Software systems rule our world. My regular newsletter explores the human factors that make software engineering so unique, so difficult, so important and all consuming.
The Human Software 268 - Collective Sigh
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We can all finally breathe a sigh of relief that January is behind us and February moves on apace. Our northern hemisphere days get longer, and before you know it, let's hope we'll be stretching out in the sunshine and enjoying the fruits of our winter's work. I'm making the most of the dark months by keeping my head down and writing. Human Software is now in development edit. What does that mean? As a self-published author, I'm working with an editor to ensure the structure and characters make sense. I've been living with a completed manuscript since last autumn and since sharing the first part with some alpha readers last year, I have been rewriting and adjusting. Doing this alone is hard work and so finally, after much searching, I found Kieran. He's a published author and experienced editor and the impact he is making is already very clear to me. Not least by the fact that I'm tidying and completing all those bits that I would "leave until later". So, things are finally getting real. The next step is to decide whether to actually get physical copies made or not.... the jury is still out. I've shared an early snippet of chapter 5 and once this stage of editing is complete - in late March - I will share some more bits and pieces and be able to update you about publication dates. Many thanks for your continued support! During this period, I'm not finding so much time for my blog but feel free to browse the archives if you need more human/technical thinking. Creating The Best Team CulturePublished on January 28, 2025 Always exhibit the culture that you want to create. I was reminded about this the other day. I was becoming frustrated by a quite brilliant teammate who has the habit of not explaining himself very well or at all. He creates amazing work of very high quality very quickly, but there is little handover. While… Read More »Creating The Best Team Culture
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The Human Software
Software systems rule our world. My regular newsletter explores the human factors that make software engineering so unique, so difficult, so important and all consuming.
Writers are terribly impatient. We are so fragile, we crave attention all the time. So, for us, writing into a vacuum and not getting anything back is the worst. We will happily take anything including "wow, it really sucked" or "how could you be so old and so feeble at writing?" At this point in the journey of Human Software, I'm so desperate for feedback, I'm even willing to pay for it! So that's what I did. In January, I hired an editor, and he's been great. He helped me with the...
Over the last week, I drew a map of Kent reimagined as if the 1286/7 floods hadn't happened. According to the history books, those large storms and tidal events significantly changed the coastline of eastern England. The former Wantsum Channel became blocked with alluvial mud and sand, turning the once important seaport of Sandwich into a landlocked town too far away from the sea to accept large boats. Further afield Dunwich in Suffolk suffered a similar fate: In the Anglo-Saxon period,...
Three years ago, I started a podcast without much idea of its future. Before that, I'd started writing, wandering through automation, programming techniques, infrastructure, DevOps, and thoughts about management, leadership, and how companies are organised. Where was I going? While I'd read a few books, it was clear that I was searching for something. Was I just talking for the sake of it? It sometimes certainly seemed that way. And then, about eighteen months ago, I started writing a novel....