Writings & Presentations Chronological Order

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As of 2004, just publications list. Previous to 2004, publications and presentations list. See papers by theme to see writing sorted by topic.

If you're interested in many of these topics, check out the AYE Conference, too.

2008 Publications

What Lifecycle? Selecting the Right Model for Your Project, Cutter IT Journal, Vol 21, #5, May 2008

What Are You Working On?, Stickyminds, April 2008

Using Writing and Speaking to Recruit Candidates, Part 2, RecruitingTrends.com, Mar 2008

Make Your Mission Possible, Better Software, Feb 2008

Are You Done Yet? with J.B. Rainsberger, IEEE Software, January/February 2008 (Vol. 25, No. 1)

2007 Publications

What Project Managers Need To Know About Testing, Stickyminds, Dec 2007

Using Writing and Speaking to Recruit Candidates, Part 1, RecruitingTrends.com, Dec 2007

What's Important to You about a Candidate? RecruitingTrends.com, Nov 2007

Are Your Pants on Fire, or Do You Suffer from Split Focus?, Stickyminds, Oct 2007

When to Use Staged Integration, CM Journal, Sept 2007

Recruiting "Failed" Candidates, RecruitingTrends.com, Aug 2007

Recruiting Managers: A Tricky Proposition, RecruitingTrends.com, July 2007

Eliminating the 90 Percent Done Game, Stickyminds, Jul 2007

ExploitingBut Not ManipulatingYour Alumni Network, RecruitingTrends.com, May 2007

What's Your Project Vision?, Stickyminds, April 2007

Take a Stand—Yes or No, not Maybe, Better Software, Mar 2007

2006 PUBLICATIONS

Codependent Schedule Games, Stickyminds, Dec 2006

Recognizing Agile Candidates, Stickyminds, Sept 2006

An Incremental Technique to Pay Off Testing Technical Debt, Stickyminds, Jul 2006

Feedback Before Firing, Better Software, April 2006.

Agile Project Portfolio Planning, Cutter Cutter Agile Project Management E-Mail Advisor, March 2006.

Sunny Skies or Storms?, Stickyminds, Mar 2006.

Starting with Rolling Wave Planning, Cutter Cutter Agile Project Management E-Mail Advisor, Feb 2006.

How Much Building Is Too Much?, Stickyminds, Jan 2006.

2005 PUBLICATIONS

Are We There Yet?, Better Software, Dec 2005.

Implement by Feature, Better Software, December, 2005.

Changing Minds about Context Switching, Better Software, Nov 2005.

Developing a Professional Portfolio, Inc/Fast Company, Nov 2005

How Much Work Can You Do?, Stickyminds.com, Oct 2005.

Planning for Technical Management Time, Cutter Business-IT Strategies E-Mail Advisor, Oct 2005.

Spark Your Salary, Computerworld, Oct. 2005.

Getting Up to Speed, Inc/Fast Company, Sept 2005.

Three Tips to Managing Across the Globe, (project management), Computerworld, Aug 15, 2005.

Rapid Ramp-Ups, Inc/Fast Company, July 2005.

What's on Your Not-to-Do List?, Stickyminds.com, June 2005.

Hiring for Team Fit, Cutter IT Journal, June 2005.

Make the Work Interesting, Inc/Fast Company, June 2005.

Don't Play 'Schedule Chicken', Computerworld.com, May 2005.

Estimating Testing Time, Stickyminds.com, May 2005.

Getting Ahead, Computerworld, April 05.

Interviewing New College Grads, Fast Company/Inc. Hiring Center, April 2005.

Breathing Life into Your Employee Referral Program, Fast Company/Inc. Hiring Center, March, 2005

Five Warning Signs of Misalignment Between IT and Business Strategy, Cutter Business-IT Strategies E-Mail Advisor, March 2005.

Hiring for an Agile Project, Cutter Agile Project Management E-Mail Advisor, February 2005

Cultural Fits and Starts, Fast Company/Inc. Hiring Center, February, 2005

Hiring for an Agile Project , Cutter Cutter Agile Project Management E-Mail Advisor, February 2005

Detecting Great Testers Before the In-person Interview, Stickyminds.com, Jan. 2005.

