimes, just for a moment, they will. And the impact of that moment is worth it. That's the way I see it."

Along the way the concept caught on.

"We are a team, that's the biggest thing out of this," Trever Miller said. "We are a cohesive unit and the epitome of what a team is, on and off the field. Guys love it when the other guy does well. There's none of that, 'Oh, I hope he fails so I can succeed.' And that goes a long way through the course of the season. Everybody has accepted their role, whatever that may be."

And the culture heated up.

players say Maddon's insistence that things are done "The Ray Way" is responsible, too.

Although he's an intellectual type who prefers fine wine to a cold beer following a game, Maddon can be one of the boys.

When Upton decided on a whim to get a Mohawk haircut last month, the fad caught on in the clubhouse. Maddon joined in the fun, getting his hair cut and noting the importance of solidarity.

"That stuff all matters," he said.

And when they all understood what they were trying to do and they came together as a team they found success beyond what they thought was possible.

The Cocoon of Concentration

I ran into an interesting article about Tiger Woods and his focus.

"Rocco Mediate’s head swiveled about as he walked up the fairway of the sudden-death hole of the U.S. Open on Monday. Somebody would catch his attention, and his eyes would dart over and he’d wave or make a crack. Tiger Woods’s gaze, on the other hand, remained fixed on the ground, a few feet ahead of his steps. He was, as always, locked in, focused and self-contained."

“I have never in my life seen a wider chasm between the look in someone’s eye and the surrounding environment.”

"But inevitably, it is his ability to enter the cocoon of concentration that is written about and admired most."


I have been thinking a lot about making use of time lately and it always brings me to focus.

It's so much easier to bang out quality stuff when your head is clear. You immerse and lose track of time. There's no question that the work is more enjoyable in the "flow state"..."An optimal psychological state of total involvement in the task at hand"

The legendary soccer player Pele described his experience of being in the zone: "I felt a strange calmness.. . a kind of euphoria. I felt I could run all day without tiring, that I could dribble through any of their team or all of them, that I could almost pass through them physically.

Another example was given by Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna, who during qualifying for the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix said he felt like he was driving the car beyond his limits. "I was already on pole, [...] and I just kept going. Suddenly I was nearly two seconds faster than anybody else, including my team mate with the same car. And suddenly I realised that I was no longer driving the car consciously. I was driving it by a kind of instinct, only I was in a different dimension. It was like I was in a tunnel. Not only the tunnel under the hotel but the whole circuit was a tunnel. I was just going and going, more and more and more and more. I was way over the limit but still able to find even more."

I don't think it's any different for building software...especially on a team that is doing remarkable work.

Progeny Lingo

We have built an interesting language over the years. This is a vocabulary that we use without thinking about it. Make comments on anything I have missed.

Gem,
Silo,
Artifact,
Project,
Scoop of Chocolate,
Gateway,
Walrus,
Rhino,
Spider,
Core Object,
Google Search,
Shell,
Photons,
Gotcha,
Scrum,
Sprint,
Anywhere,
Snowman,
Code Smell,
Wizard (evil wizard),
Communism/Utopia,
A+ design,
Nav,
Mini,
Smart(blank),
Deal fairy,
Desktop,
Enterprise,
Clinical,
Lab,
Soak,
755th impression,
PRO,
st_,
Magic Number,
Progenized,
Peg,
Rodeo,
Time Vampire,
Heat Meat and Sweet