I was recently turned on to the TED Talks mobile app as something that was a perfect little distraction to fill one’s mind with thoughtful, entertaining, and sometimes poignant ideas. For those that don’t know TED is a nonprofit devoted to what it calls “Ideas Worth Spreading.” The organization has two conferences annually and has an award winning Ted Talks video site that is now available through Android and iOS mobile apps.
TED talks last 15-20 minutes making them the perfect length when you have a little time to kill and are looking for something more nourishing to the brain and soul than watching new versions of the Harlem Shake on YouTube. The videos span from Colin Powell talking about how kids need structure to Esther Perel talking about the secret to desire in long term relationships.
Coherent Solutions has long embraced Agile development methodology and has been a proponent of its seemingly counterintuitive advantages when applied to distributed global teams. As an individual, I’m a firm believer in decentralized decision making as a means of creating stronger more adaptive organizations. As a father of four children, I’m also very interested in parenting wisdom. That’s why I was particularly intrigued to see Bruce Feiler’s talk on Agile programming for your family and would recommend any parent—particularly one with some Agile development knowledge—to check it out. It has some great ideas for parenting and also illustrates the universality of Agile’s adaptive, empowering approach to management.