TEDCEMBER: 3 Ways The Brain Creates Meaning
Today I watched Tom Wujec talking about how our brains turn information into meaning. I wish he'd spoken for longer, as the subject has more direct relevance to building successful products than any of...
View ArticleTEDCEMBER: The Danger of a Single Story
Today I watched Chimamanda Adichie, talk about the danger of a single story. It was well presented, effectively delivered but didn't resonate with me, and didn't need to be 20 minutes long. Her point,...
View ArticleTEDCEMBER: What happens when an NGO admits failure
Failure is a common theme within Agile projects - we understand the value in failing fast and early. The most effective teams operate in an environment where failure is accepted. To do otherwise leads...
View ArticleTEDCEMBER: Optical Illusions Show How We See
Today I watched Beau Lotto's TED talk on how we see. I learnt that we see things differently depending on the context of what we're looking at and depending on what we've previously looked at. There...
View ArticleTEDCEMBER: The Talk
Everyone deserves a break once in a while. Today I picked a TED talk I thought would be funny, intending to blog about something else. It's too good to go unmentioned. Next time you have 5.07 minutes...
View ArticleTEDCEMBER: How Great Leaders Inspire Action
Dan Pink contends that the three key ingredients that motivate people to perform cognitive tasks are autonomy, mastery and purpose. I want to learn more about the purpose motivator, so today have been...
View ArticleTEDCEMBER: How To Start A Movement
Today's TED talk by Derek Sivers was fantastic. In 3 minutes and 10 seconds it showed an insight into leadership and the human psyche I had never appreciated. A leader is just a lone nut with the...
View ArticleTEDCEMBER: Using Our Practical Wisdom
Barry Schwartz's TED talk on practical wisdom didn't throw up anything new, but it's nice to know that other people share my views on target driven behaviour. He also argued the case more clearly than...
View ArticleTEDCEMBER: A Police Chief With A Difference
I'm not at all satisfied with todays TED talks. I tried at least three before I found one that sparked sufficient interest to be worth a blog post, and even then only just. In "A Police Chief With A...
View ArticleTEDCEMBER: Why to Believe In Others
Once again I've had to search through several candidates to find a TED talk worth another blog post, and once again I'm not entirely sure I've succeeded. Viktor Frankl's short talk on why to believe in...
View ArticleTEDCEMBER: Trial, error and the God complex
TEDCEMBER hasn't been going well for the past few days. I've been watching the occasional video, but not finding anything interesting to blog about. I'm happy to say that Tim Harford's talk - Trial,...
View ArticleBookPuddle
My friend Frank Carver has launched a new service called bookpuddle for recommending books via blogs, tweets, facebook or anywhere you can put a URL. What makes bookpuddle worthwhile is that you can...
View ArticleNo Bull
Simon Baker of Energized Work has just published a white paper entitled "No Bull" detailing his thoughts on the last 12 years of Agile software development. If you don't know Simon, he (and co-founder...
View ArticleEngaging Presentations
I'm pleased to be presenting at Energized Work on Wednesday 11th of July. The subject - a slightly recursive "Engaging Presentations". Register here.
View ArticleRules vs Principles
I often hear people talking about rules in software development. The trouble with rules is that it is considered wrong to break them under any circumstance, even if common sense dictates otherwise....
View ArticleJinkies - Build Noises For Remote CI Servers
If you already know why build noises are a great idea and just want the software click here, otherwise...Feedback is one of the original XP values. The more timely and accurate the feedback the better....
View ArticleA Case For Pair Programming
Quite some time ago I blogged about why Test Driven Development is so useful. Today I present a sister argument for Pair Programming.In other industries predictability is often seen as a bad thing, but...
View ArticleEmotionally Intelligent Messaging
Enter any railway station in England and you are likely to be greeted by a sign warning you that if you assault their staff you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. This unfortunately sums...
View ArticleA Case For Pair Programming - The Follow Up
A few days ago I presented a case for pair programming. Around the same time Gus Power forwarded Paul Graham's insightful article on the Maker's Schedule to the Energized Work mailing list. In response...
View ArticleIn Your Face Build Alerts With Jinkies
I'm pleased to be presenting at this month's Energized Work Tek Talk on Wednesday the 12th September. During the session I'll discuss why I think audible build alerts are important and introduce...
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