I still have estimation on the mind. I saw The Impact of Accidental Complexity on Estimates and I was wondering about the effect of management on bad code. Do managers sometimes force developers to write bad code by allowing technical debt? Jay’s third point implicates technical debt as a cause: Introducing technical debt increases accidental […]
I’ve been reading Pfeffer’s Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don’t and enjoying it a lot. I’ve had a few aha moments, and one has to do with networking for a new job. Here’s a quote: Consequently, an optimal networking strategy is to know a lot of different people from different circles, have
I did decide to talk about how we got started on 100% utilization and what to do about it. I didn’t say everything I wanted to say, so here is what I wish I’d said: How 100% Utilization Got Started Back in the early days of computing, machines were orders of magnitude more expensive than
After returning from one of the dinners in Brussels at Belgium Testing Days, Mieke Gievers, one of the organizers said, “I don’t think people have the same passion about their jobs. They just want more money.” I, of course, disagreed. The reasons people want money is that organizations have broken the implicit social contract to
I’m at Belgium Testing Days, and in about 90 minutes, I’ll be giving a lightning talk as part of a keynote. I love lightning talks because I love to talk and I love the challenge of a 5-minute, go-for-broke, get-it-organized, and do-it. And, it’s an excuse to drink a lot of cold caffeine in preparation.
One of the ways I organize and plan for interviews is to use an interview matrix. I take the essential skills from the job analysis and use them in the interview matrix to decide who will ask which questions. No, I don’t make those decisions—I ask the interviewers who wants to ask which questions. Now
In But I Need to Know When the Project Will Be Done, I talked about what you can do for estimating an agile project (do a gross estimate of the backlog, estimate your velocity, better your estimate every iteration and keep talking to your management). What if you have a contract? What if your managers
In yesterday’s Globe, there was a question about How to cut ties when the old boss won’t let go. Oh my. If you weren’t sure you’d made a good decision, you know now you have. I actually think there is a better way to leave a job. Assuming you give two weeks notice, here’s what
Ian Dees and Miles Forrest interviewed me about Manage Your Project Portfolio. We had a great time in the interview, and it shows. Enjoy!
I was talking with a new-to-agile project manager, who said he needed take the first iteration to do design and estimation. I asked why. “Because our management needs to know exactly when the project will be done.” “Do you think your iteration of design and estimation will provide you a perfect estimate?” “Uh.” He paused.