dwyl 'Phase 1.5' #50
dwyl 'Phase 1.5' #50
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…e who'll understand them in this state/Applications/Postgres.app/Contents/Versions/9.6/bin/psql -p5432 -d healthlocker_dev
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@iteles thank you for assigning this PR to me. I think most of the content belongs in HQ as it relates to current dwyl operations, but I will make time to review & merge it later today. 👍 |
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Agreed. I started it in this repository as a stepping stone to 1.5 but it definitely belongs in HQ as it has evolved beyond my original scope. I will begin expanding on it there this week. |
README.md
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| If you are the kind of person who likes thinking _long-term_ and _high-impact_ | |||
| this repo is for you! | |||
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| **D**o **W**hat **Y**ou **L**ove is _not_ a 3-month stepping-stone project ... | |||
| **D**o **W**hat **Y**ou **L**ove is _not_ a stepping-stone project, we're in it for the long-haul. And after a year and a half, we're making sure that the direction we're heading in is clear to everyone who wants to know. | |||
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semantic line feeds. http://rhodesmill.org/brandon/2012/one-sentence-per-line
also "year and a half"? when did you write this? we've both being dwyl-ing for a lot longer than 18 months. please remove. ✂️
README.md
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| We _very much_ want/need help on this so if you have _time_ | ||
| ### Our Goal/Mission | ||
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| > Empower people to sustainably unlock their potential and pursue their passion through technology. |
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could "through technology" be removed?
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Pursuing passions is also something which is quite controversial advice
http://www.forbes.com/sites/robasghar/2013/04/12/five-reasons-to-ignore-the-advice-to-do-what-you-love/2/#43dd32812e4c
http://uk.businessinsider.com/you-should-love-what-you-do-not-do-what-you-love-2015-12
http://time.com/money/3990452/tokumitsu-do-what-you-love/
http://qz.com/259190/why-do-what-you-love-is-bad-career-advice/
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I don't think "sustainably unlock their potential" is necessarily clear in what it means to most people reading our mission
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We agree that some people (mostly journalists) don't agree with pursuing something you are passionate about. I personally prefer the word "purpose"
What I have observed is that many "successful" entrepreneurs advise that people should do something they are passionate about, e.g: https://youtu.be/QoqohmccTSc
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Entrepreneurs often put emphasis on passion because passion helps fuel motivation to push through difficult situations, etc. However successful entrepreneurs are also often good at what they are passionate about (so there is a selection bias here). There are many many failed entrepreneurs who might have been passionate about something, but weren't good at it and therefore failed. The fundamental nature of do what you love doesn't make sense and it should be based around what skills you have and can apply (purpose?) and utilising them to do great things and therefore more of a love what you do thing
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I agree with you both and prefer purpose here. Reminds me of 'follow your contribution' from Horowitz 👍
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Exactly where is this discussion going? ❓
I feel like this is turning into the comment section on YouTube ... 
When the objective is really to give constructive feedback on the Pull Request. 💬
We all agree with Ben Horowitz: "Don't Follow Your Passion": https://youtu.be/WRYRBGX4lVM ("follow your contribution")
Are we going to change the company name to "forget following your passion"
with the motto:
"get a job you hate, be miserable and silence your sadness by watching trash TV"
doesn't quite roll of the tongue ...
Yes, there are many "failed entrepreneurs" who were "passionate" about something but weren't able to turn it into a successful business. That is not the case with dwyl.
We are very good at what we do. Ask HMRC, they love what we are doing. 💰
In the past year we have paid the salaries several teachers/nurses/firemen through taxes we have paid. If that's not something to celebrate then I don't know what is! 🎉 (well done all dwylers!) If we do nothing else we can already count ourselves successful because we didn't "fail" in our first year(s).
Everyone working @dwyl loves what they are doing; it's a prerequisite.
All our customers/clients love what we do.
@iteles is attempting to articulate that sense of love and purpose.
There are so many other places people can work if the don't want to love what they are doing ... we want to be different/special. 🦄
We want you @markwilliamfirth to love what you are doing every day! ❤️ ✅
We want you to be one of the successful entrepreneurs in the video not one of the cynics who look back on their life and have regrets.
We aren't just "following our passion" otherwise I would be "DJ" ... 🎶 🎧 🕺 💃
And Ines would be running craft/scrap-booking biz/workshop ... 😉
We are making something useful that solves a problem and generates income.
our product will help other people discover what they are good at and can make a living from OR just find/make more time in their busy lives to do something they love while working somewhere they aren't especially inspired by.
If you or anyone else does not like/agree with dwyl's mission as defined by Inês, please suggest a credible alternative rather than just criticising it. 👍
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Sounds like we're in agreement - not sure it needed all of that? Bare in mind this is the same point I made before I joined and in my first week - I've actually mentioned it a number of times before so I'm surprised by the reaction here.
