ARTICLES
Context is Everything
Today I had the opportunity to remember that "context is everything". Hurricane Frances continues her slow crawl up the eastern United States. It started raining here in North Carolina yesterday (Tuesday 2004.09.07). This morning my radio crackled with reports of...
Shifting the Burden – Whose Monkey is it?
“Don, the software’s locked up again! Can you come up here tomorrow and fix it?†George was on the other end of the conversation. George and I had started working together when his employer moved a production line from Florida to Virginia.
No Exit
The more he thought about it, the more he felt trapped. The more trapped he felt, the more he wanted out. The more he wanted out, the more he felt trapped. And around, and around his feelings traveled in a vicious circle of trapped and wanting out. But there wasn’t anyway out.
How Did This Happen?
I’m not surprised when the first words I hear are “Something’s wrong, can you come and take a look?†What did surprise me was Saturday and at home.
This Title May be Changed at Any Time. How do You Feel About That?
Three of my favorite quotes about change and translations:
“The only person who likes change is a wet baby.” This change corrects a problem so I’m OK with it.
“Everyone likes change, when someone else is doing it.” I’m OK with the status quo. You do the changing.
“The only universal constant is change.†Get used to changing. The universe constantly changes so you need to change too.
Liar’s Contest
Sharkey, the sales VP of UberDenke Software Products, firmly believes he needs to have the next release of the UDCRM product in three months. Engelbert, the software engineering VP, estimates a minimum of twice that long – six months – to implement all the new features. During the discussion, Sharkey drops some thinly veiled threats: