Quality and Innovation

I find it amusing that my last post, exactly 9 months and 1 day ago, was about burnout. That’s before we knew what would happen just 8 weeks later, when we’d all go into a collective (and very dull) sweat lodge to rediscover ourselves by immersion in the ordinary. Which, as it turns out, also leads to burnout. Who would have guessed.

And not unexpectedly, in that interim, WordPress changed Gutenberg again and the editor is unrecognizable. I wish developers would stop making slick UIs that make it difficult to get tasks done, or that surprise unwitting users with an unplanned for cognitive load, without great up front preparation and expectation setting. (I’ll probably end up loving the new interface. Give me until Saturday.)

What’s been going on all this time? Two main things! First, my newest book came out from ASQ Quality Press: <a href="http://<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Connected-Intelligent-Automated-Definitive-Transformation/dp/1951058003/ref=as_li_ss_il?dchild=1&keywords=radziwill+digital&qid=1602615335&sr=8-1&linkCode=li3&tag=qualandinnowe-20&linkId=d315b8ec0b8f723276a9599a6f02c80a&language=en_US&quot; target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1951058003&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=qualandinnowe-20&language=en_US" ></a>Connected, Intelligent, Automated: The Definitive Guide to Digital Transformation with Quality 4.0. It’s great for anyone who wants to get a really good, deep-in-the-bones feel for what digital transformation really means, along with its pals AI and Machine Learning, and how to make it happen in a way that will benefit the business. (Have a business person who works in tech on your holiday shopping list who throws around a lot of buzzwords? Do you want to cure them? This would make a great gift.)

The second thing is that I joined Ultranauts, an early stage professional services startup that provides quality assurance and quality engineering via functional, manual and accessibility testing; software test automation; and data quality engineering. We’re unique because over 75% of the workforce is autistic or otherwise neurodivergent… and unlike other similar companies or “autism at work” initiatives, we just focus on creating an individualized work environment where everyone can thrive. (Sounds like something that would be great in any company, right? Exactly… that’s what we’re working on.)

I’m still not out of the pandemic fog. In fact, it’s been so thick since maybe July that I haven’t been able to focus on anything but work and related obligations, and sleeping (so apologies to anyone whose messages I’ve missed; I’ve been firing on fumes). Since I started this blog 11 or 12 years ago, I’ve rarely missed a month on the board… posting is enjoyable to me, and a great way to make sure fleeting thoughts don’t completely fleet away. So here’s to the fog lifting, the posts starting to flow again, and a new life pattern emerging.

Preferably one that includes traveling to other countries. And trains.