This is the second in our new series of interviews interesting people (sometimes loosely) related to our agile and lean world.
This week is with Pawel Brodzinski who is a Leader of Lunar Logic, persistent experimenter, whiteboard junkie, Lean and Agile coach, prolific blogger.
S&K: Explain what you do in one sentence?
Pawel: I do whatever needs to be done to keep Lunar Logic running, which has very little to do with the common notion of what CEO does.
S&K: What would you like to be remembered for?
Pawel: My dream for now is to take part in designing an exceptional organization. When I say “exceptional” it touches many bases. I want it to be exceptional when it comes to value we provide for our clients. I want it to be exceptional when it comes to how we feel being a part of it. I want it to be exceptional when it comes to how it operates. It requires moving from the existing management paradigms so I’m aware that I’m asking for a lot here.
When I say “take part in designing” it is a way of stressing that organizational design is a collective effort of everyone who is a part of that organization. We can’t simply design an organization in a top down manner. It is an adaptive and evolutionary process, which we can shape up to the point, but not specify in details.
The best part of this dream is that I’m on it already. We are doing some crazy things in a way we shape Lunar Logic. And I’m pretty positive we reached the point where the further evolution is self-sustainable.
S&K: What would be your ideal job?
Pawel: The one I have right now. It allows me to pursue my professional dream. It gives me insane amount of autonomy in deciding on how I want to achieve my goals. It provides me with enough learning opportunities that I never get bored. Finally, it means working with a fantastic bunch of people, who sometimes challenge me and sometimes pull me out of the crap I landed in.
S&K: How do you estimate/forecast?
Pawel: It’s kind of funny to get this question now. Just few weeks ago, inspired by long, and not very constructive, discussion with one of clients about estimation I decided to explain how we are doing it at Lunar Logic. I thought I could turn it into a blog post so that I could reuse it in future.
I ended up writing a massive article explaining how we forecast and why we do so. I guess I just don’t know a thing about brevity. Anyways, here is the article. It’s long but worth it.
S&K: What valuable lesson have you learned … and who did you learn it from?
Pawel: I learn a ton of things, all the time. I get inspired by many people of different walks of life. The more I know, though, the more there is to be learned. It is hard to point one thing that would stand as the most valuable lesson.
However, there is one thing that I learned about the way I learn. I rarely, if ever, end up stuck in dead-ends. I’m experimenting a lot, trying different tools, models or ideas. Not all of them work. I seem to have no problems whatsoever calling an experiment a failure and moving on, trying another thing that may suit my goals better.
What was surprising to me was how frequently people keep doing the things they know and they don’t consider whether they still provide value, or even whether they ever did. In a way it was a lesson of self-awareness.
S&K: If you could have one wish, what would it be?
Pawel: I’d wish to have five more wishes. It would provide me with more options, wouldn’t it? And we know from Real Options that options have value.
On a more serious note, in the professional context my wish would be to have the opportunity to keep going, experimenting and learning on the way. It is all I need to bring joy to my professional life.
S&K: What question do you wish we’d asked and how would you have answered it?
Pawel: I always liked the idea of vanity metrics, which I learned from David Bland. Tell us something about yourself that’s a metric but doesn’t really serve a useful purpose.
For me it would likely be a fact that, in my career, I’ve been fired more times than I’ve changed job myself. Unfortunately if I want to maintain this record it makes me um… very loyal.
The thing I like about this metric is that it seems that I am able to stick to my values even when the odds are against me. Or that the world hates me. Or both.
Thanks to Pawel for his honest, yet humorous, answers. You can read Pawel’s blog at http://brodzinski.com/ and follower him on Twitter @pawelbrodzinski
Who would you like to know more about? Feel free to add your suggestions to our comments section or contact us directly.