We talk about “software products” and “product teams.” What does this even mean, “product?” It is not the definition I learned in school. Economics 101: the output of the economy is “goods and services.” Goods, also called “products,” are physical items that you can buy, take home, and have. Like, if you buy a rug, … Read moreWhat is this “product” you speak of?
Everything new is broken. one of Jerry Weinberg’s maxims This happens because every other part of the world hasn’t adapted to the new thing, and the new thing hasn’t adapted to the world it’s in. That newfangled 3D printer worked fine in the lab, but it wasn’t ready for ambient cat fur, and my computer … Read moreEverything is terrible, especially software
Great software solves a problem that you have — plus problems you didn’t know you had. Here’s an example: today on Twitter, a friend let me know about a broken link to one of my old posts: The broken link lives in someone else’s blog post, so I can’t update the source. It looks like … Read moreGreat software teaches
Yesterday in a zine, I read an in-process book review of The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire. Reading that was a project for the review author; they wrote the review while still in the thralls of the book. That seems like the best time, not after I’ve closed the book. So quick! before … Read moreReading: Why Information Grows
(originally published in the SD Times) How do we influence the operation of a complex dynamical system like a team? How do we get a development team to function closer to our preferences, and still let people operate as self-actualized humans? In Dynamics in Action, Alicia Juarrero describes complex systems such as people in terms … Read moreGet happy developers to do what you want
Video version here There’s this great, short book by John Kay called Obliquity. It’s about goals that you can’t achieve by aiming for them directly; you have to look for an oblique goal that will happen to get you there. Like, you can’t aim for “happiness;” you have to find something such that aiming for … Read moreHorizonal goals