Articles for category: Leadership

December 30, 2021

Greg Thomas

Where do we Start?

It doesn’t matter where you start per se, what does matter is that you start. That’s what your team needs you to do is start. Along the way you’ll figure out if it’s wrong or right, but today, what they need is for you to start.

Your List Just Got Longer

Because now you have all this other stuff to deal with that two days ago you didn’t have to do. Now things need putting together, patching and updating. Now your time is being pulled in different directions as everyone wants their piece delivered first but you are only one person. And of course, you have your own list of goods you want to work on. So the question is – where do you start? You could start with the riskiest or go to the quick wins to make the list shorter?  You could go with the stuff that costs the

December 26, 2021

Greg Thomas

Delivery Eve

I often equate the night before a software release akin to Christmas Eve.  Everything is just so, all the plans are perfectly in place, the sign-offs are received,  the team is ready, on-calls are all set. Now all that’s left is to make it happen. Sometimes it goes off without a hitch, sometimes you forget to wrap something. But it always works out, and it’s one of my favourite days in any release.

December 24, 2021

Greg Thomas

Tools Do Not Create Culture

Tools, scripts, processes – they do the things you don’t want to do in your day-to-day delivery.  They automate the simply easy stuff that you should be on auto-pilot for. But never has anyone credited the performance script, the database tuner, the DevOps customizations for the release of a product, or changes in your team culture.  They are meant to take the easiest loads off your shoulders so you can focus on the big things; Are we getting enough code coverage? Do we have ample load? Have we gone through all scenarios? Do we understand what the customer needs? That’s

December 20, 2021

Greg Thomas

Interviewing for Tomorrow

When interviewing someone, whether it’s a small or big company, I always come back to one thought – “What will they be like tomorrow?” When we grow outside of this shoebox? When our product scales? When the team gets bigger? Will they be able to grow with us?  Will they be able to lead with us? Will they be there with us tomorrow? This is the question that always nags at the back of my head every time I interview.