Jim Hodgson - Big Nerd Ranch Tue, 19 Oct 2021 17:46:39 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 Craftsmanship https://bignerdranch.com/blog/craftsmanship/ https://bignerdranch.com/blog/craftsmanship/#respond Mon, 24 Sep 2012 12:00:00 +0000 https://nerdranchighq.wpengine.com/blog/craftsmanship/

blacksmith

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blacksmith

Some people attribute the quote to Donald Rumsfeld. I first heard it in the book REAMDE, by Neal Stephenson, but it might also have been first posited by a leadership expert named John Bishop.

Whoever said it first, it goes like this:

A’s hire A’s and B’s hire C’s

At first glance, it sounds like HR got ahold of the Pythagorean Theorem, went nuts, chopped off the exponentials, and moved everything around, but there’s actually a lot of information about life in there. Let’s break it down.

What the quote means is that very skilled people–let’s call them craftsmen–are, thanks to being secure in their own skills, not afraid to hire people more talented than they are, whereas less talented people, realizing that they’re not working at the fullest bloom their own potential, tend to hire people who are even less capable than themselves so that they will, by contrast, seem more skilled.

The first part of the equation details a craftsman’s attitude toward hiring, but it also encapsulates the whole of the Highgroove philosophy. The second part exemplifies exactly the sort of sludge Highgroove does its best to avoid.

Now let’s talk about beer.

Journeyman to Master

Let’s say you want to become a master brewer. How would you go about it? There are books to read, classes to take, and seminars to attend. All these are necessary, but we think a person needs these things plus one more special ingredient: time paired with a mentor.

“Mentorship is how you go from journeyman to master,” said Jonathan Wallace, Highgroove developer and technologist. “We tend to hire A-capable people and then help them reach their fullest potential, because people who are already masters are usually not looking for a job.”

If you want to become a master brewer, you should read the books, take the classes, attend the seminars, but we think you should also find someone who is super qualified and try to get some of their time. That’s why we pair the A-capable people we bring on board with our veterans. Being around craftsmanship brings out the craftsman in everyone.

And that’s also why we keep craft beer in the fridge.

Why drink craft beer at all?

The easiest answer is “because it tastes better,” but that doesn’t really address the question. After all, a beer can be highly formed by the best brewers in the world and still not be your thing. Myself, I don’t care for the darker beers even though I respect the craftsmanship it takes to brew them.

Therein lies a much more true response. A craftsman has the skills to make something of undeniable quality, and that quality will be recognizable even by someone whose tastes aren’t suited. Some people might not be interested in Ruby on Rails applications, but we strive to ensure that our work is of that undeniable, singular quality anyone can see.

Photo: hans s

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Focus on Results to Keep Clients and Employees Happy https://bignerdranch.com/blog/focus-on-results-to-keep-clients-and-employees-happy/ https://bignerdranch.com/blog/focus-on-results-to-keep-clients-and-employees-happy/#respond Sun, 16 Sep 2012 11:00:00 +0000 https://nerdranchighq.wpengine.com/blog/focus-on-results-to-keep-clients-and-employees-happy/

There are a lot of ways to measure an individual’s work performance. When you think of a manager, perhaps you imagine her stopping by an employee’s office to see if he’s in his chair during work hours, or checking whether he’s spending too much time on Facebook.

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There are a lot of ways to measure an individual’s work performance. When you think of a manager, perhaps you imagine her stopping by an employee’s office to see if he’s in his chair during work hours, or checking whether he’s spending too much time on Facebook.

As a ROWE, or Results-Only Work Environment, we stick to asking the truly important question: Are we delivering the results that matter?

What is ROWE?

ROWE is a management strategy created by Jody Thompson and Cali Ressler of CultureRX, popularized by their book Why Work Sucks and How To Fix It. It requires a certain amount of vigilance to maintain a ROWE, because it’s so easy to fall into non-ROWE practices, or what the authors call “sludge.”

Ever been to a mandatory meeting because, well, because there’s a meeting every Monday, no matter whether there’s anything new to discuss? Ever walked into the office a few minutes late and been hailed with a comment like “Nice of you to join us!”? Thompson and Ressler argue that these are all examples of sludge that should be eradicated so that employees can achieve maximum productivity.

Thinking about what’s most important

What is most important to a company?

  • That all their employees are in the office 40+ hours a week, or that they have happy clients?
  • That vacation is rigidly measured, or that they are happy employees?
  • That everyone uses the same tools, or that everyone is as productive as they can be?

In all cases, Highgroove favors the latter.

Why does Highgroove commit to ROWE, when it demands much greater effort and much greater respect?

The answer is simple: Focusing on anything but results is sludge, and sludge impedes progress and dulls engagement and productivity.

