In 1986, computer software development pioneer Fred Brooks wrote a paper called “No Silver Bullet”. In this paper, he asserts, “there is no single development, in either technology or management technique, which by itself promises even one order of magnitude improvement…” (Brooks, Frederick P. (1986). “No Silver Bullet—Essence and Accident in Software Engineering” (PDF). Proceedings […]
I spend a lot of my time in design reviews or business reviews. Either highly technical and engineering-focused, or strategic and business-focused. The goal of these review meetings is for me (as one of a group) to look at the document, artifact, plan, or whatever, and decide whether the quality is sufficient for it to […]
There’s a personality trait I’ve seen with high-quality leaders, a soft skill if you will. I’m not really sure what it is called, but I heard a person one time refer to it as “bandwidth”. But that’s not quite right. Let me try and explain it. As a senior business leader, you might have dozens […]
Want to hear a secret about me? Come closer, I’ll share it. Ready? I am TERRIFIED of flying. What’s funny about it is that I fly a lot, but still on every flight I’m gripping the armrest with white knuckles, fearing for my life. And yet intellectually I know I’m safe. I’ve studied a lot […]
As a leader in an organization, a concept you need to become familiar with is that of, “High quality, high velocity decisions.” Many, many decisions pass in front of me every day. As I read my emails, watch my text messages, and attend my meetings, there are either specific decisions asked of me, or opportunities […]
In my role I spend a huge amount of time on peer reviews and design reviews. Recently I had the privilege of being able to do design reviews for some interns who are here for summer internship. It was a ton of fun because here are people with fresh new ideas and fresh new perspectives, […]
I was looking through some of my old blog posts, wondering why I haven’t posted lately, and I noticed something. I have duplicate blog posts! Several posts tell the same story and provide the same message. (Finding the duplicates is an exercise left to the reader.) My first thought was dismay. How could I, who […]
I’m sure everyone here has heard the expression, “Painted myself into a corner.” The idea is supposed to be that you are in a place where you have no choice but to make a specific decision or perform a specific action, whether you want to or not. Well, as you’ve no doubt figured out by […]
I talk a lot about having to put thought into things. I even have a term for it: “Stare at the wall mode”. (You’ve probably heard me use this term before on this blog.) This is when you are wrestling with something in your mind and are working on trying to solve a problem or […]
I have an analogy I like to use a lot. Have you ever felt like you’ve painted yourself into a corner? Or you see someone who thinks they have? This is a well-known analogy, but I’m going to take it one step further. Frequently when I see people who are convinced they have painted themselves […]
Knuggets of Knowledge 