How to Hire Technical Managers, Computerworld.com, Jan. 2005

2004 PUBLICATIONS

Deck the Halls, Computerworld.com, Dec. 2004.

Asking Great Questions, Computerworld.com, November 2004

Building Better Test Teams, Stickyminds.com, Nov. 2004

Watching Testers in Action: Auditions During Interviews, Stickyminds.com, Sept 2004

By the Dashboard Light, Stickyminds.com, July 2004

So Many Tests, So Little Time, Stickyminds.com, May 2004

Multiprojecting: Progress by Illusion, Computerworld.com, April 2004

Multiprojecting: The Illusion of Progress, Stickyminds.com, March 2004

Using Inch-Pebbles to Track Project State, Computerworld.com, February 2004

Two Candidates. One Position, Better Software, February 2004

Investing in Architectural Infrastructure: A Business Conversation, Cutter IT Journal, January 2004

When Enough is Not Enough, Stickyminds.com, January 2004

No More Second Class Testers!, Better Software, January 2004

2003 PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS

Hey, it could happen! A contrarian's approach to predictions, Computerworld.com, December 2003

Successful Software Management: 14 Lessons Learned, Crosstalk, December 2003.

Testers Shine on Agile Projects, Stickyminds.com, November 2003

Future Fixes, Software Development, Oct. 2003

Hire People, not Tools, Computerworld.com, Oct. 2003

Congratulations! You’re a Manager. Now What?, STQE, Sept/Oct 2003

11 Steps to Outsourcing: A Contrarian's View, Computerworld.com, Sept 2003

When do you say "No, that's not my job any longer"?, Computerworld.com, August, 2003

Teambuilding at Work, STQE, July/August 2003

Multitasking Overhead, Software Development, July 2003

Plan Perfect, Software Development, May 2003

Improve Tester Performance, Stickyminds.com, May 2003

Collaborating with Other Consultants, Diamond Harvard Business Review, May 2003

Plan Perfect, Software Development, May 2003

Ready, Aim... Hire, STQE, March/April 2003

Clarify Your Ranking for System Problem Reports, Stickyminds.com, March 2003

Hiring in Alignment, Cutter Business-IT Strategies E-Mail Advisor, March 2003

Becoming a Great Tester: Assessing Tester Expertise, Radview webinar, January 2003. The Q&A should also be posted there. It's here too.

Shattering the Myth of the Inadequate Tester, Boston SPIN, January 2003

What's Wrong with Wednesday?, Computerworld.com, January 2003

Shaking off the "Shoulds" Part 1, and Pardon Sisyphus, Part 2, Software Development, January and February, 2003

2002 PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS

What Does Your Title Say about Your Job?, Stickyminds.com, December, 2002

What's Your Fault Feedback Ratio?, Computerworld.com, November 2002

Beyond Tool Use, Software Development, October, 2002

What Testers Can Do About Technical Debt, Parts 1 and 2, Stickyminds.com, August 2002

Managing for Results, Software Development, June 2002

Planning Your People Investment, June 2002

Taking a Risk: How to Make Risk Conversations More Effective, Stickyminds.com, May 2002

Climbing out of Technical Debt, AYE Conference web site, May 2002

Advice on How to Hire Testers, Stickyminds.com, April 2002

Release Criteria: Is This Software Done? STQE Magazine, March/April 2002

No More Meeting Mutinies, Software Development , March, 2002

Practice: A Necessary Part of Change, February 2002

Tips for Passing the Baton, Software Development , February, 2002

What Does it Cost to Fix a Defect?, StickyMinds.com, February, 2002

What does Success Look Like?, StickyMinds.com, January, 2002

Managing Multicultural Projects with Complementary Practices, Projects and Profits, January 2002

2001 PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS

Risk Analysis Basics, StickyMinds.com, December, 2001

Testing Your Worth, Measuring Value in a Tight Job Market, StickyMinds.com, October 2001

