The daily standup is probably the most common team meeting in the world. What started as a strange practice for software developers using something called 'AGILE' has morphed it's way in to everyday usage across most industries. I’ve combined lessons learned from my 20+ years experience in the software industry to share tips for how to fix your daily standup
Read MoreRunning a hackathon is an important part of leading a high performing team in a software company. It has almost become a rite-of-passage in modern day software development leadership, marking the transition from reactive manager into proactive leader. Here is my take on how to run a hackathon your team will love.
Read MoreAt last we reach the end of the series on tripling an engineering team in six months: what to do after you've made an offer to a candidate. This is something close to my heart and something most hiring managers seem to forget or ignore.
Read MoreIn 2016, after being acquired by private investors, we were given the green light to triple our engineering team as fast as possible. In this article (part 3 of a 5 part series) I focus on all the preparations required before starting to hire.
Read MoreIn 2016, after being acquired by private investors, we were given the green light to triple our engineering team as fast as possible. In this article (part 2 of a 5 part series) I dive deeper on how we actually planned the massive task we were embarking upon, the questions we needed to ask, and the important lessons we learned about planning to scale.
Read MoreIn November 2016 the company I worked for was acquired, injected with cash, and told to 'go faster'. Over the next six months I led a recruitment drive that saw the engineering team (more than) triple. This is a 5-part blog series on that massive recruitment process; starting with the background story that led us to need to scale at such a pace.
When making decisions, jumping to the price as the first mechanism for comparison is a common mistake we all make. Everybody has done it at some point already and I am willing to bet most people resort to price as their default assessment most of the time. I know I do.
Read MoreFor the past 10+ years I've seen a wide range of projects, products, teams, and companies and every one of them worked differently. The key to success of any product, or company, depends on how the product and engineering teams work together but this relationship is often ignored.
Read MoreLife is meant to be pleasurable. Life is meant to be fun. Life is meant to be enjoyable. But sometimes it is easy to forget that. It is too easy to get caught up in the rat race, using bullshit phrases like “time poor” as excuses for inertia, and just plugging away in a boring and monotonous life in the hope that we can get to the fun stuff later.
Read MoreI’ve tried - oh how I’ve tried – to fit in to the general expectation of society for the concept of working. I’ve tried to enjoy my job, I’ve tried to believe that we’re all supposed to turn up and do the same repetitive tasks every day, and I’ve tried to accept that this is simply just how life works. I’ve tried and I’ve failed.
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