lj:) Year of The Blues - Past Handy Shows

Cool cd from Tone-Cool that highlights killer blues at the W.C. Handy awards in Memphis. I got to see the following...

5. Deborah Coleman and Bernard Allison - Bad Love
6. Paul Rishell and Annie Raines - Michigan Water
7. Susan Tedeschi - Just Won’t Burn
8. Taj Mahal and the Phantom Blues Band - Senor Blues
9. Bobby Rush - Hoochie Man

9:03:13 PM    

Researchers Map Dog's Genetic Structure (AP). AP - Using a male poodle, the family pet of one of the scientists, researchers have completed the first rough draft sequence of the genes of a dog. [Yahoo! News - Most Emailed]

lj:) We still don't know why they bark...

8:52:51 PM    

Levi Strauss closes American plants (FT.com). FT.com - Levi Strauss, the iconic jeans brand that has been worn by generations of Americans, on Thursday announced plans to close its four remaining North American manufacturing and finishing plants, with the loss of almost 2,000 jobs. [Yahoo! News - Most Emailed]

lj:) What the fuck? This is so wrong.

6:33:08 PM    

lj:) What makes Software Teams Work?

There are books and classroom instruction galore on software development processes, project and people management. They all examine methodologies, process and approaches that produce outcomes that you could replicate in your project if you follow their advice. I have read many of these tomes and most of them make me cynical towards the author. If you have time to write a book about something, you are already out of the game.

How come the results you get when you apply the techniques are different and unsatisfactory? People!

People are volatile and are often not very predictable. In my experience (even with people I have worked with for a long time) teams are likely to suprise you during projects and always at different times than last time. It requires that I keep a reserve of energy, attituide and flexibilty. The good teams can implode a bit and then correct themselves, they grow and they get better.  The work must remain compelling, but the best outcomes happen when the DNA of a team grows through successive deliverables and they begin to trust those around them. This happens when you ship software into production and it can happen in no other way from my observations.

The constant attribute that produces the results is someone with "Tenacity". This attribute is key for a software developer. Problems are hard and they require finding the solution and the compromises. Some believe in the press, marketing and acedemic knowledge and these teams produce software that is brittle and non-durable. Good development teams have strong domain knowledge over the development tools environment (warts and all!) and constantly update and verify their assumptions.

6:29:26 PM