Using an iPhone differently

I'm working in Melbourne this week on part of my project that is located here. The rest of my team is in Sydney. Each morning, I call in to the stand-up and they put me on speaker phone. Usually the person calling in speaks first and then spends the rest of the time trying to listen to what is going on. This is a big stand up with 15-20 people each day. Some people mumble, some shout but mostly it's all noise.

Today, the Iteration Manager decided to get me to call his iPhone. He turned on the speaker and in turn each person passed the phone around when they took their turn to speak. Not only was it a communication device but also a token.

It was effective and creative. Kudos goes to Zaynab for a brilliant idea that now makes stand-up relevant and audible to those of us in Mexico :)

The Whole Nine Yards

A common question I get from people new (and not so new) to our industry is "do I have to do all that extra stuff after work?"

In the past, I have said that it's ok to learn on the job only, if that is what you prefer. I've only now realised that I have been lying to them. I was telling them what they wanted to hear and then went and did the opposite.

The real answer to that question should be a big resounding YES!

Science and technology are areas that are constantly changing. To work anywhere near the middle to the top of the game then you have to be writing code at home; reading books and blogs; and contributing to the community. Yes, not just one of those but all three. If you can do more than that then you should.

What do these three major areas involve and why should you do it?

Writing code at home

Every programmer/software engineer/developer or whatever you call yourself, should be taking time outside of working hours to write some code. Start your own project and build something from beginning to end. Get a new idea or rebuild something you'd like to understand. It does not have to be a huge web application sitting on a complex stack and hosted in a cloud. It can be a script, a tool to help you improve something in your job or life or just an algorithm. It is easier to find an idea and build something rather than just start writing code. Like work, you need a purpose.

Learn a different language. Learn a different technology. Learn more about what you already know. Become a better coder by spending more time doing it. It's like painting and public speaking and lifting weights, the more time to spend doing it the better you will get at it. Especially if you already have the base.


Reading books and blogs

The best people I've ever worked with constantly read everything they can about what they work in and what they want to work in. This goes from technical books and blogs to books about learning and working with people. We all have dozens of feed subscriptions in our readers and are constantly trying to keep the number of unread articles down to a manageable level.

If you aren't sure where to start then ask what your friends read. Follow people on twitter who work in an area you are interested in and who share links. Find an author you like and read everything they write. Find a publisher of books and read stuff they publish.

Start reading now. You are already falling behind.


Contributing to the community

This is a controversial one and something I regularly fought with my recent room mate about. I feel it is your responsibility to learn and share and share and learn.

Contributing to the community can happen by going to a user group that shares your interests where you can speak and listen to your peers. Blogging what you have worked out during the day or something you couldn't find on your last google but solved yourself is another way. Setting up a site where you can share what you have written and show how it is used is also a very good idea although that is a bigger commitment that can be avoided for now with a simlple blog.

Tweeting is also important as a way to propogate information about what you or others have written. Share what you read through Twitter, your reader, your blog or other social networking sites.

Once you start it will become a habit.


No matter what people tell you, get out there and do more. Learning only at work is not good enough. It is not about running to keep up. It's about learning for life and keeping your skills fresh and valuable.

Finding Ada

I have blogged before about women in technology in Sydney who inspire me and do amazing things in technology. Of course I did this all before it was cool :) Today is Ada Lovelace Day and my post is dedicated to a person who most might not consider a geek girl but who I believe makes a difference for women in technology... Suzi Edwards.

At the 9 year point in my career, I decided to stop chasing the money of contracting and find a place where I could work with people who challenged me and were fun. I tried 2 full time positions for a 5 and 6 month stretch respectively and had lost hope that it would ever happen. I didn't even know what the hell I was looking for by then.

An old friend suggested I apply to a company called ThoughtWorks. I'd heard of Martin Folwer and Cruise Control but that was about it. The website looked interesting so I applied.

That's when I first encountered the phenomenon that is Suzi Edwards (aka Binky Silhouette) who charmed me while she interrogated me in the phone screen for the ThoughtWorks job. She is a recruiter but not just any recruiter. Suzi is the gate keeper and the bait for those hoping to join our company. Thanks for her, I work with the most amazing, dysfunctional, wonderful people in IT.

I can't tell you about her technical achievements but I can tell you about what Suzi has done from the moment I answered a call from her to right now, in a company, in an industry, in a world that is built for men by men. Just so you know, the company I work for rocks and the guys I have the pleasure of working with are the brightest and most amazing people around. I can not fault them.

Suzi questioned me, tested me, put me up for interviews with some scary ThoughtWorks engineers and used every skill she had to make sure that when she convinced me to walk through the door that I would know I wanted to be there and that I deserved to be. The 9 stages I needed to pass to get in to that company made up the best application for a job I've ever made. It was worth it.

Since then, I have seen Suzi encourage women in all areas of the company (from operations to consultants) to embrace who they are as unique amazing women and to support each other. She does this through brutally proclaiming it across a room, organising women's discussion groups, sponsoring Girl Geek Dinners in Sydney, Chicago and Calgary, giving technical support to watchers of geek TV like Battlestar Galactica, to picking the phone up and calling from the other side of the world to listen to you cry. She never seems to get tired or lose even an ounce of passion for the idea that women belong in this industry and that you'd have to step over her dead body before you could chase any woman out.

