Gene Hughson

5 years, 9 months ago

Form Follows Function on SPaMCast 471

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It’s time for another appearance on Tom Cagley’s Software Process and Measurement (SPaMCast) podcast. Last week’s episode, number 471, features Tom’s essay on the top 20 transformation killers. Jeremy Berriault‘s QA corner is about involving testers in the requirements process. My Form Follows Function segment rounds out the podcast, covering my post “Systems Thinking Complicates […]

5 years, 10 months ago

Form Follows Function on SPaMCast 467

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It’s time for another appearance on Tom Cagley’s Software Process and Measurement (SPaMCast) podcast. This week’s episode, number 467, features Tom’s excellent essay on value (value is one of those simple-seeming, but complex concepts). Jeremy Berriault‘s QA corner covers testing in difficult circumstances. I bat cleanup with a Form Follows Function segment discussing my post […]

5 years, 11 months ago

Form Follows Function on SPaMCast 463

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I’m back for another appearance on Tom Cagley’s Software Process and Measurement (SPaMCast) podcast. This week’s episode, number 463, features Tom’s essay on big picture stories. This is followed by our Form Follows Function segment discussing my post “Management, Simple and Wrong – Semantics, Systems, and Self-Correction”. Jeremy Berriault‘s QA corner finishes the cast with […]

6 years, 13 days ago

Form Follows Function on SPaMCast 459

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I’m back for another appearance on Tom Cagley’s Software Process and Measurement (SPaMCast) podcast. This week’s episode, number 459, features Tom’s essay on resistance to change. This is followed by our Form Follows Function segment discussing my post “Innovation, Intention, Planning and Execution”. Jeremy Berriault‘s QA corner finishes the cast with a segment on testing […]

6 years, 1 month ago

Systems Thinking Complicates Things

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  I’ve had the honor and pleasure of appearing as a regular on Tom Cagley‘s SPaMCast podcast for almost three years now. Before I write one of my “Form Follows Function on SPaMCast x” posts, I always listen to the podcast to make sure that the summary is right (the implication being, relying purely on […]

6 years, 1 month ago

Form Follows Function on SPaMCast 454

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I’m back for another appearance on Tom Cagley’s Software Process and Measurement (SPaMCast) podcast. This week’s episode, number 454, begins with Tom talking about iteration planning. Jeremy Berriault comes next with a segment on QA team leads and I bat cleanup with a Form Follows Function installment based on my post “Trash or Treasure – […]

6 years, 1 month ago

Microservices or Monoliths – Fences and Neighbors

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  At the end of my last post, “What Makes a Monolith Monolithic?”, I stated that I didn’t consider the term “monolithic” to be inherently derogatory. It is, rather, a descriptive term relating to the style of organizing an application’s architecture. Depending on the context the system operates within, a monolithic architectural style could lie […]

6 years, 1 month ago

What Makes a Monolith Monolithic?

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  It seems like everybody throws around the term “monolith”, but what do we mean by that? Sam Newman started the ball rolling yesterday with this tweet: My first response was a (semi) joke: I say semi joke because, in truth, semantics (i.e. meaning) is critical. The English language has a horrible tendency to overload […]

6 years, 2 months ago

Organizations as Systems – Kurosawa, Clausewitz, and Chess

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In order to respond appropriately to the context we find ourselves in, it’s helpful that we be able to correctly define that context. It’s something humans aren’t always good at. Not too long ago, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War was all the rage as among executives. While the book contains some excellent lessons that […]

6 years, 2 months ago

Management, Simple and Wrong – Semantics, Systems, and Self-Correction

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Simple responses to complex situations are both seductive and dangerous. The difficulty in juggling lots of variables tempts us to employ abstraction so as to avoid being overwhelmed. Abraham Maslow’s observation, “I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail”, applies. […]

6 years, 2 months ago

Form Follows Function on SPaMCast 450

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It’s time for another appearance on Tom Cagley’s Software Process and Measurement (SPaMCast) podcast. This week’s episode, number 450, features Tom’s excellent essay on roadmaps and a Form Follows Function installment based on my post “Holistic Architecture – Keeping the Gears Turning”. Our conversation in this episode continues with the organizations as system concept, this […]

6 years, 2 months ago

Architecture Corner: We win, they lose – Seven Deadly Sins of IT

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Episode 7, the final installment of this season of Architecture Corner is out (I made a guest appearance in episode 1, “Good at Innovation”). In this installment, the CEO is greedily planning for a winner take all negotiation with the company’s suppliers. Chris the CEO (Casimir Artmann) and John the CIO (Greger Wikstrand) have a […]