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Nov 6, 20233 min read
Designing and Delivering DevX
It’s not that often, at least in my life, that one has the experience of inventing a thing, only to find out that that thing was already...
Nov 6, 20233 min read
The Power in Powerlessness
I'd like to share a story about working with one of my direct reports, as I think there is a lesson here for most of us in how we deal...
Nov 6, 20234 min read
Great Product Managers are Time Travelers
During my tenure at DataStax, I witnessed and actively contributed to the evolution of the PM function. It shifted from mainly...
Mar 27, 20232 min read
Dissing Disinformation
I've decided to focus on a huge problem in the next phase of my work. The problem of disinformation versus the promise of Trust. The...
Apr 6, 20202 min read
SUPPORT, STRUCTURE, CHALLENGE
Here's a coaching model, which I developed to manage the mayhem of growing The NRG Group from 6 people to 180 in 18 months during the...
Apr 6, 20202 min read
DEBUGGING DISSENSION
In a series of recent interviews, I've been asked how I would deal with a deep disagreement among the development team - what if two...
Apr 6, 20207 min read
MAKING MEETINGS MEAN SOMETHING
One of the things that happens a lot is a meeting. A “meeting” is where people “meet” to talk about something – sort of. The problem is...
Apr 6, 20203 min read
WARNING SIGNS OF "NOT-SO-GREATNESS" IN A DEVELOPER
If you're trying to figure out whether the developer you are working with is great or not-so-great, here are some dead giveaways. 1. HE...
Apr 6, 20204 min read
DEALING WITH "BAD" MANAGERS
Seems like the world must be filled with ‘em. At the first leadership course we ever held, we had half the class threaten to leave unless...
Dec 15, 20122 min read
MARKETING POO
(Note: this is an article I wrote shortly after leaving Microsoft. I just rediscovered it and found it amusing and still germane. Let...
Jan 28, 20114 min read
AGILITY WITH STABILITY
I’ve recently been in a series of conversations with CTO’s and the topic of how to manage Agile development within large project teams...
Jan 18, 20114 min read
THE TRAGIC TREADMILL OF "GOOD"
I’ve made lots of mistakes in the past. The one that I’m noticing the most is ignoring one of my three central principles of The Art of...
Jan 18, 20113 min read
THE FEELING OF GREAT
As I said in an earlier post, I’m working on something (a stealth start-up) that feels great. I wanted to share what is different about...
Dec 1, 20101 min read
THE HEART OF ARCHITECTURE
I’ve been having some interesting exchanges with Software Architect friends of mine in the last couple of weeks. I’ve been asking for...
Nov 17, 20103 min read
TOP 10 FAULTY FEATURE JUSTIFICATION PHRASES
Over the years, I’ve heard developers, product managers, QA folks, and marketers justify features using some standard phrases, which...
Jul 5, 20103 min read
BOOTSTRAPPING THE HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAM
The differences between traditional and high-performance teams (HPTs) are immense. These differences represent a 180-degree change in...
Jun 21, 20101 min read
THE RISK OF BEING RISK AVERSE
As Co- Founder of Zazengo, I've been in the role of primary account exec and product manager for some projects with VERY LARGE CORPORATE...
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