The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management
Embark with me on my journey through the colorful situations & challenges and the (gray) ambiguity of management in the software industry.
Starters vs. Closers
I haven't written a new blog post in a while because my new role has given me new perspective and I...
Date: 05/15/2017
Ambiguity Can Be Your Friend
Six months ago, I took on a new role at Microsoft. I haven't written a blog entry in a while...
Date: 11/29/2016
Book Review on: "Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus & Sharpen Your Creative Mind" by 99U
I recently received a great book as a gift. I'm not one that likes reading fiction. But non-fiction,...
Date: 02/21/2016
7 Mistakes New Managers Should Avoid
When you move into a people manager role, it's usually because you are doing a great job as an...
Date: 01/19/2016
Stop Hoping for Quality and Just Test It!
As I continue to apply more engineering rigor to the release process in my team, I hear statements...
Date: 11/19/2015
6 Ways for Engineers to Connect with Their Customers
Satya Nadella's strategy for Microsoft is "Mobile First Cloud First". That's helped keep teams...
Date: 11/08/2015
Quality First
Whether you are a developer, a tester, or in a combined Software Engineering role, understanding the...
Date: 10/20/2015
It's Not Over, Till It's Over
The word "over" can mean a lot of positive things. "Over the rainbow" is where you find your pot of...
Date: 05/28/2015
Clean Up Your Campsite!
I always feel like a responsible adult and global citizen when I go camping or hiking and follow the...
Date: 04/27/2015
Sprint to the Finish!
A sprint team that starts together, ends together. That seems like a fairly simple principle to...
Date: 03/23/2015
DevOps, The Art of Walking in Someone Else's Shoes
All engineering teams are set up differently. In the Microsoft IT department, we have a set of...
Date: 02/26/2015
Don't Call My Baby Ugly
A big change is happening in the engineering teams across Microsoft IT. We are combining developers...
Date: 01/29/2015
What's Your New Currency?
There's a change spreading across the software engineering landscape. What you thought you knew...
Date: 09/19/2014
How Many Days Away Are You?
Here is how a career as people manager typically plays out. You are an engineer and really good at...
Date: 04/24/2014
Imperfection is the Way to Agility!
The term "perfectionist" is one that most people are familiar with. Either because we are one or we...
Date: 03/02/2014
Sometimes At Work, We Act Like Dogs
You can only buy loyalty if you buy a dog; otherwise loyalty has to be earned. One of the best...
Date: 12/09/2013
Are You Aware That You Lack Awareness?
Recently I took a very interesting training class. As part of that class, we had to sit still in the...
Date: 08/30/2013
It Doesn't Take Muscles to Use Your Strengths
But it does take a manager that understands how to leverage strengths. Many managers say they do...
Date: 07/17/2013
Experienced to the Level of Obsolete
Some days I just amaze myself. I can be tired, even exhausted, and not very focused on work. Still I...
Date: 05/13/2013
Superheroes Don't Work at Corporations
This message is for the workaholics out there, and not for those of you who barely want to get your...
Date: 03/21/2013
Advice From Your 95 year old Self
There you are sitting on your death bed. Yep, you had a good life. And although many people have...
Date: 02/28/2013
Good News!
Today I was recognized on another website that focuses specifically on Engineering Management. I'm...
Date: 01/17/2013
Fixing What's Not Broken
Many engineering teams look at change as a bad thing, something that will disrupt their work. And...
Date: 01/14/2013
The toughest question you can ask, isn't tough enough
One skill all engineers need to have in order to ship high quality software is the ability to ask...
Date: 11/28/2012
Integrity With a Dose of Confidence Part2
My last blog was about how to act as a person with integrity, how to make sure you are thinking in...
Date: 11/12/2012
Integrity With a Dose of Confidence
Ok, I’ll say it because I know others have thought it, but I’m not sure anyone has ever...
Date: 10/25/2012
How Important is the "How"?
Do you know the best way to succeed in your career? To stand out in the crowd? To prove your...
Date: 09/23/2012
What are your intentions?
When it comes to determining someone's intentions, it's fairly easy to do after a few drinks and a...
Date: 08/22/2012
I Scream, You Scream, We're All Testing!
Scream testing is an interesting concept, not so much applied to finding defects, but instead to...
Date: 06/07/2012
Vision Without Action is a Daydream, Action Without Vision is a Nightmare
Does your team have a vision? If it doesn’t, it should. I heard this saying once that really...
Date: 04/30/2012
A Routine Life is Boring, But Routine Work is Awesome!
What is your routine? We all have one. Mostly these exist because there are actions we do every day...
Date: 04/20/2012
97%
Metrics are very important to the success of an engineering team. They help with data-driven...
Date: 04/03/2012
Transformers are Leaders, not Toys!
{EAV:fb71307c644189ca} I was recently asked ‘how do you take a team mostly focused on manual...
Date: 03/08/2012
If You Want It, Then You Aren't Ready For It
Are you just dying to get promoted? How about seeing your individual engineering role turn into a...
Date: 02/15/2012
Training Your Manager
We recently did a realignment on my team due to a change of priority of projects. This was a good...
Date: 02/03/2012
The Observer of Perception
Sometimes as a manager, I not only want to coach people on how to get things done at work, I'd love...
Date: 12/09/2011
Ignorance is Bliss
Isn't it interesting that for vacations, many people choose to stay in places with little access to...
Date: 11/30/2011
What are Testers Thankful For?
When I think about all the issues my QA team has to deal with to ship projects, I wonder as we get...
Date: 11/10/2011
17 on 17
On October 17th, I celebrate my 17th anniversary at Microsoft. If someone told me on my first day at...
Date: 10/16/2011
Over-functioning is Not Job Security
You would think that under-functioning teams are bad, functioning teams are just right, and...
Date: 10/05/2011
Boogie Boarding on the Job
I've been absent from writing my blog during this summer due to the heat wave in Seattle. Ok, just...
Date: 08/18/2011
What I Like About Blogging and Much More
Recently, I had the opportunity to be interviewed about what I like about Microsoft (and...
Date: 06/23/2011