The idea of "the power of three" is a universal concept; it can be seen anywhere from religion (The Holy Trinity, Triquetra, etc.) to childhood learning ("ABC", "123") to entertainment (The Three Musketeers, The Three Stooges, etc.) to project management (the scope-cost-schedule triangle).
One simple way to exploit the power of three is to define outcomes/wins/achievements. These "three wins" can be at any level:
- Three wins for the project
- Three wins for the year
- Three wins for the month
- Three wins for the week
- Three wins for today
The three chosen things should not be simple tasks to be ticked off, they should be things that feel like a "win" and give a real sense of progress and satisfaction.
The "wins" should be realistic and achievable.
Getting Results the Agile Way by J. D. Meier makes extensive use of the power of three with its "Monday Vision, Daily Outcomes, Friday Reflection" and three types of "Hot Spot".
The power of three can also be applied to individual items of work/features being developed, for example a feature can be evaluated by: user value, business value, technical value. In agile team retrospectives the power of three can be used to decide: what went well, what didn't go well, what will be improved upon in the next iteration.
(the above is an excerpt from my book Keeping Software Soft)
My 3 Wins for 2014
These are my 3 (professional) wins for 2014 (in no particular order):
While these aren’t my only wins for the year, they are things that I feel if I accomplish them, when I see in 2015 I can look back and be content.
It’s also important to be flexible with plans, if professional or personal events happen that mean I really can’t accomplish these then that’s ok: no plan survives contact with the enemy.
Make some time to think about and write down your 3 wins for 2014 and feel free to share them in the comments.
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