Blog

February 23, 2017

Greg Thomas

Growing Pains

You’d think it would get easier with experience. You’d think these feelings of discomfort would subside when you get going. You’d think it’d get a little easier the second time around. You’d think the same problems at different places would be resolved quicker. But you’d be wrong – these are the growing pains that stay with us as we go through the first, second, third and sometimes “n” times of trying to get better and improve itself.  They are not always easy, sometimes downright frustrating and always fraught with varying degrees of craptivity. The question is whether you are willing to

February 22, 2017

Greg Thomas

Software Built on Trust

Or Trusted Software is the best kind of software. It’s built on a foundation of teams and groups working together to accomplish an insurmountable task that no one ever thought could be done. I have witnessed this happen so many times – and when it does – all I want to do is sit back and watch, because it is amazing. Requirement Guys, Cloud Girls, Server Boys, Coder Girls, Database Dudes, Super Dudettes – it’s a symphony of development. Built on trusting one another, trusting the people, trusting the method and trusting the outcome – supporting the failure and celebrating the success.

February 21, 2017

Greg Thomas

Context is Everything

In problem-solving, the context of the problem and the solution derived from are everything. Take the example… Two houses are late being built – one is behind by two months, one is behind by six. The one that is behind by six months is due to environmental issues, bad weather, tough rock, lots of snow, etc, etc.  The team has put in extra hours to make up for the delay but keep getting hit with issue after issue that is outside of their control. The second house had no issues, they knew the first house was delayed so they took their

February 20, 2017

Greg Thomas

Where Focus and Success Meet

Remember those street figher(ish) games where you had to accumulate your “mana, energy or experience” before you could do your super move? You had to keep fighting to increase your reserves so when you had your best chance you’d play your super move. That… that is the moment where focus and success meet.  Where after all the beatdowns you have taken, all the fighting, all the pushing to get somewhere, all the late nights and early mornings, you are finally ready to make it happen. Whether you fail is irrelevant, whether you make the big sale is not your measurement of

February 17, 2017

Greg Thomas

Is My Second Monitor Hurting Me?

I used to think having a second monitor was the most productive thing in the world. But with everything (and I mean everything) moving towards being available on the internet and as a result my computer, I have come to find myself getting constantly distracted while I’m working. I’ll work on “something” on my main screen, then bring up Netflix, YouTube, the news, something that pulls the rest of my attention over to the right bit by bit until it’s 100% there. As of late, I am trying to do most of my writing on my Chromebook because it only has