Author Archives: effendy

Redesigning the bathroom and Rendering in Autodesk Revit

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During my bathroom renovation, I manage to learn a new skill. Autodesk Revit. Thanks to a few found youtube video, I manage to upgrade the design of the old bathroom and re-designing my new bathroom.

The old bathroom consist of a bathtub with separate vanity for some reason, and the shower is on separate room, perhaps a design afterthought. So I extended the shower to accomodate a toilet and a small vanity and turn it. into an on-suite. The bathroom get extended with an upgrade of a new toilet and dual basin vanity as shown in the picture above.

To get a good idea of how it looks lie, I try render the image of the new bathroom. The following is by means not perfect at all, but it gives an idea on how it looks like, which is quite handy when I am showing the tradie on what I want the bathroom to look like.

And finally, it is all done. You can see the final look in the following picture.

Let me know what do you think of the new bathroom.

Writing Effective OKRs

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Writing OKRs isn’t easy, but not impossible, either. Here are the simple rules that Google use:

Objectives are the “Whats.” They:

  • express goals and intents;
  • are aggressive yet realistic;
  • must be tangible, objective and unambiguous; should be obvious to rational observer whether an objective has been achieved.
  • The successful achievement of an objective must provide clear value to organistaion.

Key Results are the “Hows.” They:

  • express measurable milestones which, if achieved, will advance objective(s) in a useful manner to their constituents;
  • must describe outcomes, not activities. If your KRs include word like “consilt”, “help”, “analyse”, or “participate”, they describe activities. Instead, describe the end-user impact of these activities: “publish average and tail latency measurements from six Colossus cells by March 7,” rather than “assess Colossus latency”;
  • must include evidence of completion. This evidence must be available, credible, and easily discoverable. Examples of evidence include change lists, links to docs, notes and published metrics reports.

Measure What Matters – Continuous Performance Management: OKRs and CFRs

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Annual performance reviews are costly, exhausting, and mostly futile. Only 12% HR leaders deem the process “highly effective” in driving business value. Only 6% think it’s worth the time it takes.

What business leaders have learned, very painfully, is that individuals cannot be reduced by numbers.

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” – Albert Einstein

Alternative to annual reviews is continuous performance management. It is implemented with an instrument called CFRs, for:

  • Conversation: an authentic, richly textured exchange between manager and contributor, aimed at driving performance
  • Feedback: bidirectional or networked communication among peers to evaluate progress and guide future improvement
  • Recognition: expressions of appreciation to deserving individuals for contributions of all sizes
Annual Performance ManagementContinuous Performance Management
Annual FeedbackContinuous feedback
Tied to compensationDecoupled from compensation
Directing/autocraticCoaching/democratic
Outcome focusedProcess focused
Weakness basedStrength based
Prone to biasFact driven

Measure What Matters – Superpower #4: Stretch for Amazing

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OKRs push us far beyond our comfort zones. They lead us to achievements on the border between abilities and dreams.

At google, in line with Andy Grove’s old standard, aspirational OKRs are set at 60 to 70% attainment. In other words, performance is expected to fall short at least 30% of the time. And that’s considered success!

“if you set a crazy, ambitious goal and miss it, you’ll still achieve something remarkable.” When you aim for the stars, you may come up short but still reach the moon.

Here are some of the stretched OKRs:

  • Google Chrome’s OKR is to reach 111 million seven-day active users
  • Youtube’s OKR is to reach one billon hours of daily watch time.

Measure What Matters – Superpower #3: Track for Accountability

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OKRs are living, breathing organisms. Their life cycle unfolds in three phases:

The Setup

If you have 82,000 contributors to the OKR, general-purpose software (e.g.: Microsoft Word) doesn’t scale. If you share a goal that nobody sees, is the system truly transparent?

OKRs speak to something more powerful, the intrinsic value of the work itself. Cloud based platform deliver transformative OKR values:

  • They make everyone’s goal more visible.
  • They drive engagement
  • They promote internal networking
  • They save time, money and frustration.

OKR Shepherd

For OKR system to function effectively, the team deploying it must adopt it universally. No exceptions, no opt-outs.

Midlife Tracking

As we track and audit our OKRs, we have four options at any point in the cycle:

  • Continue: if a green zone goal isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
  • Update: Modify a yellow zone (“needs attention”) key results or objective to respond to changes in the workflow or external environment.
  • Start: Launch a new OKR mid-cycle, whenever the need arises
  • Stop: When a red zone (“at risk”) goal has outlived it’s usefulness, the best solution may be to drop it.

Wrap-up: Rinse and Repeat

Wrap-ups consist of three parts: objective scoring, subjective self-assessment, and reflection.

Scoring

Google use a scale of 0 to 1.0:

  • 0.7 to 1.0 = Green (We delivered)
  • 0.4 to 0.6 = yellow (We made progress, but fell short of completion)
  • 0.0 to 0.3 = red (We failed to make real progress)

If department so much as approached 100%, it was presumed to be setting its sights too low – and there would be hell to pay.

Self-assessment

In evaluating OKR performance, objective data is enhanced by the goal setter’s thoughtful, subjective judgment. For any given gal in a given quarter, there may be extenuating circumstances. A weak showing by the numbers might hide a strong effort; a strong one could be artificially inflated.

Reflection

“We do not learn from experience … we learn from reflecting on experience.”

Here are some reflections for closing out an OKR cycle:

  • Did I accomplish all of my objectives? If so, what contributed to my success?
  • If not, what obstacles did I encounter?
  • If I were to rewrite a goal achieved in full, what would I change?
  • What have I learned that might alter my approach to the next cycle’s OKRs?

Measure What Matters – Superpower #2: Align and Connect for Teamwork

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Three watchwords for entrepreneurs:

  • Solve a problem
  • Build a simple product
  • Talk to your Users

Goals for Growth

As company scale, people need to see the CEO’s priorities and how they can align for maximum impact. And they need to see that it’s okay to make a mistake, to correct it and move on. You can’t fear screwing up.

The Same Page

Studies suggest that only 7% of employees “fully understand their company’s business strategies and what’s expected of them in order to help achieve the common goals.”

The answer lies in focused, transparent OKRs. They knit each individual’s work to team efforts, departmental projects, and the overall mission.

Cross-Functional Coordination

A Transparent OKR system, as Laszlo Bock points out, promotes freewheeling collaboration. When goals are public and visible to all, a “team of teams” can attack trouble spots wherever they surface. You kick off virtuous cycles that reinforce your ability to actually get your work done. And the management tax is zero-it’s amazing.