R.A.T.S. Delegation

In writing a recent post for my other blog about planning and delegation, I fell into a set of 4 principles that define how to delegate successfully. The principles are Responsibility, Accountability, Trust, Success or RATS. Here is the excerpt from that post:   But in reality, delegation in leadership is not about getting other

Software Engineering

I am not a fan of software methodologies, third party libraries, hyper-generalized frameworks or other so called productivity enhancers within the software development process. At the same time, I abhor the idea of a thousand developers at a thousand keyboards creating a thousand screens, features, pages and trying somehow to stitch them together into a

Starting Green

One of the most useless project management conventions I have ever worked with is the status stoplight or RAG status. From a simplicity perspective, it is designed to convey a general state of the project. Green means things are “OK”. Amber means things aren’t that OK. Red means things are not OK at all. The

Product Management

Product Management is something that should be easy to understand. The highest level goals of product management should be easy to articulate. 1) build a valuable product 2) maintain the value of a product relative to its customer community 3) manage the investment in the product, to ensure the best possible return

When Firing Is Better

Sometimes it would just be easier, and better for all parties if we were honest and just “Fired their sorry asses!” It would be easier for management, because there is less corporate drama around firing and hiring than around a reorg, or implementing alternative staffing models, and RIF’s are either good (when the economy is