Author: Mike

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Now that distributed teams are finally adopted by the mainstream, productivity soars and work-life balance is better. Most developers, designers and writers are happy to be back in control of…