Release Criteria: Defining the Rules of the Game (presentation in pdf), updated October 2001

Livable Layoffs, Software Development, November, 2001

Manager, Heal Thyself: Improving Software Processes Means Changing Management Processes, Cutter IT Journal, October 2001

What Do They Pay You to Do? ( also as a presentation in PDF), October 2001

Other People's Problems, Software Development, September 2001

Successful Software Management: 10 Lessons Learned, August 2001

Measuring Up: Measuring Test Managers from an Organization’s Perspective, Stickyminds.com, August 2001

Crisis? What Crisis? A Contrarian's Perspective, June 2001

A Test Manager’s Output: What Is That?, June 2001

Creating a Successful Project When You Don't Know How to Define Success (in PDF), May, 2001

Where's Charlie?!, Stickyminds.com, April 2001

Managing Multicultural Projects with Complementary Practices, Cutter IT Journal, April 2001

Looking Back, Looking Ahead, Software Development, February 2001

You're Too Valuable Where You Are, Stickyminds.com February 2001

2000 PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS

What Do You Manage?, December 2000

Managing Testing Resources: Five Suggestions for the Project Manager, December, 2000, PMI ISSIGreview

It's 10am: Do you know where your Project is?, Turning Conflict into Constructive Debate: A Demonstration, Problem Solving Clinic, Departmental Retrospectives, Setting Expectations: A Manager’s Guide at the AYE Conference, Scottsdale, AZ, November 2000

No More Whining: Reframing the Not-Enough Question, September 2000. Also available in PDF

Shhhhhh! You Can?t Say That!, October 2000

What Does it Cost You to Fix a Defect, and Why Should you Care?, October 2000

Being a Successful Product and Services Company Oct 30-Nov 5, 2000

What to do When Your Project Slips, SPC E-SSENTIALS! September 2000

Make Telecommuting Work, September/October 2000, or in PDF

The Influential Test Manager, May - June 2000

Defining and Managing Test Priorities for COTS Software, Software Quality Professional, June 2000

It Depends: Deciding on the Correct Ratio of Developers to Testers, May 2000

Tutorial: "Life as a New Test Manager", Talks: "The Influential Test Manager" and ""Testing in the Dark", Panel: "How Can I Tell When My Project's In Trouble", Quality Week, San Francisco, CA, May-June 2000

"The Four R's of Software Process Improvement: Requirements, Reviews, and Results", Crosstalk, May 2000

"Successful Test Management: Eight Lessons Learned" (presentation only) and "It Depends: Deciding on the Correct Ratio of Developers to Testers", Star East, Orlando FL, May 2000

"Using Quality to Drive Project Lifecycles", PMI IS-SIG, Orlando, FL, May 2000

"Taking the Crunch out of Crunch Time", Software Development, April 2000

I was interviewed for an article about delegation, by Hillary Rettig, March 2000

"The Influential Test Manager", Software Testing and Quality Engineering, March/April 2000

Kathy Melymuka wrote a great article about project management with a number of quotes from me in Computerworld , March 2000

"How to use Inch-Pebbles When You Think You Can't", SwANH Software Engineering & Quality SIG, Nashua NH, March 2000

"What to Do When the Right Person Doesn't Come Along", Santa Clara Valley Software Quality Association, San Jose CA, March 2000

Tutorial: "Hiring Technical People" and Paper: "What to Do When the Right Person Doesn't Come Along", Software Management Conference, San Jose, CA, March 2000

"Web Business Under Pressure", in QSS's online newsletter, February 2000

"Using Quality to Drive Project Lifecycles", Boston SPIN, Needham MA, February 2000

"Software Quality Engineering or, Who are those guys and what do they do?", Merrimack Valley section, ASQ, Andover, MA, Jan 2000

1999 PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS

Creating a Learning Culture, Software Development, November 1999

"Achieving a Repeatable Process", Panel: "Managing Projects in Internet Time" and "A Pragmatic Approach to Software Process Improvement", Software Development Conference, Washington, DC, November 1999.

