Google “HBR Agile” (or “McKinsey Agile”) and you will find pages of articles — while I don’t consider either as gospel, it does mean the business world has taken serious notice of Agile in and beyond software. I suspect Agile & Scrum may be in a bubble as an answer to all development methods — either way it is worthy of a historical interlude.

The simple origin is Jeff Sutherland who invented the software version of Scrum and Harvard Researchers that coined the term 9yrs prior. However, the roots of Agile & Scrum go much further back to Japan and…

I was a hands-on technologist 20 years ago, turned to management ten years ago, and am now hands-on again as a consultant. I’m amazed by some changes and surprised by others. Here is a basic rundown of what almost caused my early demise.

Unix Is Back for the Developer (Silver Lining)

In the ‘80s and early ‘90s, a lot of professional software was developed on expensive Unix workstations like a Sun Sparc or NeXT Station. …

Great article -- btw can I borrow your photo of the 3 firms ? I'll link to your page as (c) if you dont mind

A close friend told me he’s just been promoted to manage his software engineering team. He asked me for some tips and I thought, “Hmm, read a book? YouTube? Where do we start?” Like most firms, his company probably gave him no formal training or guidance. They just said, “Good luck — you’ll do great!” as he stared out the window pondering his fate…

Fear not, my buddy (and everyone else). This guide will help you become a great tech manager.

1. Lead by Example

“Do as I say and not as I do.” — A famous ill-received proverb parents use a lot

In…

You often hear the horror stories pointing to ageism:

“They won’t hire me because I have no experience” (too young)

“They won’t hire me because I have too much experience” (too old)

“They hired some younger cheaper person to replace me” (too expensive)

There is a lot of published research on this (some listed at the end of this article) — all point to an inconvenient truth — old people aren’t in demand.

This guide is to help describe one common path for engineers. There are many other paths to consider but most go from engineer to tech lead, to…

You often hear the horror stories which point to ageism:

“They won’t hire me because I have no experience” (too young)

“They won’t hire me because I have too much experience” (too old)

“They hired some younger cheaper person to replace me” (too expensive)

There is a lot of published research on this (some listed at the end of this article) — all point to an inconvenient truth — old people aren’t in demand.

This guide is to help describe one common path for engineers. There are many other paths to consider but most go from engineer, to tech lead…

Like many senior engineers/managers, I don’t feel I need certifications to prove myself nor pad my resume. I almost feel like it is below me at times to have to take an exam (don’t you?). But taking the exams and passing is a nice test to prove I’m not senile. What really encouraged me to be honest is a long break between projects (boredom?) and the big corporate budget to burn. Let me share the sacred learnings!

#1 — Tests can be beaten

This will sound like bragging but why not — in Feb I passed 4 exams and got 3 certifications (I had a lot…