Leaders and managers often have to introduce change—perhaps they see the need, or perhaps their team members come to them with a problem and solution. But it’s important to check … Continue reading Change for objective reasons
Category: Working practices
Diagramming an argument about the release process
The other day I was talking to someone about release processes. Specifically, about convincing non-technical stakeholders that frequent releases are more desirable than less frequent ones. My friend said his … Continue reading Diagramming an argument about the release process
Making process reminders a habit
Last week I talked about clear and simple messaging for processes, to avoid confusion and waste. This is particularly important for parts of the process that are used rarely, and … Continue reading Making process reminders a habit
Questioning our own motivation
A while back I told a story in which a team questioned why I wanted them to show their current work on a whiteboard. They thought it was because I … Continue reading Questioning our own motivation
There are many things to optimise for
There are a couple of practices I value greatly, and which many engineers struggle with, usually for the same reason. One practice is planning for value in small increments, which … Continue reading There are many things to optimise for
Unbiased questions for everyone
I was speaking once to a user researcher about her work. One of the things she mentioned was the importance of asking unbiased questions. When she said this she was … Continue reading Unbiased questions for everyone
Don’t just change what you know
I love brown bag lunches, when someone talks about an interesting subject while (traditionally) everyone else eats their lunch around a table (or on the other side of their video … Continue reading Don’t just change what you know
It’s always worthwhile to demo
A common practice in agile development is to demo your progress to your stakeholders at the end of each iteration—usually every two weeks. But I’ve worked with many, many people … Continue reading It’s always worthwhile to demo
Rigour in process
The other day I had another bad experience buying coffee. The one I remember most was in a place that had a captive market, a long queue running out the … Continue reading Rigour in process
Writing for honesty and integrity
Honesty and integrity are important, not just for personal and social reasons, but for business reasons, too. Being honest (to others and ourselves) about our decision-making helps us make better … Continue reading Writing for honesty and integrity
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