"The Influential Test Manager" (presentation only) and Tutorial "Discovering Requirements for Test: A Tester's Guide to Reverse Engineering Product Requirements" with Brian Lawrence, STAR West, San Jose, CA, November, 1999.

"A Problem-Based Approach to Software Process Improvement: A Case Study", Crosstalk, October, 1999.

Tutorial: "Solving Technical Problems" and Paper: "Hiring Technical People" QAI's International Software Testing Conference, Orlando, FL, October,1999

"Planning your Staffing Decisions" and "Managing Test Priorities for COTS Software" 9th International Conference on Software Quality, Cambridge, MA, October 1999.

Tutorials: "Developing and Implementing System Test Plans" and "A Systematic Approach to Identifying and Solving Project Problems", PSQT, St. Paul, MN, October 1999.

"How to use Inch-Pebbles When You Think You Can't", Cutter IT, May 1999.

"Successful Engineering Management: 7 Lessons Learned", Electro '99, June 16, 1999, Boston, MA

"Using Quality to Drive Project Lifecycles" and BOF: "Life as a New Test Manager" Quality Week, May 1999 San Jose, CA

"A Pragmatic Approach to Software Quality (notes)" PNSQC Spring Workshops, May 1999, Portland, OR and Seattle, WA

"Testing in the Dark: A Pragmatic Approach to Overcoming Undocumented Requirements" Star East, May 1999, Orlando, FL

"Achieving a Repeatable Process", Project Management panel: "Project Management That Works", "Faster & Better? Concurrent Engineering for Software Projects" Software Development '99, May '99, San Francisco, CA

How to use Inch-Pebbles When You Think You Can't", Cutter IT, May 1999.

"How to Help Your Client Pay You" with Don Gray, Contract Professional, April 1999

"Self Correcting Software", In-the-SPIN, April 1999.

"Testing in the Dark" with Brian Lawrence, Software Testing and Quality Engineering, March/April 1999.

"Retrain Your Code Czar", IEEE Software, March/April 1999.

"Using Quality to Drive Product Development Processes" SEPG '99, March 1999, Atlanta, GA

"Determining Your Project's Quality Priorities", Software Development, February, 1999.

"So You Want to be a Consultant, or, What Does a Consultant Do, Anyway?", In-the-SPIN, February 1999.

"Achieving a Repeatable Process" and "Defining and Managing Project Focus" SM '99 , Feb '99, San Jose, CA

"Reflections on Products and their Organizations" AWC/GBC , Boston, MA, Feb. 1999

"What to Do When the Right Person Doesn't Come Along", Cutter IT, January 1999.

1998 PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS

"Program Management and SQA", NESQAF, 12/1/98

"Hiring Technical People", Help Desk Institute, Boston section, 11/18/98

"Managing Test Priorities for Packaged Software", STAR, San Diego, CA, 10/28/98

"The Millennium and Beyond: A Project Perspective", WITI Technology Summit, Boston, MA 10/19/98, 10/20/98.

"A Problem-Based Approach to Software Process Improvement: A Case Study", PNSQC/ 8ICSQ, Portland, OR, 10/14/98

"Managing Test Priorities for COTS Software", PSQT, St. Paul, MN, 10/6/98

"Using Quality to Drive Product Development Processes", PSQT, 10/6/98 and NEQCC , Springfield, MA, 10/8/98

"Managing Global Teams: Six Tips to Optimize your Global Development Effort", Software Development, August 1998

"Achieving a Repeatable Process", Software Development, June 1998

Quality Week Birds Of a Feather notes (not my work, just my notes), Useful Metrics (5/27/98), and Testing Career Issues (5/28/98) San Francisco, CA

"Role of the Test Manager" (position paper for panel at) Quality Week, San Francisco, CA, 5/27/98

Workshop: "Interactive Problem Solving Skills", presented with Denise Robitaille, Boscon, 3/27/98

Defining and Managing Project Focus, originally published in American Programmer, 2/98.

