Articles for category: Leadership

February 11, 2016

Greg Thomas

It’s not the Tools

I can’t do this without new Tool x. If only we had this software everything would be perfect. After a practice, where I felt like I fell 10 times on the ice, I went to get changed thinking my skates MUST be dull – it can’t be me – I could not have been THAT bad. Turns out the skates were fine, both edges were sharp, but the skater was dull 🙂 It’s so easy to go to a conference or watch a video on YouTube and think “YES” – the answer to our problems, by that piece of software

February 10, 2016

Greg Thomas

I’ll Know it what I see It

Said the teacher to the student when the student asked what the answer to the math question was. Said the doctor to the patient when the patient wanted to know the specifics of their open-heart surgery. Said the Territory Manager to his sales team when asked what targets they were aiming for this year. Said the Stakeholder to the developer when asked what do you want me to build. Software Development is series of ongoing iterations and cycles with a goal towards constant, continuous improvement to building a great product.  But without the proper goals and direction in mind before the building

February 9, 2016

Greg Thomas

Do What you Don’t Want To Do

A few weeks ago, while I stood completely exhausted, huffing and puffing for air (and not alone) while at an early morning hockey practice, our coach said to us all quite succinctly… “Why are you always practicing what you can do and not what you can’t do?” What we can do is the easy stuff, the stuff we’ve gotten better at over the years, the stuff that we can do in our sleep but still when we get to the office is the stuff we dive into first because we can do it, we know how to do it, we

January 29, 2016

Greg Thomas

Keeping the Team Together

It’s hard work keeping a team together, everyone has a different set of work ethics and commitment that drive their unique approach. Sometimes they jive and sometimes they don’t. The worst thing you can do to someone on your team mid-project is to write them off – “not good enough, not worthy of our team, we’ll drop you shortly” because it sends that signal loud and clear and from there – What would you do?  How would you react to being that person written off?  Why bother if they are going to drop you?  Perhaps your deliverables didn’t line up the

January 28, 2016

Greg Thomas

The Time Between the Failures

I can look at a sketch and go – I can draw that. I can sit down to draw it and it does not come out how I envisioned it. I can look at another sketch and go – I can draw THAT. I can sit down again to draw it and it STILL does not come out how I envisioned it. And then I can walk away for a week not wanting to try again because I really focused for a whole 60 minutes and it didn’t work. We’re not afraid of the failure while we are doing it

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