Beware of Fortune 500 consultants
In 1982, my $20+ million employer STSC was acquired by the over $2+ billion Continental Telecom (ConTel). Post-acquisition, I was invited to join ConTel’s technical committee. As part of our charter, we reviewed the results of a major study of … Continue reading
Never try to teach a pig to sing
Software development teams never seem to make a release deadline. Things always seem to take longer. They will report that they would be ready to ship March 2nd, but if you showed up that day with bottles of celebratory champagne, … Continue reading
Why do the rich get richer?
Have you ever wondered how the rich get richer? Consider the old saying. “The higher the risk, the higher the gain.” The type of risk I’m talking about isn’t putting on a blindfold and walking across the highway. It’s the … Continue reading
The morning I spent with Steve Jobs
My wife Mary has a new iPhone. Watching her use and embrace this product reminded me of the time I spent a morning with Steve Jobs. In the late seventies, my group was creating a major software system for Apple’s … Continue reading
How to recognize when you start sliding
I joined Scientific Time Sharing Corporation in 1969 to participate in the lucrative mainframe computer timesharing market. By 1978 the market for timesharing had grown, we dominated our market niche, and our customer base was providing sustained profitability and growth. … Continue reading
“If only they had asked me”–how sad.
We were sitting in a doctor’s brand new office. The Physician’s Assistant came in and was quite grumpy. “The examination table is placed wrong relative to the window. The sink and power plugs are all in the wrong places. And … Continue reading
How good is your employee fit and finish?
Based on how well an employee “fits” their job, they can be a platinum-level player or literally a lead-level player dragging the organization down. (For more on the Platinum-Lead model read my Strategic Downsizing article.) What makes an employee a … Continue reading
Do your employees know what they are being paid for?
Many years ago I sat down with one of my employees and asked why he hadn’t made progress on his assignment. “I haven’t had the time to work on it,” he told me. I asked him what he had been … Continue reading
Small teams + tighter communications = better productivity
For over twenty years I had a love affair with APL, the world’s most productive computer programming language. APL is elegant, concise, and powerful. When embedded in the most responsive IBM mainframe timesharing system of the era, it enabled our … Continue reading
It’s a matter of degree
One of my technical mentors was bent out of shape by Celsius. I used to shake my head at his apparent Luddite attitude. After all, one of America’s great embarrassments is its inability to join the rest of the world … Continue reading