Tag: communication

How to convince people you’re not there to automate them out of a job

When your job is automation, people sometimes think you're trying to put them out of a job. Here are some of the ways I fight that perception.

The Infamous Free Slurpee Story - a Tale of Integrity

A story about Slurpees containing a lesson about integrity. Sure, it's an unlikely combination but you have to admit, Slurpees are pretty tasty.

Beware the Interview Feedback Policy

Many companies are instituting policies against interview feedback. You should ask if such a policy exists the next time you interview for a position.

Tips for Cross Cultural Communication with Worldwide Partners

Working globally, I participate in cross cultural communication all the time. I've put together some tips for making this communication more effective.

Differentiate Yourself - Two Quick Lessons From a Bad Electrician

An experience I had with an electrician taught me two important lessons about how to differentiate myself professionally from my peers.

Worst Practices: Confusing an Estimate with a Target

In software engineering, there is a subtle but significant difference between an estimate and a target. This difference is often overlooked, and can easily lead to conflict that disrupts the progress of a software project. With all of the other potential causes of disruption, software engineers have to eliminate as many risks of this type as possible.

What I Learned from the Pink Mohawk

Never Let the Boss be Surprised

The Reposting Epidemic

I’ve been seeing an interesting trend ever since Pinterest has begun to rise in popularity - repost fever. I know this feature has existed in different ways on many social networks, but it seems to me that the usage of repost functionality on these networks has been changing recently.

Worst Practices: Anti-Social Networking

Pro Tip: If you have a company Twitter account, use it for more than blasting out self-serving advertisements. You are wasting the perfect opportunity to connect with your customers, improve their experience, and address their complaints and concerns!

What Motivates Us

I found this video from the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA for short) to be very insightful.

Tested or Not?

A software system’s “tested” status is an interesting thing. Sometimes, in a schedule crunch, the decision makers may decide to cut back on testing, hitting only the most commonly used portions of the system. Almost inevitably, when this is done, a bug in one of the less commonly used parts of the system gets out.

Benefits of Analogies in Software Architecture and Design

Analogies are often used when building or discussing the architecture and design of a system. I think there are two main benefits to this.

Buzz words

Having just attended Microsoft's PDC 2008, including the introduction of the new Azure services platform, I don't think I ever want to hear the word "cloud" again. Buzz words like "cloud computing," "extensible services," and many more can be useful but more often than not I think they have a negative impact on developers. These effects can be seen both outside and inside the development department.