Vague post of the week

June 1, 2012 Leave a comment

Sometimes you need to keep your powder dry when you work in a start-up.

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Development commitments have two edges

May 28, 2012 Leave a comment

My friend Kirk has run his dev team in a mostly Agile system. Code sprints, agreeing on tickets for the sprint, declaring victory at the end of the sprint, etc.

But now Kirk’s boss says:

I need you to commit to achieve certain goals by various dates over the next year. Once you agree to them, you need to commit to delivering them on time.

How is this situation silly? Let me count the ways…

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How not to determine a raise

May 27, 2012 Leave a comment

A friend, whom I’ll call “Kirk,” works in a startup. A really good developer, whom I’ll call “Amy,” reports to him.

Kirk lobbied his boss for a big raise for Amy. He thought about this the right way:

I’ve researched the current market rates for developers of Amy’s level and abilities. She’s very good, she’s worked hard for us, and I expect great things from her this year. The plan calls for raising her salary to $X, But I suggest we raise her salary to $(X + n) because that’s the going salary for someone like her in this area.

Kirk’s boss thought about it the wrong way:

A raise to $(X + n/2) would be better. It’ll be a large increase over her current salary.

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Paws at rest

May 25, 2012 Leave a comment

20120525-221838.jpg

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Skeeter!

May 18, 2012 2 comments

20120518-175219.jpg

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Skeeter arrives tomorrow

May 14, 2012 Leave a comment

We are excited!

Skeeter!

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Maybe a new doggy or two

May 13, 2012 2 comments

It’s been about 1.5 years since Ersala passed.

Our house has been clean and orderly and…quiet.

We looked at two rescue dogs today. One is a three-month old terrier – Rottweiler mix puppy named Darla. The other is an eight year old Weimaraner named Skeeter.

We’re considering adopting both of them.

We might be nuts.

 

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