Engineering

At some point in your career you will be asked to manage a project. This can be intimidating, it can be scary, but it doesn’t have to be. We can leverage some time-honoured techniques, and adapt them to the unique approach required for software projects to deliver on time, on budget, and with success. This article is a collection of techniques I’ve learned for managing projects over time, that attempts to combine agile best practices with project management best practices. If you study project management to any level of depth, it is inevitable that you will come across the Project Management Institute, or PMI. The PMI is a global professional body that provides training and certification in project management topics. PMI provides different certification options, including some for Agile processes and Scrum. ...

In a shopping cart, the swivel wheels of the cart are set in the front, and the fixed wheels are set in the back. Now picture yourself pushing a shopping cart backwards. Almost naturally, you swivel the cart to move the front end to one side or the other before beginning to push the cart. Now picture yourself pushing a shopping cart backwards, on an ice rink. Here, the cart keeps sliding around even after you’ve stopped pushing it. Instead of going straight from one end of the rink to the other, the cart makes giant S-shaped turns. ...

Software is core to the operation of our business, and as architects, we are the key conduit between business and technology. Being technical leaders within this intertwined relationship means that we have a responsiblity to make sure that our business decisions and our technology decisions stay aligned. Being in this position demands leadership skills that are equal or better than our technical skills, so that we can effectively align business strategy with technical strategy, communicate that strategy to teams, motivate both teams and individuals, and influence outcomes. ...

Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without. Confucius We all want to have a perfect product, a perfect system, and a perfect development story. Unfortunately, reality is … reality. And it’s not perfect. One of the biggest struggles of engineering well is understanding the constant push and pull among the forces that govern the “rest of the business”, and governing your technological and development choices accordingly. Do not strive for perfection. Strive to be good enough. ...