Author: Mike

A little less talking

8 April 2021

Communication is the core of software development. We shape our solutions through conversations with customers, stakeholders and colleagues. We evolve architecture through debate and discussions. We write code to talk...

Making a business case for legacy systems

30 March 2021

Before we invest, we make a business case. We put costs versus benefits, project it over time and when the value exceeds the costs in a relatively short period, we...

Quality isn’t good enough

26 February 2021

A professional software developer needs to balance quality and deadlines. That shouldn't be a controversial statement, but these days, it seems to be one. Whenever I discuss this topic, I'm always met...

Strategic Virtualisation

25 February 2021

You can't really treat a patient without a diagnosis. Your doctor can brush you off with aspirin or antibiotics a few times, but if the symptoms persist, it's time for...

If you don’t know where you are…

25 February 2021

We design strategies to get us to a position of advantage. Our AS-IS situation has some problems that we'd like to solve in our TO-BE design. In the case of "greenfield"...

5 Rules for pragmatic developers

30 January 2021

Pragmatism is evil. It leads to crappy code. It's giving up high ideals to compromise with the clueless suckers in management. Good developers need to stand their ground. Clean code over...

How to avoid status meetings

1 November 2020

Meeting culture is that ubiquitous pest that stains corporate life. Middle managers often have their agenda covered with back-to-back meetings like some kind of twisted mosaic. And in these days...

How to ask for help

19 October 2020

Software development is hard. When you're just getting started, the task sometimes seems insurmountable. You're not just missing a few pieces of the puzzle. You don't know what the picture...

What is Middle Management?

17 October 2020

One morning, the CEO of a large company wakes up with a great idea. She gathers her Department Heads and the ball starts rolling. A few months later, an engineer...

One size fits none

4 October 2020

Let's pretend we're starting a car company. If we want to build a luxury model, that's going to be reflected in our workflow. We'll focus on hand-made components and meticulous...