Multitasking is like using “all seasons” tires: they drive equally bad in summer and in winter. When you multitask, all of your activities end with equally bad result.

• Your Will Suffer From Power Laws. There are some things, which are the way the are, and you can not change them, even if you want. You can not spit upwind (at least, not with desirable result); you can not make an apple fall up, when you release it. So with our projects there are some things, which we simply have to learn to live with.
• 10 Deadly Sins of Software Estimation webinar by Steve McConnell. Interesting presentation about art and science of software estimation. A lot of references to statistical studies, which give good food for thought.
• Software estimation considered harmful? Alternative point of view on software estimation as presented by Steve McConnell. DeMarco and Lister refer to study, which suggest highest productivity on projects, which were not estimated at all. Does this mean we should not estimate our projects?
• Evidence Based Scheduling. Practical approach to software estimation developed at Fog Creek.
• Agile Management for Software Engineering: Dealing with Uncertainty. A chapter from great book by David Anderson. Something always goes wrong. The problem is that we do not know what and when, yet we have to plan and execute our projects. This chapter of David’s book can help you.

Finally, a tip from Leo Babauta of ZenHabits to a project manager, who needs clear mind, when  project is derailed, for finding peace of mind.

There are many discussions around what this means to computing. And, in my mind, this is important event, because it manifests end of desktop OS. 10 years ago you used your OS to run applications, now you use OS to access the Internet. As soon as computer became a means of accessing Internet, OS become irrelevant, because the Web-browser is the new laptop:

At this point, who cares what operating system you run? Choice of web browser will have a far more profound impact on most people’s daily lives.

We’ve seen this in cell phone world for years: phones are not a platform for running applications, they are means of accessing cellular network. It does not matter which software is used to operate the phone. Nobody gives a crap about phone software, as long as it allows to place and receive calls with some level of convenience.

The same thing happens to computers now. It is now time, when you can actually create an OS, which will be used by audience larger than its development team. As long as it will be capable of establishing a Wi-Fi connection and executing a web-browser with JavaScript and XHTML support, all the rest will be less important.

“Time to Web” (time from the moment user powers up a computer till Google is loaded in the browser) for a computer+OS tandem will be defining a winner in today’s and tomorrow’s market of computing. The same way as time to repeat last call was once important for cell phones.

Today “time to Web” determines how fast you can access your e-mail, your text editor, your spreadsheet, you video and TV, your newspaper, your everything. Yes, Web-apps are usually less functional than their desktop counterparts, but as Leo Babauta says:

We don’t need feature-bloated Microsoft Word anymore. Nor Excel, with its 2 million features, nor PowerPoint (who likes to watch slides?). Sure, there are still some great desktop apps that people use, for photo and video editing and much more … but the majority of us don’t need those. We need to communicate simply and quickly, without hassle.

Web apps don’t match up with desktop apps … but that’s a good thing for most of us who use the new computing model.

Now, that we have for quite a time in-kernel Web-servers, I wonder how long it will take to create in-kernel web-browser.

Solution is the coordinated delivery of the elements needed (such as technologies, documentation, training, and support) to successfully respond to a unique customer’s business problem.

There several things in this definition that appeal to me:

• It clearly separates solution, developed with specific customer in mind, from product targeted at market, as also outlined in MSF Process Model.
• Customer’s business is in the center of attention. And if the best way to address this problem is not development  of new software, so be it – it can be as simple as re-engineering existing system and providing adequate documentation or training; or instead of throwing development effort at scaling problem, one can just add more hardware capacity. Again, in case this is the best approach.
• There is no place for technology bells and whistles. If a mere VBScript can solve the issue, why waste precious time and resources on ultra-modern super-cool JavaFX (no offense here) development, if it does not add anything valuable for business?
• At last, technology is not a sole focus of solution development: delivery, documentation, training, etc. are equally as important.

Be sure to deliver your customers solutions and not just software pieces. “Software installed” is not a goal here, “problem solved” is.

