Does it sometimes feel like the decisions made by leaders are almost trying to get programmers to hate their software development projects?

I would often take for granted the things that I knew as a developer and assume that leadership at my company understood them.

Because software development is so expensive, and the business schools many CEOs come from are still steeped in tradition, there can be lost trust and mistreatment.

If your CEO, Product Manager, or Project Manager doesn’t know these things, disastrous results can occur on your software project that causes people to get angry and eventually leave.

In this episode I share 9 truths of software development that if understood by leadership, will help them get along with programmers better at their company.

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TechRolepedia, a wiki about the top 25 roles in tech:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/techroles

The Thriving Technologist career guide:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/guide

You can also watch this episode on YouTube. 

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It’s common in many companies for there to be animosity between programmers and managers – but it’s smarter to consider healing that rift.

Earlier in my career I met many other software developers who loved to complain about management.

And I’ve been just as frustrated, especially when it seems like management doesn’t know what they’re doing.

But eventually after having several experiences talking to other programmers I respected, my perspective changed.

In this episode, I share some stories about software projects I have been on where I was challenged to be enlightened to continue.

I hope these stories help you think about what you can do to take the power of your career back into your own hands.

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TechRolepedia, a wiki about the top 25 roles in tech:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/techroles

The Thriving Technologist career guide:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/guide

You can also watch this episode on YouTube. 

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Does it ever feel like the daily scrum meeting is really just a status meeting in disguise?

The daily scrum or “stand-up” meeting was created as part of the scrum methodology for agile development to reduce time wasted in meetings.

But some companies use it to gather status.

In our modern software development market, there are many tools that can provide managers with real-time access to status, so this is unnecessary.

In this episode, I share several tips for getting your daily stand-up meetings under control so you can run a daily scrum that actually benefits developers.

Though it’s tempting for management at software companies to use the daily scrum meeting to gather status, they actually make the job of software developers harder by doing this – and put their software projects at risk!

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TechRolepedia, a wiki about the top 25 roles in tech:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/techroles

The Thriving Technologist career guide:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/guide

You can also watch this episode on YouTube. 

Visit me at thrivingtechnologist.com

It can be confusing when most companies don’t make it clear how software developers can get promoted for more senior roles.

If you’re a junior developer and trying to figure out, what exactly do I need to do? – it may not be cut and dry.

Rather in this episode, I share some soft skills I’ve found in working with over 30 software development teams that I see those who get promoted exhibit.

If you want to be considered for a senior software engineer role, or perhaps a higher level role such as a team lead, development manager, director, or even CTO – these skills are incredibly valuable.

They will make you stand out from other candidates and naturally be seen as a more mature option for a technical leader.

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TechRolepedia, a wiki about the top 25 roles in tech:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/techroles

The Thriving Technologist career guide:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/guide

You can also watch this episode on YouTube. 

Visit me at thrivingtechnologist.com

Software developers are often frustrated when a product manager changes the design at the last minute. But product managers are a programmer’s best friend!

In this episode, I share how your colleagues in product management are actually your biggest ally.

Whether you’re in Operations, UX,Ssupport, or any other aspect of developing software – a good relationship with the manager of your product is indispensable.

As the “CEO of their product”, these individuals have access to resources and the ability to influence the company in ways you may not have thought of.

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TechRolepedia, a wiki about the top 25 roles in tech:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/techroles

The Thriving Technologist career guide:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/guide

You can also watch this episode on YouTube. 

Visit me at thrivingtechnologist.com

It’s tempting to jump into refactoring code that’s hard for you to understand – but make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons!

But before you take that leap, you should probably consider that there can be some dangers.

Whether you’re coding in Java, Javascript, C#, Python, or any other language – there are non-technical implications of code refactoring that you should be aware of.

In this episode, I share 6 considerations to take into account that will help you avoid getting into a stressful situation when you choose to refactor code.

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You can also watch this episode on YouTube. 

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Have you ever been confronted with accepting circumstances you couldn’t change on your software project that were really difficult?

Maybe you don’t agree with a decision, or you’ve been forced to work in a way that you’re not happy with?

Though most of us like to think we’re able to control our career, there are times we inevitably have to learn to let go, and accept difficult circumstances.

In this episode, I share a set of steps I go through to help me on software projects when I struggle with this.

If you can accept difficult circumstances easier, you can get back to enjoying your software development career.

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TechRolepedia, a wiki about the top 25 roles in tech:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/techroles

The Thriving Technologist career guide:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/guide

You can also watch this episode on YouTube. 

Visit me at thrivingtechnologist.com

In working with over 30 companies, I’ve seen 7 common big FAILS in agile software development processes!

These are so common, but so easily avoided, and they have little to do with whether you’re doing kanban or scrum.

In my experience, agile issues are rarely because of a single step in the software development process, but rather because of not considering the implications on the team.

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TechRolepedia, a wiki about the top 25 roles in tech:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/techroles

The Thriving Technologist career guide:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/guide

You can also watch this episode on YouTube. 

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There’s something about software development that makes it hard to stop thinking about programming after work.

Earlier in my career when I’d be obsessing over programming, I would get home and right after coming in from the car jump into a video game or play some music.

But it didn’t last very long. I quickly became a workaholic programmer.

When I wasn’t thinking about code, I would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and start thinking about it them.

I even had dreams that I was in a whiteboarding session.

Have you found healthy ways to stop thinking about programming when you get home?

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TechRolepedia, a wiki about the top 25 roles in tech:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/techroles

The Thriving Technologist career guide:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/guide

You can also watch this episode on YouTube. 

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Why does it seem like no matter how strong your argument, some programmers never agree with you?

In software development we often focus on practices like agile development, unit testing, or code reviews.

But these are actually driven by underlying principles that guide the practices we select.

Some good communicators will be able to say what their principles are.

But even then, you’ll come across someone who just will not agree with you no matter how well you understand their principles. This is because there is usually a core limiting belief that lies beneath their stated principles.

The only way to find these beliefs out, is to have an authentic relationship with the person.

As a software developer, engineer, or consultant we often spend most of our day in front of the computer.

So getting to know someone personally can be socially awkward and feel like it’s taking away from our productivity.

We can ask “why” questions, as described in the “5 whys” concept popularized by Eric Ries, author of the lean startup, to get to root beliefs.

Armed with this information, we can broaden our belief system to understand the other person better, or help them get rid of a limiting belief that may be holding them back!

Join my Patreon:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/patreon

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TechRolepedia, a wiki about the top 25 roles in tech:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/techroles

The Thriving Technologist career guide:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/guide

You can also watch this episode on YouTube. 

Visit me at thrivingtechnologist.com