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Showing posts from June, 2022

QR Codes

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We should stop teaching kids the current symbols of our alphabet, and instead teach them to read QRs. Imagine a future where 500-word essays are submitted as a single QR, or where Twitter's character limits are easily subverted. If all we know are QR Codes... what would our keyboards look like?

Increasing Follower Counts

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If you're interested in growing your follower count, there are 2 things that have ever contributed to a spike in mine: Other people mentioning my name in their posts Interactions I've had while commenting on other people's posts The common thread here is that (at least for me) it's not about pushing out content. Content-Creation is a one-way megaphone and has trivial impact on follower count (again, at least for me.) Most of my time on LinkedIn is spent in messages, and then commenting/discussing on people's comments. Much of the content I do create is adapted from a conversation/interaction I've had. Maybe I'm doing it wrong - maybe the megaphone works better for others, but I never intentionally set out to become a "content creator" and get a bunch of followers. It... just... happened... In short, the best advice I can give is to focus less on the followers, focus less on content, focus more on interactions, and genuinely connecting with people,

*Pauses...Checks Notes*

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 I can't say this enough: go back and read your notes from 3, 6, 9 and 12 months ago. You'll resurface key objectives (project, personal, etc.) that may have since gotten diluted. You'll spot incorrect assumptions you'd made and reevaluate. You'll be encouraged by how much you've learned, grown and accomplished since.

Bring Your Own Materials

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Interview Tip: Bring Your Own Materials (#BYOM) The interviewer asks: "Tell me about your time at XYZ Company." Your response: "Sure! I actually put together a few visuals that will help me illustrate a project I was particularly proud of. It'll also help me explain my approach..." Not only does this help you steer the conversation, but it demonstrates how you communicate, how you break down complex concepts, and ... well ... it's oh-so-wonderfully-polished. It's better to have the materials ready and available. Diagraming in real-time can be a distraction, and waste valuable time - but if it's your only option, practice your diagrams in advance. And of course, the all-important disclaimer: don't share confidential info that isn't yours.

On Systems Debt

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Pre-amble/tl;dr:  I recently published  The Lloyd Braun Principle of Agility  mostly as a silly-but-true observation about how that classic Seinfeld line "Serenity now, insanity later" relates back to Agile. I ended that post with a statement about how we need to better prepare for the "Insanity" that comes later. With that in mind, I'm introducing my approach to building productive teams. It's about paying down your   Systems Debt. The modern tech team is broken.  We rely too much on Seniors, and don't leverage Juniors. I've been thinking about this problem a lot over the last year, as I've adapted multiple teams to our "new normal." Months ago, I began an article to support the case that hiring managers should hire juniors. To make an effective argument, I knew I had to address a common concern: "First I need seniors to train the juniors..." Quickly the article grew and grew. If you're new to management, this is my "

Database Chain Game (Flash)

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Another throwback to a game I'd started back in 2007. The object was to connect long-chains of databases and then backing them up on the retention server.

The Lloyd Braun Principle of Agility

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If you're not familiar with the Serenity Now episode from Seinfeld, the tl;dr of it is that George's father Frank is given the mantra of " Serenity now..." to help curb his enthusiasm for angry outbursts. Impressed with its effectiveness, Kramer adopts the mantra for himself. George's childhood rival, Lloyd Braun, later cautions that this mantra doesn't address feelings, but bottles them up, and leads to huge explosive anger. And that's when he delivers the classic line: Serenity now. Insanity Later.  At the surface, it's valuable advice about controlling our emotions, and stress - but deep within this statement is a also a very important guideline for delivering Agile software. And while Seinfeld isn't known for technology, it's too perfect that the backdrop of this episode has Frank, George and Lloyd selling desktop computers. George, of course, struggles to keep up with the zen-like Lloyd, who has reached true Agile enlightenment. In fact,

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