I came across a great explanation of what I believe are the primary reasons most organizational change efforts are exceedingly more difficult than leaders initially expect:
[Because] change in organizations typically involves shifts in the way people work, these may introduce feelings of inadequacy and dislocation that potentially challenge people’s identities as competent workers (Ezzamel, Willmott [...]
For years, I’ve kept a personal (and unfortunately, unwritten) list of books I think every manager, programmer, and [insert category here] should read.
A book every programmer should read
The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master. Every programmer I hired was required to read this book. It’s a great resource for people managing programmers too. The book [...]
It’s probably not as much of a hot topic since the State Board of Ed, in an effort to protect other parts of the education budget during these lean times, held back money for district performance pay programs pushed by our peerless legislature, but I suspect the conversation hasn’t wholly died. I may not [...]
Do you want to know how to integrate Mantis and SVN? I did, but could never manage the right Google query to return a page written for someone unfamiliar with customizing Mantis. (I’m still learning SVN too.) This is the documentation I wish I’d had. This process is easier if you know [...]
A friend of mine recently accepted a position at Boise State University, and documented the numerous customer service troubles he encountered along the way. It’s a bit long but worth reading. I’ve highlighted his main points here.
As customers, we search for someone to blame, but only because we want a problem fixed. The person who [...]
Last week I mentioned some of the ways I approach proposed rules/legislation when evaluating my position. Again, these indicators are 1) being overly specific, 2) being individualized, 3) the absence of consequences and 3) the violation of locality. (Again, IANAL)
Embracing generality
I argued against laws attempting to cover every eventuality through specific language. The alternative is [...]
My comments on this topic are too long for a single post. This is part one of a multi-part discussion, which will eventually be compiled into a single essay. (IANAL)
As the legislative session opens, I wanted share some observations on law, discuss what makes good law, and explore ways to identify poor laws. In many [...]
Back at the beginning of the month I had the pleasure of attending Phil Windley’s CTO Breakfast. The discussion turned to hiring technically competent employees, which was particularly relevant to me, as I’m looking to hire a handful of competent
I’ve been thinking a lot about what Phil Windley calls an “abundance mentality.” (He didn’t coin the term; it was through his article that I was introduced to the phrase.) I’ve been seeing variations on the same theme from Paul Allen (who really epitomizes the concept of an abundance mentality), Garr Reynolds, Kathy Sierra, and [...]
I like web standards. But I think there are many standards proponents whose advocacy misses the mark when it comes to business.
Being able to easily replicate presentational effects across multiple browsers, from IE or Firefox, to a PDA or cell phone is a web developer’s Utopia. The ability to use semantic markup to not only [...]
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