README.md
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| + And many more! | ||
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| ### Guiding Principles | ||
| Our [manifesto]() does a good job of transmitting our beliefs (although a [tidy-up is needed](https://github.com/dwyl/start-here/issues/80)!) so a quick re-iteration of the key points: |
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link to manifesto: https://github.com/dwyl/start-here/blob/master/manifesto.md
| For example, a developer working mostly on product could spend some time doing QA | ||
| on a _services_ project and also film a introductory video tutorial for a new technology they've learned. | ||
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| ## Branches |
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I think this deserves a diagram to illustrate the different branches.
(it just feels like a lot of words...)
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Let's ask @nogainbar to draw us something once #51 is concluded.
plan.md
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| We began with [a product MVP](https://github.com/dwyl/time), | ||
| then in order to support [Founders & Coders](foundersandcoders.com) and ensure the lights | ||
| could be kept on at this organisation that dwyl's co-founders were heavily involved | ||
| in building, we [started to take on client projects](https://github.com/dwyl/ateam-proposal)(again) |
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consider having a space between brackets
(https://github.com/dwyl/ateam-proposal)(again)
plan.md
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| For the time being, we are putting everything into this one .md file, to be split | ||
| out once reviewed from its rough draft form. We'll need a way to navigate! | ||
| + [Context](#context) | ||
| + [Branches](#branches) |
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prefer to refer to the different segments of dwyl as "arms" as opposed to "branches" which I associate with banks...
There are Five arms, which is perfect for a Starfish metaphor/drawing:
😉
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Just need to prioritise all of our other ideas for the fifth arm ;)
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@nelsonic why are there five arms, specifically? Inês' comment suggests there are more
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I don't think we need to describe (all) five arms right now... the four @iteles has defined:
- Product: Time
- Service: ATM Workshops & Web App Development
- Training: Web Skills
- Co-Working: QuietSpace
are a good start. and if we are successful with one or more of our existing "branches" (or "arms"), we can always extend later once "core" biz is cashflow positive.
also, the beauty of Starfish is that we they can have more than five arms:
and, a Starfish gives us a "cute" mascot:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/470894961/starfish-hair-clip-under-the-sea-party 😉
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Yeah I'm not sure if we should base important business decisions and the number of business verticals we decide to pursue based on a mascot
Have we decided that we are definitely pursuing all four this year?
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I mean, I don't know about you guys, but I base all my decisions on kitten gifs and which way the wind is blowing that morning, especially the ones that are going to change the course of the company. 😆
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Baring in mind this is a public forum and the evolution of the business plan might have significance now and in future I don't think it's ideal to joke about this kinda stuff. To me, it makes dwyl appear inexperienced and unprofessional - not a place I would want to work if I was a candidate applying for a business development role.
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| ## Branches | ||
| All branches **must contribute to our fixed overheads** and/or contribute to our | ||
| credibility as experts in a given field. |
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"credibility as experts" > "validated learning"
"credibility" is subjective and not very "measurable" (IMO).
also, I don't write tutorials to be an "expert"... I do it to share knowledge and .reduce() people's "dependence" on "experts".
| All branches **must contribute to our fixed overheads** and/or contribute to our | ||
| credibility as experts in a given field. | ||
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| Each branch will have **its own set of goals**, derived from [dwyl's guiding principles](github.com/dwyl/phase-two#guiding-principles) |
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this link does not lead anywhere.
did you mean /README.md#guiding-principles ?
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I'm in favour of letting someone else "fix" this "broken link" because it shows that they are actually paying attention and clicking through... 😉
| 2017 is the year of **formalising the various types of work we do into their | ||
| own, neat groupings of activities**, the various _branches_ of dwyl. | ||
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| > Each **branch** will have it's own mission, detailed goals and timelines, |
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I think each "branch" (or arm) of should not have it's own mission, it should refer to the single mission ("Why?") but should it's own goal/metrics ("What?" & "How?")
also, this is partially repeated below so could be removed or condensed into the second paragraph of the Branches section below.
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Yea, you'll notice I talk about metrics and goals for each section but not a mission. I find mission statements relatively empty anyway. I much prefer vision stories.
We'll adapt, but I think each arm will have its own inspirational story, a spin on the overall company one to give a little more personalisation. For now, the goals are the important part.
ghost
self-requested a review
README.md
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| We _very much_ want/need help on this so if you have _time_ | ||
| ### Our Goal/Mission | ||
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| > Empower people to sustainably unlock their potential and pursue their passion through technology. |
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I don't think "sustainably unlock their potential" is necessarily clear in what it means to most people reading our mission
README.md
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| > Empower people to sustainably unlock their potential and pursue their passion through technology. | ||
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| So what does this encompass? Any number of things that will need to be split out into measurable goals: | ||
| + Living a happy life |
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The pursuit of happiness is also a controversial topic
http://bigthink.com/praxis/against-the-pursuit-of-happiness
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I mean... everything is controversial in some way.
