Original Article: 11 Who Died in 2011 (And Were Not Named Steve)

One of the real problems we run into with this approach is, how do you “certify” the student? Coz these individual educators won’t have the credibility like a University nor will they be able to give an acceptable degree/certificate as a “proof of learning”. The question is can social media/web fill the void?

The Social Media/Web is still at a very nascent stage, evolving rapidly. Today people don’t really use it to validate someone’s credibility online. As of today “Certificates” have more value.

Globally, using social web to certify people has not taken off. LinkedIn is trying. I’m (or should I say, I was) trying something similar with the Agile Alliance LinkedIn Group. Lot of other people like http://www.wevouchfor.org and http://www.workingwithrails.com/ have tried.

To think about it, Open Source (being a committer/contributor on an open source project) helps you build social credibility. This model has certainly worked for a lot of developers.

Things like http://www.topcoder.com/ and http://www.codechef.com/ are taking off very well. But they are different, not so much social media.

Imagine “real” people on the web can vouch for your experience, knowledge and skill. You can demonstrate the same with applications/tools you’ve built. Your social status speaks for you and you can completely do away with the traditional certification model. I certainly see us moving in that direction. Decentralize and distribute the ability to certify people.

Yesterday, my blog had 3,697 visits from 16 different browsers.

And if you see the break up by Operating Systems

This data matches that from w3schools’ Browser Stats, except that my blog is not very IE friendly hence less IE traffic. Also I hope Windows usage goes down…

From Fail Safe experimentation to lots of Safe Fail experimentation.

From Objectivity to Subjectivity to Relativity to Uncertainty.

From Structure to Chaos.

From Illusions to Idealism to Realism.

Beginner’s Mind, here I come….

Over the last two years, I’ve done various training and consulting gigs (part-time) for IL. Now we feel we can take this relationship to the next level.

My primary responsibilities at IL would be:

• Setting up a small office in Mumbai (1-2 Biz Dev/wizardsMarketing Wizards + 2-4 Developers + 1 UX Designer)
• Contribute content on diverse topics to Greatest Hits, IL’s elarning product
• Help build the elearning platform (in near future, hire some kick ass developers to join this initiative)
• Continue handling in-person training and consulting in Asia (in near future, build a small team to help out)
• Help position IL and Greatest Hits in Asia (marketing elearning to working out an INR pricing, etc)
• Continue building a thriving community of craftspersons in India (and globally)
• Globally, continue pushing the envelope on true agility and bringing unconventional ideas to software development.
• Above all, have fun and learn from THE experts

For others, esp. those who have seen round-abouts or circles in European countries, know that in some cases round-abouts are a much superior alternative to traffic lights.

And some people who drive on Indian roads know that the first 2 methods don’t really work and they have a chaotic, completely unpredictable, yet self-regulating traffic system.

All 3 are valid ways to manage traffic under the given circumstances. Possibly there are other traffic control systems that I’m not aware of.

Mediocracy over Innovation and Excellence
Indifference (I don’t care) over Passion and Pride
Sloppiness over Craftsmanship and Self-Discipline

are some of the most common values. And there are many ways to encourage them:

• throwing more people at a problem
• no visible value system
• treating your employees as dispensable resources
• punishing failures and ignoring achievements
• create more and more specialized roles on a project. (Architects, Designer, Java Developers, Database Developers, UI Developers, DBAs, Manual Testers, Automation Testers, Regression Testers, Performance Testers, Graphics Designers, Web Designers, User Experience Expert, Domain Expert, Business Analyst, Subject Matter expert, System Analyst, Technical Writers, Project Managers, Program Managers, Module Leads, Tech Leads, Configuration Manager, Build Monkey, Product Owner, Scrum Master, Consultants etc)
• build all the possible frameworks which might ever be needed before building an application
• try to build a very generic solution which is infinitely scale and extensible. (does not matter if you are building a hospital management system, it needs to be generic enough that tomorrow if the business decides to get into hotel management they can use the same).
• use the greatest and latest technology buzz words, frameworks and concepts
• death by process and meetings
• failures and slippages results in more process addition and stronger & strict process adherence and evaluation
• And the list goes on…

Clarity of Thoughts and Clarity of Actions is very important when it comes to influencing people around you.

The how do you get clarity of thoughts and clarity of actions?

Staying in the trenches yields insights.

Continuously reflecting yields clarity and fuels new ideas.

Trying to teach others help in formulating and articulating your thoughts.

Last but not the least, working with smart people helps you become a good influencer.

Working with smart people is very important because they don’t just ask you “Why?” but they also ask you “What is the alternative?” or “What are the trade-offs?”. Lot of times, I get into the mode of “This is THE way to do this”. And when faced with the alternative or trade-off question, really forces me to think. This really helps me find new, interesting ways to solve the problem or at least helps in clarifying my thoughts.

I find “Leading by Example” is a great way to influence others. I see a lot of people trying to influence others by pointing at their mistakes and trying to correct them. But they themselves don’t walk their talk. This form of influencing is very harmful and short-lived. Agile Consulting is a great example of this.

Due to unavailability of seats, I was booked on Sunday flight. Which got cancelled due to bad weather in New York. Then I was put on the Monday flight. Which again got cancelled and they put me on the Tuesday flight. Delta Airline apparently has a policy that if the flight is cancelled due to weather problem, then they can treat the passengers like crap. No accommodation, no expenses, no change of flights, etc. Basically “you are on your own”. It turns out the best option is to cancel your tickets and run to another airline. 

Big thanks to Deborah Hartmann for hosting me at her place and for taking care of me when I was down with a fever and cold. Deb, you rock!

It appears to me that the airline industry really does not care for its customers. esp. if you are not a “high miles person”. In this position one is not really left with any option other than to live at their mercy. I’m so DONE DONE! with international travel.

Finally I land in Toronto on Tuesday afternoon just in time for my my workshop on “Styles of TDD” with William Wake. I missed the kick off of the Muzik Masti stage and Conference Retrospective, which was on Monday. After I landed it was a marathon for me. Back to back sessions. I had 4 sessions, 1 conference retrospective and 2 stages to manage. Everyone stepped up to help me, but it was crazy 4 days for me.

After all that, when I was finally really looking forward to go back home, I realized the flight was canceled. Due to bad weather in New York, all flights were canceled and I have to stay in Toronto for one more day. Worst thing is they don’t even provide me any accommodation. Thankfully Deb stepped up to help me.

I really think I’ve had enough. If I ever get back to India, I’m very sure I’ll never come back to Canada.