By J. Timothy King on July 25, 2006
I never would have bought this book for myself. I won it in a drawing at InBubbleWrap.com. I’m not sure what made me enter the drawing. Maybe it was, Eh, it sounds moderately interesting, and it’s free. Or maybe it’s that I have a soft, cuddly spot in my heart for Build-a-Bear Workshop. And as […]
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Software Development |
By J. Timothy King on July 21, 2006
How DeMarco, Lister, and Cockburn Helped Me Find a Better Job (Part 2) (Part 1 was posted yesterday.) After four months of teamicide, Peopleware-style, I was ready to die. And when HR or my manager asked me, I told them the truth.
Posted in Personal Improvement, Software Development, Stories, True Stories | Tagged Alistair Cockburn, Crystal Clear, Peopleware, Tim Lister, Tom DeMarco |
By J. Timothy King on July 20, 2006
Two years ago, I was enthusiastic, energized, and about to plunge into depression. I was enthusiastic and energized because I had started a new job two months before, and I was in a position where I could make choices, and I knew I could make the right choices. I was stretching myself beyond what I […]
Posted in Personal Improvement, Software Development, Stories, True Stories | Tagged Alistair Cockburn, Crystal Clear, Peopleware, Tim Lister, Tom DeMarco |
By J. Timothy King on July 16, 2006
As part of Steve Pavlina’s Million Dollar Experiment, participants claim to have manifested over 1.5 million dollars, just by wishing for it. Are they just fooling themselves? Or is there something different they’re doing? Is there something different that successful people do that the rest avoid? I think there is, and I knew what it […]
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Personal Improvement | Tagged Steve Pavlina |
By J. Timothy King on July 11, 2006
Why do programmers hate writing unit tests? Why do they hate even more writing unit tests before coding? You don’t have to answer. I’ve already heard the excuses. These are rhetorical questions. I have a theory, however, what the real reasons are.
Posted in Software Development | Tagged testing, unit tests |
By J. Timothy King on July 1, 2006
This is a story about my first software management success. It’s also a story about my first software management failure. It was a success, because the work got completed, and without any nasty surprises. It was a failure, because I could have made the team more efficient, and I didn’t. Both of these are good […]
Posted in Leadership, Management, Software Development, Stories, Tales of a Wanna-Be Software Entrepreneur, True Stories | Tagged code, refactoring, software engineering |
By J. Timothy King on May 26, 2006
Many people think leadership is about being in charge and making a legacy and doing great things and everyone loving you because you changed their lives. But it’s not. Mostly, it’s about moving chairs and other little victories that no one notices. Leadership is like Ronny Cammareri’s love, from Moonstruck:
Posted in Leadership, Management, Stories, Tales of a Wanna-Be Software Entrepreneur, True Stories |
By J. Timothy King on May 19, 2006
Seriously, this week I had my annual performance review, and my manager pointed out several weak areas, and I have no plans to address these weak areas. In fact, as a professional, my answer to this performance review could even end up getting me fired.
Posted in Leaving Normal, Management, Professionalism, Stories, Tales of a Wanna-Be Software Entrepreneur, True Stories | Tagged performance reviews |
By J. Timothy King on May 17, 2006
It’s like the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. You can’t see an electron, but you can measure it, to an extent. You can measure where the electron is or how fast it’s going, but not both. Because the act of measuring momentum throws off the position, and the act of measuring position throws off the momentum. (I […]
Posted in Professionalism |
By J. Timothy King on May 10, 2006
Reflective Improvement is number 2 of Alistair Cockburns 7 properties of successful teams. Of these 7, Alistair says the top 3 are core properties for success. Reflective Improvement is so important, because it gives such a big bang for the buck.
Posted in Software Development |