As I’ve worked with teams engineering teams big and small – in both enterprise and startup contexts – over the last 20 years I’ve noticed two distinct patterns in leadership and their impact on the culture and productivity of those teams. Pattern: Risk Focused Leadership Risk focused leadership emphasizes the up front identification and mitigation of… Continue reading Leadership: Risk or Opportunity Focused
Category: what I’m writing
Big Data – Empowering the Age of Agile Analytics
Big data is a buzzword, no question. Given that it is incumbent on practitioners – in particular architects – to tie the new patterns available in a “big data” enabled infrastructure to practical business benefits. While there are a variety of business benefits that are enabled by big data infrastructure the single most tangible is… Continue reading Big Data – Empowering the Age of Agile Analytics
Data Architects – no one cares about your ERD…
Data Architecture has changed – massively – and most data practitioners haven’t caught on yet. In a SaaS world – where business users can sign up for and use powerful platforms by simply signing up we have to radically rethink what data architecture means. It certainly isn’t about your ERD – your elegant description of… Continue reading Data Architects – no one cares about your ERD…
How to spot a fake Big Data Engineer
I interview a lot of candidates… I mean a LOT. And every resume I get these days has a “Big Data Project” listed. So, naturally, my first question is – what is it that made it a “Big Data” project? Top five immediate disqualification answers are: We were using Hadoop We had TONS of data… Continue reading How to spot a fake Big Data Engineer
Back to Basics
Sometimes, you have to get back to basics. It is too easy to get caught up in the size of the opportunity, an open IPO window or high expectations. Great companies are built with an intense focus on customers and problems. Great businesses are built by maintaining an intense focus on the metrics that matter… Continue reading Back to Basics