Blog

December 14, 2015

Greg Thomas

Go Experiment

You know what was fun in school? Experiment Day You know what you should be doing more of? Experimenting Do you know why it’s hard to do it? Because we all complain about not having enough time to try something new, even for 30 minutes for the sheer pleasure of seeing what just might happen that will probably have zero value attached to it? You know what you should do this week? Perform an experiment that renders no value only the sheer joy of having tried it, maybe it’ll work, maybe it won’t, but I bet the side affects will

December 11, 2015

Greg Thomas

Don’t do What Everyone Else is Doing

I love reading articles that espouse everything you should be doing, and not just what you should be doing, but who you should be following, and who you should be reading, and what tenants you should be following, etc, etc It takes the learning out of it, there’s no pressure any more because now you can offload this work onto someone else, just wait for them to come out with a new post next week and you’ll be good to go – pat yourself on the back you found the wholly grail.   Best courses/classes I ever took had nothing to

December 10, 2015

Greg Thomas

You can Chase Waterfalls

I’ve always admired Blizzard’s approach to shipping software – “We’ll ship when it’s ready” – policy to shipping software. And I love it – I love that the quality and featureset come first to the user – the experience of logging in for the first time to an incredible experience is first and foremost. But can it apply everywhere?  Can it work in your industry? Maybe?  At some point in development, Blizzard (and DISCLAIMER – I have never worked at Blizzard, nor do I know anyone from Blizzard) someone is going to start asking – “Guys really, when are we

December 9, 2015

Greg Thomas

The Working Manager

That’s an oxymoron right?  Don’t all Managers/Leaders work?  I heard this term coined many years – “You’re a working manager, Greg” – okay, that’s good to know.  In the context of the below, I apply everything to the voice of the Software Development Manager. If you look at the difference between a Team Lead and a Manager – I’ve always equated the Team Lead to being the fun job – take an active role in coaching and mentoring, provide insights into what is happening on your projects and keep your hands in the mud.  If anything the Team Lead is

December 8, 2015

Greg Thomas

The Before I Go List

I’ve been watching/listening to some vintage Zig Ziglar since June whilst working on my personal goal setting.  What I love about his recordings is that I find myself sitting in the car – listening, laughing and nodding my head at what he says. My personal favourite is how before a vacation, we all become expert planners and builders in one fell swoop – making lists, checking them twice, and executing like a bat out of hell – so how is that different from any other day of the year? It’s not, we are, although not vacation, I’ve started to notice