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Showing posts from May, 2017

That's a goatee of a different color

I've made a transition from gray tones to living color - much like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (the first color motion picture). Dog Groomer's have a natural capability to accept a being for what they are and how they present, as well as what their humans may desire.  This is a wonderful ability - we should learn from them.  I had a great conversation with my local groomers at the Blissful Bark Dog Wash , about peoples expectations and inherent biases based upon look, job title, etc.  This capability of acceptance and a deeper level of judgement came to me as they asked about my hair color choices.  They told of the judgements that a dog groomer receives - one even equated the title's status to that of a stripper (good company if you can have friends in low places). From this and other conversation I've had as a result of a choice to live with more color, I've made some interesting observation about you people. You humans are preoccupied by noticing inconse

Team <-> Group

What makes a team?  Is there a continuum upon which sits the term team?  Some have referred to difficulty comparing apples to oranges - I find it quite easy. Apple <-> Orange <-> Pomegranate <- Team ---- Group -> List of English terms of venery, by animal Why do we not list HUMAN in the animal column when listing group names? For example,  horses are know in groups as:  team in harness haras or harrase herd stable string stud Humans are know in groups as:  mob, group, team, squad, army, click, .... We have a whole system of dealing with collective nouns . How do we distinguish between the behaviors of a team and the behaviors of a group?  Have you noticed that manager's refer to people that report to them as a team?  Regardless of the behaviors that the group may exhibit - rarely a team like behavior...   I've always said just because we all wear the same color jersey doesn't mean we are a team. The rule of abl

Why testing in production works.

A video that cannot be unseen.  If you want to truly understand the difference between a unit test and integration tests. Watch what happens when you write plenty of unit test - but skip the integration test . I found this GIF on the web today ... junior dev: It works! tech lead: . . . . . . . . . [facepalm] #coderlife #fail pic.twitter.com/goYsZP5Ol0 — #CoderLife (@thecoderlife) August 16, 2017 See Also: The 21st century definition of TEST  I would like to define that within the modern software world that the word test have a more specific meaning. I propose: Test - (verb) a  highly repeatable  measure to check the quality, performance or reliability of (something), esp. before (something) is created and then put into use or practice. Traditional Test Engineering is DEAD "In this shift to agile, late cycle or manual testing efforts are often dropped or, worse, the program management and development teams embrace agile and c

Vending Machine of Values & Principles

Have you seen the new automobile vending machines.  It appears we could put anything in a vending machine.   So what would you put into the vending machine?

Exploiting Variability: A Principle of Product Development Flow

What do these phrase have in common - what is their inherent consistent meaning? Zero Defects Take the time to do it Right Repeatability and Reliability Process Maturity Model Measure twice, cut once Six Sigma Rework is Waste, Lean processes remove Waste They are ironically consistent in their purpose to reduce variability.  Don Reinertsen will attempt to convince us that in the domain of product development (unlike other domains) variability may not be the enemy of good.  He will argue that it is the economic payoff-function of this outcome that is of upmost concern in design. Voltaire 's aphorism :   Perfect is the enemy of good. I'm in a group at work that is reading books on Agile software development topics to what purpose... well to learn I hope.  After Lyssa's book on Coaching Agile Teams  we turned the knob up to 11 with Don Reinertsen's Principles of Product Development Flow .  Since it's such a tough read, a dense book with so much knowl

The Lasso of Truth

Truth is a wonderful concept - but can we really know it? I'm very excited about the 2017 release of a Wonder Woman movie.  Can't wait - it looks great, I always love the first in a series.  I like the character development, the WHY of the foundational aspects of the character.  From the preview it looks like we will see  Princess Diana of Themyscira  grow up and the reasons she finds her self in America.  Fascinating... I learned a bit about the truth of the back story of the back story of ... well the history of the creator of the Wonder Woman myth in of all places... a training course on DiSC by Dr. Abelson .  [ Queue the spooky dream sequence music. ] The inventor of the Wonder Woman myth is William Moulton Marston . Wonder Woman made her debut in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941), scripted by Marston.  If you have one in the garage I'll buy it from you.  Apparently, Marston designed Wonder Woman as an allegory for the true leader; the kind of women who should