Nov 24, 2013 | Uncategorized
I’ve been reading the various articles and tweets about the aftermath of the Dreamforce hackathon, and so far it seems to be playing out as a Greek Tragedy
Consider the folks at Upshot. There are two facts that are undeniable – first, that they demonstrated something before the Hackathon, and second, that they should have only been judged based on what new technology they developed during the hackathon. You can argue rules and technicalities, but in my mind they had a moral responsibility to make it very clear to the judges exactly what parts were developed for the hackathon and make sure the judges considered only that in their evaluation. I have found no evidence that they had done so (I certainly did not see that in their demo).
So now, and forever, their company history will be tarnished with the perception that it was founded on deceit, their integrity always in question by customers, investors, vendors and potential employees. Who will trust them? They may find the cost of their million dollar prize to be very high in the long run.
Speaking of trust, nothing is more important to Salesforce. Let’s face it, we all trust them with our data – all sitting unencrypted on multi-tenanted databases. We trust their employees when we grant them login access to diagnose problems. So I trust Marc Benioff when he says there will be an investigation – not because I know him personally (we’ve never met), but he knows that maintaining trust is all important, and that if there was a hint of corruption around this hackathon, it must be exposed and dealt with. I also believe Adam Seligman’s description of the judging – in that he believes that is how things went. But, I also know that sometimes when you’re a vice president, people tell you what they think you want to hear, so he himself may not yet have the whole story.
The real tragedy, and the ones I feel for, is for the developer relations team. I know many of them, and I know how excited and passionate they were about the hackathon, and the prospect of it bringing in more developers to the Salesforce platform. Imagine if you left Dreamforce feeling excited about having pulled off the richest hackathon ever, only to find within hours that everything you did is now suspect, and you have to face not only a PR disaster, but the scrutiny of your top executives – and that this all comes up when you are completely exhausted from Dreamforce and want nothing more than to sleep for a week. What a nightmare.
I don’t know what Salesforce will do, or even what they should do – other than the fact that I hope they don’t choose to just sit quiet and wait for things to just blow over.
But I do encourage anyone reading this to be patient. Those are good people who are doing their best in what have become very trying circumstances. If there was any real corruption, I’m sure it will turn out to be very isolated – I cannot imagine those people involved in a widespread conspiracy as some have suggested. It’s going to take them some time to figure things out and figure out the right thing to do, just as it would any of us in a similar situation. Let’s give it to them.
(Note – For the record, I was part of a team that participated in the hackathon and was not a finalist )
Sep 20, 2013 | General, Software Development
When I studied computer science, it was about gaining “hard” skills. Learning the technology – how to solve tough technical problems. There was almost nothing relating to what we now call “soft skills” – getting along with others, working with a team, dealing with managers, or being a manager.
Based on what I’ve seen of new graduates, things haven’t improved much. Yet in the real world, those “soft skills” are what really make the difference between someone who is truly driving the agenda, and those who are just pounding out code on demand.
I’ve learned and forgotten and learned hard skills throughout my career. But I can tell you this – it’s the soft skills – the leadership skills – that have made all the difference.
The problem is, that most leadership training isn’t design for developers (you know, people who spend 90% of their time dealing with relentlessly logical machines as compared to somewhat less rational human beings). You might think that puts us at a disadvantage when it comes to learning leadership, but it doesn’t. It’s just that the way you might teach leadership to an English major, psychologist, or MBA doesn’t necessarily work that well for developers.
So here it is, a leadership training course designed specifically for software developers. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, and I’m very excited to be able to present in one place many of the ideas and techniques that I’ve been teaching for many years.
Check out “Introduction to Leadership and Management for Developers” on pluralsight.com
May 6, 2013 | General
I think every developer, at some point in their career, has that whisper of a dream – what if I was the person to start a company… to be my own boss? What if there was a way to get out of this cubicle and make some serious money?
And it is a dream in more ways than one. You see, common mythology suggests that new ventures are either wildly successful, or total failures – the dreams are either the best dreams you can imagine, or nightmares. But in reality, most dreams are just – dreams. Ordinary and usually pleasant stories we barely remember when we wake up.
And so it is with entrepreneurship – some are wildly successful, some total failures, but a great many are ordinary and pleasant outcomes – individuals who make very nice livings in small or medium size companies, with greater freedom and income than they would ever have at a real job.
I’ve spent almost my entire career at small companies and start-ups, so I suppose I’ve lived that dream in a sense, and have learned a great deal along the away. And you know how it is with me – when I learn something, I like to share it – usually in books, but increasingly now in courses on Pluralsight.
So I’m pleased to present my new course “So you want to be an entrepreneur?”
This course is the sequel to my Career and Survival Strategies for Software Developers course – a guide to those who are curious about the possibilities of taking that particular career path of entrepreneurship, or who are already on that path and are looking to fill in some gaps in knowledge and perhaps avoid a mistake or two along the way.
Feb 26, 2013 | Technology
I’m pleased to announce my latest Pluralsight course “Force.com for .NET Developers”. This course is a prequel to my course “Force.com and Apex Fundamentals for Developers” intended specifically for .NET developers who are curious about Force.com.
For more information, check out Pluralsight’s blog post announcing the course.
Jan 10, 2013 | Uncategorized
I just released a new course on Pluralsight titled “Career and Survival Strategies for Software Developers”.
What I’ve tried to do is put in one place, all of the “stuff” about being a software developer that we want to know or need to know, that are rarely discussed, or that we’re sometimes afraid to ask about.
You know what I mean – those times in your career that you had no idea what to do – which job offer to accept? What to learn next? Is it time to change jobs? Maybe you ask a friend, or post an anonymous question on a forum. Or more likely, just take a guess and hope for the best.
Or the times when you wonder if you’re the only person who is feeling stressed about keeping up with technology, or the fact that the executive team has been locked in a conference room for three days with bankers coming in and out….
Mostly, it’s all the stuff I really wish someone had told me back when I started out. Hopefully it will save you some grief.
Here’s the official announcement and a better description:
http://blog.pluralsight.com/2013/01/10/new-course-career-and-survival-strategies-for-software-developers/