adl.io is the blog of Aaron Longwell
Nothing is more important than innovation for the long-term success of an organization. You can get lucky once or twice, but today’s success isn’t a guarantee of anything tomorrow. The world is in constant flux, so you can’t just keep doing what you’re doing and expect the same results.
Nothing feels normal. Each morning a new alert. Each night a new worry. We point fingers and lay blame but we all feel helpless. It’s hard to admit, but nobody knows what we’re in for.
About six years ago, I stumbled across some papers in the field of evolutionary biology that eventually led me to question many of my most basic assumptions about software development. What started as a bit of a crazy thought, eventually began to offer explanations for everything from the Lean Startup movement and T-shaped skills to the popularity of microservices and why everyone uses Javascript…
The idea of “servant” leaders has been on the rise in the agile community of late. Robert K. Greenleaf coined the term in a 1970 essay, but the idea is timeless.
Slack chat has taken over the working world over the last few years. Many organizations allowed it in the door without really thinking through the consequences of embracing realtime group chat.
A prospective client recently asked this in regards to a proposed build for their startup. I know an accountant who would say, “it depends,” although he says that in response to just about any question.
Tim Bray’s post on how enterprise systems are “Doing it Wrong” just triggered a realization for me. This whole agile vs. whatever debate has been a kind of red herring for a much larger argument about how businesses themselves ought to operate.
I’ve just completed my Rails Rumble contest entry for this year. I took a very focused project, and built it as a single solo developer. I’m extremely pleased with the way it turned out.
There’s no question that Microsoft Vista’s User Access Control System fails in its principle goal (which is presumably to make users think twice before installing suspicious or unfamiliar software on their computers).
Bruce Schneier on the implications of treating the Internet like a hard drive. As we rely on others to maintain our writings and our relationships, we lose control over their availability.