I don’t want to read chapter 20, which is about platform interoperability, which I find completely uninteresting. (Let’s face it: wanting to be platform-independent so that you can easily switch platforms, is just as useful as wanting to be bisexual, because it easily enables you to switch genders. Not many people think that’s very important.)

While I agree with such a bright comparison of platform independence, platform interoperability is another beast. While you can kill yourself trying to have one product working equally good on different platforms, you not only may need to, but in our fast moving world have to, interoperate with other applications. And sometimes only God knows, which platform they run on.

I just love this – Simply Explained: Checked Exceptions.

(discovered via Slava Pankratov)

Cheshire Cat

Whatever you do, there will always be a question: “What’s next?” If you can not answer this question, then how you can be sure that what you are doing is for good? That it advances you towards the goal?

Do you remember this dialog between Alice and Cheshire Cat?

`Cheshire Puss,‘ [Alice] began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. `Come, it’s pleased so far,’ thought Alice, and she went on. `Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?‘
`That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the Cat.
`I don’t much care where–’ said Alice.
`Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the Cat.
`–so long as I get SOMEWHERE,’ Alice added as an explanation.
`Oh, you’re sure to do that,’ said the Cat, `if you only walk long enough.’

The same thing with products and projects: if you do not care, what you build, then it, of course, does not matter how you do that. But when you know what is your goal, you can then build strategies, roadmaps and plans to answer the question of “how”.

The product roadmap should describe the path from where you are now, to realizing the vision you have spelled out in your product strategy. You do have a product strategy, right? If not, your product roadmap has no real context, and that’s a serious problem.

Marty Cagan in Product Roadmaps

Vision enables you to talk about the future and create it in the end of the day.

Vision ties your team together and enables individual contributors to achieve and overachieve.

Vision builds trust between you and your partners and allows you to focus on what you do best.

New roof at Wimbledon

For years I’ve been using Wimbledon tournament as an example of really good uncertainty management: with all those games taking very different amounts of time, unpredictable rains (in 2008 man’s final was interrupted twice) – it is a scheduling nightmare. Yet, man’s final always happens on the 2nd Sunday of tournament (except for 2001 when it was raining on Sunday and final was delayed till Monday).

Wimbledon is scheduled for 13 days, beginning on a Monday and ending on a Sunday with the middle Sunday a designated rest day. The five main events span both weeks, but the youth and invitational events are held mainly during the second week. Traditionally, there is no play on the “Middle Sunday”, which is considered a rest day. However, rain has forced play on the Middle Sunday three times in the Championship’s history: in 1991, 1997, and 2004. On each of these occasions, Wimbledon has staged a “People’s Sunday”, with unreserved seating and readily available, inexpensive tickets, allowing those with more limited means to sit on the show courts. Additionally, if the tournament is not completed by the end of the second Sunday, all remaining matches are postponed until “People’s Monday”.

Wimbledon on Wikipedia

Tight rules, uncertain conditions – great execution!

Now the problem with rains is fixed at its roots: roof at Wimbledon’s Centre Court. This does not fix the problem complete, as other courts are still under open skies, but weather area on Wimbledon’s home page gradually becomes less relevant.

Is it all about the Moleskine? Not really.

• Black Cover Archives. There are many of notebooks out there.
• Proving Moleskine Is Just A Style: The Piccadilly Notebook – can be a particularly good alternative. I want to get one next time I’m in the US.
• Field Notes. Some people like these.
• The Perfect Little Non-Black Book: The Rite in the Rain Notebooks. These are nice too. See how it works
  

You’ve got one. What do you do now? You hack!

• Definitive Collection Of Moleskine Hacks, Tips And Resources
• Moleskine Notebooks: The Ultimate Guide
• More Moleskine Hacks
• and finally The Monster Collection of Moleskine Tips, Tricks and Hacks

I did not try that all, but you can

If you are a manager, you’ve got everything to prevent this sign from ever appearing near the entrance to you department’s area.