Living a happy life shouldn't imply a pursuit of happiness per se, but a goal to aspire to - what makes each person happy is different. The key is to improve the little things that add up to your own personal sense of what makes you happy.
README.md
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| + Health https://github.com/dwyl/health | ||
| + Sustainable living https://github.com/dwyl/aquaponics | ||
| + Living with purpose and ethics https://github.com/dwyl/hq/issues/155 | ||
| + Understanding how to be deal with today's constant distraction and information overload |
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@markwilliamfirth please suggest the correct grammar.
e.g:
Understanding how to be deal with today's constant distraction and information overload
should be:
Understanding how to deal with constant distraction and information overload.
or even:
Dealing with constant distraction and information overload.
plan.md
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| #### What? | ||
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| #### First products | ||
| > Our **first products** will be [time](github.com/dwyl/time) (name TBC!) and [tudo](github.com/dwyl/tudo). |
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When I read this comment it reads as Nelson dictating the vision and Inês implementing it. It reads as:
Nelson = CEO
Inês = COO
Which is confusing considering all the work we've been doing surrounding defining roles and responsibilities
| + Effective [agile collaboration and user testing training](#training) | ||
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| These workshops will be our largest 'per man hour' contributor to fixed overheads | ||
| from our Services branch by the end of 2017. |
plan.md
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| For the time being, we are putting everything into this one .md file, to be split | ||
| out once reviewed from its rough draft form. We'll need a way to navigate! | ||
| + [Context](#context) | ||
| + [Branches](#branches) |
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@nelsonic why are there five arms, specifically? Inês' comment suggests there are more
README.md
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| If you are the kind of person who likes thinking _long-term_ and _high-impact_ | |||
| this repo is for you! | |||
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| **D**o **W**hat **Y**ou **L**ove is _not_ a 3-month stepping-stone project ... | |||
| **D**o **W**hat **Y**ou **L**ove is _not_ a stepping-stone project, we're in it for the long-haul. <br /> | |||
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Yeah, we could just use dwyl here, everyone knows what it "stands" for. 👍
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The reason I commented that is because I was under the impression that part of the vision is no longer treating dwyl as an acronym?
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Yea, this is legacy, I'll change it 😆
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dwyl will always mean something.
otherwise it's a pointless "made up" word like "accenture" (which stands for nothing)
Please, let's focus on what we need to make not on whether the name is an acronym. We can all agree that there are incredibly successful products/companies with terrible names. "Joylent", "Starbucks", "Google"...?!
users don't care if it's an acronym, they care if the product works and solves their pain/problem. Discussions around the name are a fruitless distraction that offers no benefit to anyone. If the company name has meaning to the person who conceived it, that's good enough for me. ❤️ ✅
Our sole focus for the next 6 months is to make sure we are cashflow positive (i.e. not burn through our hard-earned capital) not to argue about names or other details that users don't care about.
If we think the name is hindering us from being successful (please provide supporting evidence) then we can discuss the options. 👍
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Not sure it needed all of that?^ This was just a small correction, same as any other typo.
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| ### Guiding Principles | ||
| Our [manifesto](https://github.com/dwyl/start-here/blob/master/manifesto.md) does a good job of transmitting our beliefs (although a [tidy-up is needed](https://github.com/dwyl/start-here/issues/80)!) so a quick re-iteration of the key points: | ||
| + People- and user-centric |
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don't we need to separate organisation from product values?
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@nelsonic @markwilliamfirth Thanks for all the constructive feedback! 🎉 @nelsonic Could you please merge so I can make edits suggested and then we can review the next version? |
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@markwilliamfirth This is what we discussed yesterday, if the file is changed, the comments are collapsed. You just need to un-collapse them. Leave this with me, I'll make the changes for the next round of reviews 👍
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So I think this was merged before all of the comments were addressed - how does it work now if these comments are attributed to this pr and the pr has already been merged? When someone else makes another pr to update the plan, these comments won't be featured there? |
ghost
mentioned this pull request
This PR sets out the high level plan for developing dwyl and formalising our offerings with a view to getting us well on our way to Phase Two by the end of the year. As you can see, I've been writing this for a while, but it will never be 'done', so it was about time I pushed it up.
The next step is to take each of our branches and write down the step-by-step plan for each of these, including timelines and how we make them happen.
@nelsonic Could you please review and augment?
Thanks!