|
Written by Daniel Leiderman-Gueller
|
|
Saturday, 18 July 2009 12:56 |
We are in the information age, where the business has become information management. Almost every modern job includes some kind of information handling: software, stocks, banking, etc. This is completely different from the industrial revolution where production means and materials were the critical assets. In this new kind of work, you as a worker (the asset) are defined by what you know and what you can create.
Since what you know and what you can create are so critical, many companies try to script the tasks, to make the worker as expendable as possible. The number of examples is huge: low level programmers in Eastern Europe, call center operators in India and more.
Seth Godin has a post on this issue, people as pegs
But some people are not pegs; they are unique due to creativity, due to being special and remarkable.
Why all this rant? Because management is confused between keeping people and keeping knowledge.
Some managers think that knowledge can be transferred from person to person, at least partially. This is minimally correct, because some information can be passed, but its not knowledge. The sad truth is that when a person leaves, all knowledge is lost to the organization. The knowledge gathered during the period working in the company is lost, especially with remarkable people who motivate others.
The reaction of management should be to try to keep the best people, using as various methods as possible. Unfortunately, this won't happen and there are many reasons for that.
|
|
Last Updated on Saturday, 18 July 2009 13:29 |
|
|
Written by Daniel Leiderman-Gueller
|
|
Monday, 06 July 2009 07:21 |
|
System engineering is all about abstractions and ideas. There is no tangible object, only requirements, solutions and tradeoffs. The major task of the system engineer is to distribute the information and convincing everybody that the information is correct and well balanced. Hence one of the major skills needed is marketing, internal and external.
The ideas get bought, and you are the target of the marketing and in time ideas get sold, and you are the marketer. Does the idea markets itself or you need to help it to spread? I've already touched the reasons for selling ideas but how to do it is a complete different issue.
I've found an invaluable source for being a marketer here: Seth Godin
Seth explains the basics in very clear and short posts:
What do you sell
-
- What is the story
- Why is it good for the receiver
- Rehearse
- How to build a presentation
- How people decide
- Fail, so you can learn
Using the knowledge of how people work, of presenting it right and accumulating experience will definitely make the idea selling (and buying) a more successful experience. |
|
Last Updated on Monday, 06 July 2009 07:31 |
|
Written by Daniel Leiderman-Gueller
|
|
Wednesday, 24 June 2009 13:08 |
This is a post by a software engineer trying to make a career decision.
The question can be summarized as: "do I need to take this path or the other one?". These career decision questions are normally phrased as stumbling upon an opportunity, encountering a dead end or you simply feeling the need to make a change. I have a problem answering the questions, as the questions only show one aspect of the dilemma.
The questions show the dilemma as choosing a path and looking the direction this path takes you, expecting a clear view of the outcome. The rational is to select the best outcome and see the decision as a critical point in time. My perspective is different, there is a process and a change evolved in making career decisions.
The process of career buildup requires dedication, perseverance and constant adaptation to change. There are no shortcuts to building competence, as detailed in the post on learning in 10 years. There is an amount of experience you need to accumulate and some errors to be done. Then the question regarding career paths becomes a question of experience given and taken in the specific role. Why giving? Because making errors is a way of giving to the company, making the errors an opportunity and in turn making the question not about choosing but about attitude and actions while doing the job.
My answer to the question presented in the beginning is actually a new proposition: "where do you think you will make most errors, and where would you be accumulating the experience in doing something?"
|
|
Last Updated on Thursday, 25 June 2009 05:46 |
|
Written by Daniel Leiderman-Gueller
|
|
Tuesday, 16 June 2009 12:33 |
|
Timeline:
- Start of project - June 1st 2009.
- Deployment - Sept 1st 2009.
Actual available time: 3 months - 12 weeks.
Since a week is a easy to manage time frame, the work is divided into specific work items:
|
Item
|
Content
|
Duration
(weeks)
|
|
User perspective design
|
Information
Flow
User actions
|
1
|
|
Backend logic
|
DB design
Flow design
Information model
|
2
|
|
URL logic
|
Pages flow
relationships
|
0.5
|
|
Infrastructure coding
|
DB coding
DB interface coding
|
1
|
|
Main page coding
|
Menus
Links
|
2
|
|
Table presentation coding
|
Presentation table
Editing table
|
2
|
|
Security
|
Logic
Cookies
Enforcement
|
2
|
|
Testing
|
Developer testing
End user testing
|
4
|
|
Total
|
|
14.5
|
Due to the limited timeframe, only a subset of the application can be developed, forcing stepped development. For stepped development, grouping functionality allows concentrating on specific features without having to skimp all over the place.
As first step of the project, only three features need to be developed:
- database
- Menus and URLs
- main table display
Having these 3 features allow internal deployment, using a local computer and the parents reading the information from a monitor.
So the plan now is:
|
Item
|
Content
|
Duration
|
|
Design
|
Data model
Urls
Site flow
|
2 weeks
|
|
Database
|
Table creation
SQL queries creation
|
1 week
|
|
Main Page
|
Header
Footer
Menus
Links (static)
|
2 weeks
|
|
Main table
|
Calendar
Main entry table
Main display table
|
2 weeks
|
|
Testing
|
With sample or real data
|
2 weeks
|
|
Total
|
|
9 weeks
|
Having 14 weeks, this is doable, even with some delays added.
Now comes the hard part, actually making it.
|
|
Last Updated on Thursday, 18 June 2009 11:23 |
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>
|
|
Page 4 of 19 |
