Developers Sisyphus and Continuous Delivery Like Sisyphus, damned to push an enormous boulder up a hill each day only to watch it roll back down, those of us in the Technology industry are compelled with a similar burden
Leadership How Do You Measure a Good Software Engineer? How do you know if you have somebody good at tech, or if they are just good at faking it? This is a frequent problem many tech managers are faced with. If you
Leadership Effective Tech Meetings - Avoiding the Disaster The format of your meeting, or how you run the discussion, is more important than you may think. With design and technology people, it is important that meetings and communication happen in a
Leadership The Importance of Empathy Simon Sinek succinctly captures many leadership challenges faced today in his talk on Empathy and Perspective. This is an even greater challenge in the Technology Industry! A few points that resonate: 1:30
Leadership DBS: Powerful Agile Scoping The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a powerful tool to help scope work at any level – when used properly. But it is usually mis-understood (everybody does work breakdowns, right?); and perhaps because it
Designing Tech Why Is Design So Hard? Why do we struggle to figure the right way to build things? Even more so in the Tech industry? Design Thinking is a way of thinking that has powerful outcomes when it is
Leadership The Courage of being Different We often hear about the challenge women face in STEM, but I wonder how much we really recognize what it is? I'm a male, in a field of men. Around me what is
Containers The Docker Mind Shift It is hard to miss: DevOps and Docker/Containers are here with a vengeance. But at its heart, Containers are a challenge for many people, especially those who already work in tech because
Developers The Agile Deceit Understanding Feature vs Deliverable Discord In software development, there is a challenge which, at its root, is about the difference between a feature (described from a user's perspective as something a user needs)
Designing Tech What is an Architect? Technology Architects and Strategic Planners may be the most confused roles in the IT industry. Depending upon whom you ask or where you look, the definition varies dramatically. While the industry has struggled
Leadership Delegate with Success Delegation is something we all want to do, yet we find it challenging. We recognize that we cannot do everything, but it is hard to pass off important things to others. Can we
Designing Tech The Power of Sustainment I have come to appreciate a simple facet of Relationships called Sustainment. The concept is seemingly obvious, yet so often lost and forgotten. Simply put, one must always provide respect upwards to leadership,
Designing Tech Time Language and communication happens at a fixed point in time. We have a thought, and a statement is made. Unlike a word processor, there is no undo feature. Time moves forward, and that
Designing Tech Leadership Domains Effective change can only be made with a solid understanding of your organization, and this involves understanding how people behave--these are defined as Leadership Domains and Behavioral Domains. There are three common domains
Leadership Behavioral Domains Just as leadership has three common domains, the same goes for how people within an organization tend to think and behave. These are the Behavioral Domains and are commonly described as: Operations, Engineering
Designing Tech Baselines, not Standards In the IT industry, the word “standard” is loved and cherished. It is within easy reach in our toolbox, it fits snugly in our hand, and we use it on a daily basis,
Designing Tech Documentation Driven Change (DDC) A monumental task in the technology industry is to get good Execution Documentation. It is such a challenge that most systems do not even have it, or if it does exist, it is
Designing Tech Stop Fearing IT *“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein* If somebody were to ask a group of Information Technologists (IT) to build a house, they
Designing Tech Technology Crusades We have a serious challenge in IT. It seems just as we come to understand a new technology, it changes or becomes obsolete. It is no wonder that we develop emotional attachments to