Breaking it Down

First Principles The fundamental presuppositions for a system. Rules that are self-evident or axiomatic. The smallest facet of knowledge or logic, regarding a single system, that cannot be further divided. A way of analyzing and learning by starting at the very beginning and building knowledge from the foundation. A system of categorization where building blocks […]

Trust

What a load of malarkey! The idjits running projects have no idea who to trust and they’ve never earned anyone’s trust in their lives; so they lie. From the web site, Scrum.org …trust is a feeling. Trust is a characteristic of a relationship, of many interconnected and overlapping relationships.It may be challenging and complex, but […]

What’s the Secret Faerie Dust?

Previous: Software Is Not The Product If we stipulate that we need the following to make a good developer: an excellent communicator a first-principles thinker a business and process polyglot an iconoclastic investigator a problem solver an inventor an adaptable antagonist an inquisitive idealogue a courageous fighter an advocate and peer leader tenacious a creative […]

Something’s Wrong with Management

Previous: We’ve Been Wrong for Fifty Years Suggestions for why non-technical managers so often fail when trying to manage technical projects and technical people range from arrogance to ignorance. Most likely it’s a combination plus what some humorous technical old-timers call the impedance mismatch. This reference to electrical design describes an overload that occurs when […]

We’ve Been Wrong for Fifty Years

When any critical eye sweeps over the software development landscape, even a cursory look reveals dysfunction, misunderstanding, failure, incompetence, and distrust. It’s no one person or one group’s fault. Those managers closest to the problem, like agile coaxers and scrum lords, refuse to see, or even acknowledge the pain and suffering in the development community. […]