Practical Software Engineering

IEMC '07

The 2007 International Engineering Management Conference was held near Austin, at Hyatt Lost Pines Resort from July 30 through August 1. I was a panelist on the Peter Drucker Leadership Panel. I also volunteered to prepare a daily video podcast from the conference. You can watch them on YouTube: day 1, day 2, day 3, or you can download them from the Speaking page.

Managers Need Tools

It seems that all professionals have their tools, but somehow managers were forgotten. No more! There is a great podcast to provide the tools that managers need to do their jobs better called Manager Tools. The podcast is done by Mark Horstman and Mike Auzenne. They publish their podcast weekly and have a website with materials that every manager needs. Check them out and listen weekly!

Innovation Happens In Unexpected Areas

One of the many interesting stories from They Made America: Two Centuries of Innovators from the Steam Engine to the Search Engine, by Sir Harold Evans is the story of Samuel Insull. His innovation was in pricing. He worked on understanding how his customers would use electricity, and then devised a pricing method to meet the estimated need. A key part of his understanding was that he saw the peeks and valleys in the usage chart between the very different customer populations. His insight came to him because he looked at the entire system of generating and using electricity.

Killer Innovations

Listen to the Killer Innovations weekly podcast with Phil McKinney. Phil's insight into the innovation process provides you with knowledge you can use in your daily work.

Recent Reading

1. The Power of a Positive No: How to Say No and Still Get to Yes, by William Ury
2. They Made America: Two Centuries of Innovators from the Steam Engine to the Search Engine, by Sir Harold Evans
3. First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently, by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman
4. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell

Happening Around Austin

1. IEEE Computer Society Austin Chapter
2. IEEE Engineering Management Society Austin
3. Austin Software Process Improvement Network
4. Austin WebSphere User Group