"What does Quality Mean to your Product?", Software Development '98, San Francisco, CA, 2/10/98

"Making Geographically Dispersed Product Development Work", Software Development '98, San Francisco, CA, 2/9/98

1997 PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS

"Why Metrics are Not Like Broccoli", Thomson University, Boston, MA, 12/12/97

"Quality-Driven Project Management", Applications of Software Measurement '97, Atlanta, GA, 10/29/97

"Iterative Software Project Planning and Tracking", Seventh International Conference on Software Quality, Montgomery, AL, 10/7/97

"Making Geographically Dispersed Product Development Work", Software Development '97, Washington, DC, 9/29/97

"Iterative Project Planning and Tracking", IEEE Management Society (Boston), 9/23/97

"Software Quality Engineers/Managers: Who are those guys and what do they do??", ASQ Boston dinner meeting, 9/18/97

Workshop: "Interactive Problem Solving Skills: An Allegory of Systems and Stake Holders", presented with Denise Robitaille, Roadmap 2001: Facing the Year 2000, Bentley College, MA, 6/6/97

"Is Your Investment in Quality and Process Improvement Paying Off?", Quality Week '97, San Francisco CA, 5/27-5/30/97

"Software Processes", a mini-tutorial at Boscon, Newton, MA 3/21/97

"Case Study: From "Chaos" to "Repeatable" in 4 months", SEPG '97, San Jose CA, 3/18/97

"Resistance to Process Improvement: A Personal Perspective", SEPG '97, San Jose CA, 3/18/97

PAST PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS

Test Scenario Design for Software Products, New England Quality Conference, Tolland CT, 10/11/96

Panel Moderator for the joint dinner meeting for Boston SPIN and ASQ, 2/20/96.

Applying Systems Thinking to the Issues of Software Product Development, Systems Dynamics Conference, Cambridge, MA, July, 1996

Measurements to Reduce Risk in Product Ship Decisions, Quality Week, San Francisco, CA, May 21-24, 1996

"Software Quality Assurance: Should it remain a separate organization?", The Software QA Magazine, May 1996.

"Advanced Issues in Business Process Reengineering", Giga's BPR and Workflow Conference (tutorial), Orlando Florida, February 4-7, 1996

Software Management Practices: Positive and Negative Practices for Quality, ASQ: Fifth International Conference on Software Quality, Austin TX, October 22-26, 1995

"What is SQA, Anyway?", The Software QA Quarterly, Vol.2 No. 2, 1995.

"Metrics and Software Project Management For The 21st Century", ASME Engineering Database Symposium, Boston, MA. September 17-21, 1995

"Pragmatic Software Process Improvement for Software-in-the-Small", Software Engineering Process Group Conference '95, (poster session) Boston, MA. May 22-25, 1995

PUBLIC SPEAKING

"Pragmatic Metrics", NESQAF, Dec. 10, 1996

"CSQE Demystified!",Boston Computer Society/ASQ Software Division, Mar. 13, 1996

"Quality Aspects of Software" and "Problem Solving Tools for Software Quality", The Gordon Institute of Tufts University, Distinguished Speaker Lecture Series, Medford, MA. May 2, May 16, 1996

"Assurance of Software Quality: Fact or fiction?", ASQ Olde Colony section, Dec. 12, 1995

"How to Get Things Done: With or Without Management Buy-in", Association for Women in Computing, Lexington, MA. Oct. 18, 1995.

"Software Quality Assurance: Should it remain a separate organization?", American Society for Quality Control, Boscon '95, Newton, MA. Marh 23, 1995

"Software Quality: Special problems and challenges", Boston Computer Society, Waltham, MA. March 14, 1995

"A Holistic view of Software Engineering", Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Software Quality group, Shrewsbury, MA. Feb. 15, 1995

"The Problems and Challenges of Software Quality", The Initiative for Women's Leadership, Cambridge, MA. January 15, 1995

"Pragmatic Change for Small Organizations", Boston SPIN, Needham, MA. November 15, 1994

"The Problems of Software Quality", Anna Maria College, Foxboro, MA. November 6, 1994

"Future of SQA", New England Software Quality Assurance Forum, Cambridge, MA. October 4, 1994