Develpreneur: Become a Better Developer and Entrepreneur

We often talk about momentum and incremental improvement as substantial steps towards progress.  However, we have to take action to benefit from those.  Thus, we have another facet of failing to take a step.  Not only do we not make any progress, but we also find ourselves in the same situation weeks, months, or years later.  On the other hand, a little activity can put us in a far better position...

Sometimes the obvious escapes us.  The suggestion to save your work often and habitually is one of those apparent recommendations.  It is a newer phenomenon as we have to worry about data loss through various means.  Likewise, we have a virtual workplace, and the idea of our work not being done until it is committed is new.  The latest generations may not see it that way, but "us old folks" do.  T...

There is a great truth among those that have been successful.  One must take a risk to succeed.  The safe road is too popular.  Thus, most people take it, and you will travel a path of high traffic.  The nature of success in a noticeable way is that you are among a minority of the population.  For example, we can all tie our shoes, and most take a common path.  That is why no one talks about their...

We often feel like we can not get away from work and those that want our time.  However, multiple contact options can easily be overlooked.  That can cause delays and information loss.  The ease of communication in the modern world should not convince us to overlook the need for contingencies and other channels.  Any time we rely on one path, it can be blocked and stop progress.  That goes for our...

We provide many ways to become a better developer.  One of the best ways to do hits over the long run is to stay healthy.  Big things like cancer and chronic disease can disrupt your career.  However, smaller things like the flu or seasonal cold can also knock you out for days or weeks.  That unplanned "time off" can cause a sizeable setback.  Likewise, it can derail time-critical plans and cause...

In this episode, we share a story that shows us to take the high road.  It is a road less traveled but one worth the effort.  While shortcuts and quick fixes are often mistakes, shadowy paths can also be far more costly than expected.  There is far more at stake than a single goal.  Our reputation and its impact on our future must also be considered. Take The High Road - A Worthy Plan The error of...

Project completion is the focus of this episode.  We discuss how to start and implement a solution but ignore finishing.  That changes in this story.  We look at how "moving the goal line" can be expensive and self-defeating.  On the contrary, we are often far better off declaring victory and putting a stake in the ground.  That gives us a solid foundation to build on.  When we do not, we often fi...

We dive into the exciting world of accounting in this episode.  Timely billing is the focus, and a worst-case scenario teaches the lesson.  While the mistake is not directly mine in this story, I was a first-hand witness and deeply involved.  That experience cemented my habit of providing regular status and gave me limits for billing flexibility.  These steps have helped me avoid much loss and fru...

Few things cause excitement like the phrase, "status reporting."  Yes, I know you are already quivering from anticipation, but that is our topic.  This episode looks at how much confusion could have been avoided (and some loss) through better use of this communication form.  Accordingly, this is an excellent lesson to learn early in your career. Status Reporting - Staying on the Same Page The best...

Our approach to becoming a better developer requires planning.  Likewise, we need smart scheduling to hit our targets.  That is the focus of this episode.  I look back at a time when I overloaded my schedule and ended up stressing out.  That led to more harm than good in many ways.  Thus, we need to look at building in ways to allow our schedule to be flexible and adjust to life events. Smart Sche...

There are many mistakes we make related to pushing too far or not pushing enough.  The latter is where we make good the enemy of better.  More precisely, good enough becomes our goal instead of getting better.  That approach can be comfortable.  However, it can also limit our growth professionally and personally.  This episode shares a story where I limited myself regularly shooting for a goal tha...

It is not at all uncommon to focus on proving your worth when you start a new job or enter a new environment.  However, we expect more than others.  We often make the mistake of thinking we are expected to know everything.  That is not the case.  In fact, we are rarely likely to know much in the early days of a new job.  That is why many companies have training and orientation programs for new hir...

It is not at all uncommon to focus on proving your worth when you start a new job or enter a new environment.  However, we expect more than others.  We often make the mistake of thinking we are expected to know everything.  That is not the case.  In fact, we are rarely likely to know much in the early days of a new job.  That is why many companies have training and orientation programs for new hir...

There are many fights and arguments that start from differences in perception.  Whether it is the line-of-sight, angle, or bias, we have differing views.  These can cause reasonable people to take starkly different positions on a subject.  While those are honest differences, they are also essential to note.  Sometimes an argument can be avoided by one of the parties looking at the issue from a dif...

Modern technology is the focus of this episode as we look at mistakes in the cloud.  You can impact a lot of people with a simple error.  That is why you need to be aware of what these new tools do and how to use them properly.  For example, backups are great unless you manage to delete them all.  Likewise, file sharing is excellent.  However, it can lead to one person disrupting the work of your...

Sometimes a story is full of lessons without having a well-defined core.  There are many players, and the successful have a positive attitude.  This trend supersedes mistakes, errors, and even bad luck.  We look at one of those complex situations in this episode.  There are many mistakes made, and they all are overcome by being focused on success rather than listing ways we can fail. A Positive At...

There are multiple lessons to learn from this little debacle of a story. However, trust but verify seems to be the best summation. We have to assume a lot in business. There are levels of acceptance and expectance both from vendors and customers. While those base metrics can be helpful, they are not always guaranteed. Logically Skeptical - Trust But Verify The challenge with some of the rules ment...

Clarity and communication are common themes in our improvement episodes. Those are most important when you need to know who you work for. Which master do you serve? The mistake highlighted this time is among many in a situation gone wrong. It also shows how some oversights or missteps can open the door to significant consequences. It does not hurt to be cautious in the modern business world. Thing...

In a season about growing from errors and mistakes, it seems that an episode about admitting defeat is required.  We cannot stay stationary and make progress.  This concept holds for individual situations and group decisions like the one we examine.  That is why some things in life clearly defined as a win or loss (a sports match, for example) are a blessing.  We have no real choice other than to...

This episode of learning from mistakes focuses on clearly defined objectives.  The error highlights what can go wrong when we fail to have them.  We also see these same potential issues pop up when we have weakly defined requirements.  Finally, there is a need to communicate all of this as well.  When we don't know what we don't know, many things other than hilarity ensue. Clearly Defined Objectiv...

There are a few times I have been taught the value of testing your backups.  That is why even disaster recovery needs to be validated.  The first story I share is probably a worst-case scenario.  However, it can happen, so we need to be aware of failure points.  We must validate our backups regularly to ensure the process we are counting on is there when we need it. Testing Your Backups Before The...

There is an old joke about sweeping consequences in IT related to wildcard commands like "rm -rf *."  However, there are ways to avoid getting bit by them. For example, we can do test runs and subset queries before doing the real thing.  While it is undoubtedly faster to rip off one of those commands, it is also dangerous.  This episode looks into some tricks of the trade I learned after countless...

We continue the series about errors and recovering with an excellent example of acceptable loss and when to walk away.  We see these appear in negotiations regularly.  They are shown in movies, television shows, and in real life.  We walk away regularly without even realizing it. So yes, when you decide not to purchase an item or enter a store because of products or pricing, you are walking away f...

This episode looks at a marketing campaign and my lack of paying based on key performance indicators or KPIs.  This was a slightly costly mistake and, thus, one that sticks in my memory.  The mistakes that cause us some level of pain are also the easiest to remember. However, that is not the only lesson to learn from this past mistake. KPI - Key Performance Indicators Any form of sales or marketin...

In this episode, our trip down memory lane stops at my first professional interview and when I learned to ask questions.  It is thought by many that those that know never ask.  However, that is far from the truth.  There are always details to be learned.  Likewise, good questions can impress others in an interview or other assessment situation.  Smart people still ask questions; they ask insightfu...