There are lots of companies in lots of places that are good places to work. When I interviewed for ThoughtWorks, I interviewed with another very good company in Sydney who were going to pay me more and give me lots of cool stuff. They lost out though because I wanted to work with Suzi at this cool place where a woman with such glam grilled the applicants and championed the cause. That was before I even knew her.

Knowing her has confirmed it. She is a champion of all women in IT. She is a great supporter of women. She is a unique and strong voice for women in ThoughtWorks. She is my friend.

She is my Ada Lovelace Day inspiration :)

2009 Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award

The winner of the 2009 Veuve Clicquot Business Woman is "Mandy Foley-Quin Chief Executive Officer, Stedmans Hospitality - Mandy Foley-Quin is the CEO of Stedmans Hospitality, a leading hospitality and staffing agency which she helped found in 1986 and now owns. The business was built around a unique idea, a one-stop shop assuming all responsibility for staff, superannuation and payroll for hospitality personnel on behalf of its clients. It revolutionized the hospitality industry and is now the model for many other similar businesses. Stedmans employs over 1,500 casuals annually, and Mandy is passionate about training young people. Her leadership has taken Stedmans offshore; Mandy and her team have worked with the Olympic Games in Sydney, Athens, Torino and Beijing. The business continues to evolve in new directions with a division set up to service the payroll needs of the film and television industry and the recent establishment of a theatrical management agency."

It's sad that the only place I could find this was in the Wentworth Courier. She's not a geek but I like anything that celebrates awesome women.

I'm just posting a link, don't shoot me for it

A Culture of (Potential) Assholes: Sexual Harassment in IT

✄ Cute ♧ Symbols ☻ On ☂ Your ❤ Mac ✿

Someone asked me yesterday how to get cute little symbols in their tweets. This applies everywhere and not just on twitter.

There are many sites that will give you a bunch so you can copy them. That's an easy and quick way to find them.

If you have a Mac, this is the best way to find them...

1. Go to your System Preferences and select International


2. Under the Input Menu tab, turn the Character Palette on


3. An Australian flag (for us Aussies) will appear on the right-hand side of the menu bar. Under that is the option to Show Character Palette containing all the possible symbols


4. You can insert from the Character Palette in to any text box or document. Now go and annoy everyone to death with pictures instead of words ☻

You can't make everyone happy, so don't try too hard

My personality type according to Myers Briggs, sees life as a series of constant battles. In the past that was the case. With age and a pinch of wisdom, that is no longer the trend.

Since this is my professional blog, I'd like to discuss the idea in the context of the workplace and your place in your organisation.

First thing, no one respects a yes man. That is a rule. Remember it.

Having an opinion is always good. You don't always have to voice it all the time but having one is essential. Shutting up is a skill. Learn it.

So how do you balance the need to speak out and at the right time close the gate between the your brain and your mouth?

I'm an extrovert and this is something I've constantly struggled with. Even after ten years of practice, there is no easy answer. I do however have a good handle on being myself and not spending too much time pleasing everyone. There is the saying that "you can not please all of the people, all of the time" and this is true but that doesn't mean you should quit and sit passively by, pretending this is not happening.

Here is how I think you can do this...

Count to Ten

Take your time to form your own opinions. Listen to others who you respect. Think about what you respect and like about their ethos and adopt those things as your own with your flavour. Through discussion, reading and contemplation, form your opinion about things conceptually before being in that actual situation. If a whole complex situation is too much then work with parts of situations.

Don't jump up and voice an opinion on something to the room if you have not thought through what is about to come out of your mouth.


Admit you are wrong, if you are

Often people voice an opinion and stick to it purely out of pride. If you do get it wrong then learn to admit you are wrong. There is nothing wrong with changing your opinion and telling people, if what you think now is different and improved. People will respect you if you are humble enough to admit you a wrong. Don't be too humble though.


Shut Up Already

When you have said your piece and articulated what you think then stop.

Do not make the mistake of saying something over and over again with the assumption that they aren't agreeing because they simply don't understand. Sometimes, people just don't agree with you, for whatever reason. Say what you have to say and then stop saying it.

Give the person you are talking to, time to digest what you have expressed.


Don't try to please only your Managers

One thing I have seen of late is people who state an opinion just to show their bosses that they agree. Managers are not idiots. Ok, some are but if they aren't then they see right through you. If your opinion is an exact parrot of your superiors then all that you will gain is a Mr Burns and not the respect you may crave.

Pleasing only those above you also wins you no friends. I've worked in environments where the rule was to "kiss up and kick down". There is only so far you can go with that war cry. Remember to consider how what you say will filter the views of those around you. All people matter. Not just the ones who decide your pay rise.


If you follow those four rules, you will find that you will be fine. Interpret them how you will but find your voice. Your own voice. Learn when to use and when not to.