We just did a fantastic episode (above) about story mapping and how to keep your team focused. If you ever have tried to multitask, then the thing that will resonate with you is that its hard and often it leads to both task not ending well. Now story mapping can be similar to multitasking if you aren’t focused on the right thing. The reason you do story mapping, is for the team to figure why and what you want to build without getting into the low level implementation details.

Now in my personal life, this reminds me about something that took place a few months back with my nephew. We decided to go see The Pixies and Weezer. We caught up on stuff as we went to the concert. We had a few good conversation and a couple laughs over a beer while we sat and waited for the bands to start playing. We were excited to hear the bands even though we only knew a few songs from each band. Once they started playing, we decided to focus on the music. Sure we could have tried to a have a conversation during the concert, but we would’ve had to yell at each other. That would have dampered our experience at the concert, and we would have missed the music and had a lousy chat. It’s similar to trying to solution while story mapping. It’s ok to talk about some solutions during times you feel stuck, but concentrate on the core part of the discussion which is what you want the user to do. If you want to hear about our thoughts, listen to our episode above.

Now back to the concert, it was amazing and I had a blast! Live music has an energy that is fantastic to experience in person. Favorites songs at the concert were Gouge Away and Say it ain’t so. If you aren’t familiar with the bands above, I recommend you check them out: Doolittle and Weezer (Blue Album). One of my favorites as a new comer coming onto the scene is Flora Cash. If your looking to have a blast and some fun with your friends, I would recommend bands with a Irish flair like Dropkick Murphys or Flogging Molly. Great stuff.