Transparency, Inspection, and Adaptation

• Lose the lies Feb 21, 2018 - 2 min read

  An interview that Patty McCord did to publicize her new book bubbled up in a social media stream. A few friends commented about the powerful truths she was telling, so I followed the link. Here are some excerpts from that Patty McCord interview which resonated with me: …we’re gonna be your paternalistic employer for the rest of your life and provide you with career ladders and promotions forever. It hasn’t been true for 30 years, and it’s certainly not true now. Read More…

• Was It Worth It? Jan 2, 2018 - 2 min read

  A few of us from the office headed out to an acclaimed BBQ joint during the holiday lull between Christmas and New Years. I expected the last workday of the year to be slow with a bunch of the workforce out on vacation. Boy was I wrong. When we arrived, the line snaked from the cash register, around all of the picnic tables and looped back upon itself once without making anyone wait in the cold. Read More…

• Demotivation Oct 10, 2017 - 2 min read

  Here’s a flashback from the late winter of 2015 in a winning environment: Starting a team meeting with a mass scolding isn’t that great of an idea. But it seems to have become the modus operandi of Fearless Leader at Mega-Corp. He chose to start the new year something like this: Why is everyone late? This is important and everyone should be on time. (Never mind that the last three scheduled meetings had been cancelled at the last instant) Read More…

• Agile and Brewing tags:["team dynamics"] Sep 30, 2017 - 2 min read

  During an interview for Agile for Humans, Ryan asked me about parallels between agile and brewing. At the time I mostly blew it off. My thinking then was that the feedback loop was too long and the inspection bit was a tad too fuzzy. Ultimately there is a link with the inspection and adaptation. In my short home brewing arch, there have been many experiments. Most of them have worked, but a few have them haven’t been so stellar. Read More…

• A Journey Begins Sep 26, 2017 - 4 min read

  What happens when an agile CTI coach gets bored and knows someone that they believe has something to contribute to the agile software community? You basically get invited to co-present a conference talk, a helping hand to find your voice, plus an opportunity to start sharing your experience and point of view with others. Some time has passed and the memory has faded, so forgive me if I don’t get this exactly right in the telling of the story. Read More…

• Welcome Back Sep 12, 2017 - 1 min read

  It’s been awhile. I was gently shamed into this resurrection by a friendly text message - “YOU HAD A BLOG”. Certainly not the most impressive place for conference attendees to see what I’ve been up to and what I’m about. Let’s correct that now.

• Brewing Great Agile Team Dynamics Mar 1, 2017 - 1 min read

  Ever find yourself making a sour face after talking to a coworker? Wishing your team meetings felt more like an engaging social hour? There is hope. Those everyday conflicts where something seems “off” after a conversation are often related to differences in communication styles. When team members understand themselves and others, there’s less conflict, more collaboration, and better working relationships. The DiSC model can help you understand why your team behaves the way it does and how to build trust for a more agile team. Read More…

• Talks Mar 1, 2017 - 2 min read

  Oops, We Inflicted DevOps on our Business–Now What? with Allison Pollard It seems that everyone is aflutter with DevOps, the shiny new panacea for all of our software ailments. What technical goodness can DevOps bestow upon us? What riddles does it unlock for us as technologists? How do business goals align in order to wring the true value from DevOps? Delivering value faster is a desire of many business and IT leaders, and it often looks like a win-lose proposition to achieve it. Read More…

• TIL => ReportViewer Control, Less is More Jan 7, 2013 - 2 min read

  Stop me if you’ve heard this one: “Their IT staff is going to take care of that development …” And so it was recently on a project I am developing. A separate development activity was spun up to create the required SSRS reports which were to be hosted on a Report Server. Well the Report Server uses Active Directory accounts for authentication and authorization. The portal that I’m building essentially uses the ASP. Read More…

• e*trade has buggy client-side javascript Aug 18, 2012 - 3 min read

  Once a month I get a little reminder that I need to go pay my e*Trade credit card bill. Every month for as long as I can remember I’ve tried to use their user interface to pay off my current balance and been told by an error dialog that my selection is not valid. I have clearly selected a frequency of “One Time” and not “Once a Month” as the dialog box indicates. Read More…

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