Eyes on the ROWE prize

It takes time to establish your company as a ROWE. It can be challenging to come up with measurable results, and it’s even harder to allow others the freedom to achieve those results without checking up on them. But there are a few tools that help us stay on track:

  • Each week, we use Reflecticle to survey Highgroove happiness, as well that of our clients. This helps us keep a finger on the pulse of what’s going right in our projects–and sometimes, what’s not going as well.

  • ROWEapp helps us track results. Each of us can tell at a glance how close we are to achieving a result, or whether we need to step it up to meet deadlines.

  • After every project, we do restrospectives, where we check back with a client. You know the saying that “hindsight is 20/20”? We’ve found that we often get great insight after a project that we don’t get during development, or immediately following a launch.

“Being a ROWE is a thing that you have to constantly think about and practice,” says Chris Kelly, Highgroove developer and methodologist. “Craftsmanship is one of our core values, and if you ever think you’re done learning and improving, you’re wrong. This is our culture. This is our craft.”

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Perk Up! Why Highgroove offers such great benefits https://bignerdranch.com/blog/perk-up-why-highgroove-offers-such-great-benefits/ https://bignerdranch.com/blog/perk-up-why-highgroove-offers-such-great-benefits/#respond Mon, 20 Aug 2012 11:00:00 +0000 https://nerdranchighq.wpengine.com/blog/perk-up-why-highgroove-offers-such-great-benefits/

office desk

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office desk

A great benefits package can help attract new recruits and reward employees who stay with you long term, but there’s no reason to go overboard with it, is there?

Well, we think so!

There is a “benefits arms race” being waged by top technology companies. Eager to attract and retain the best minds in the world, they’re going to ever-greater lengths to keep employees happy, healthy and, above all, productive.

For instance, Google now pays the surviving spouse of a deceased employee for years after the employee’s demise. How’s that for future proofing?

Of course, we are also motivated to attract and keep the smartest people we can, and there are some great benefits here as well. Before we get into those, though, let’s look at some other options.

What would happen if a company offered no benefits?

I reached out to a friend of mine at a local benefits firm, who seemed a bit taken aback at the idea of a job with no benefits other than a salary.

“Wow,” she said, laughing. “That could certainly create a challenge… Of course, not every company has the ability to offer the kinds of thing Google offers, but a company that didn’t offer any benefits at all would be in danger of losing talent to companies that do.”

Why offer more benefits than are strictly necessary?

Okay, so it makes good sense to offer some benefits, but why go any farther than that?

“Offering employees the bare minimum in a benefits package doesn’t speak well for how an employer values his/her employees,” my friend said. “I would definitely consider it a red flag in a job search.”

Highgroove benefits reflect core values

Offering more than we strictly have to communicates to employees that we want a relationship with them that extends beyond exchanging money for work.

Our President, Charles Brian Quinn, said, “Benefits have to reflect our core values. We are craftspeople; we do everything with care and to the utmost of our ability. That means benefits, too.”

“For example, we buy only the best equipment for our employees. Left to their own devices, they might not spend quite as much on their tools,” he said. “By giving Highgroovers quality tools that they need, we also give them the freedom and ability to do good work.”

It might seem like a small thing to have powerful gear, but by purchasing everything the team needs, we are able to keep everyone on the same page with less down time. If a team member is wrestling with a computer problem, she or he isn’t able to focus on clients.

Highgroove has a commitment to craftsmanship and to providing quality benefits. Whether it’s the Results-Only Work Environment, the healthy food choices or the on-site personal trainer, taking the time to care for our employees is a policy that pays in every arena.

Image credit: smemon

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What makes a great CTO for Highgroove? https://bignerdranch.com/blog/what-makes-a-great-cto-for-highgroove/ https://bignerdranch.com/blog/what-makes-a-great-cto-for-highgroove/#respond Sun, 05 Aug 2012 11:00:00 +0000 https://nerdranchighq.wpengine.com/blog/what-makes-a-great-cto-for-highgroove/

Obama’s CTO

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Obama’s CTO

Relationships are the key to successful work at Highgroove. When it comes to clients, a CTO who is a great fit is essential.

“We need a client who is technical enough to understand the value of what Highgroove provides,” says Charles Brian Quinn, Highgroove president. “We’re often approached by potential clients who aren’t technical at all. They want to hand us a project and come back in six months when it’s finished, and that doesn’t work.”

A CTO with vision

Why doesn’t it work? Isn’t it our job to create web applications?

In a word, yes. We develop cutting-edge, successful web applications, the kind that change everything for a business. But even the most amazing app needs to be maintained and adapted over time.

“Let’s say someone comes to us with the best idea ever, and we knock it out of the park together. A successful product can continue indefinitely. That means, scarily, that there needs to be a budget forever–not just for the four weeks or four months it takes us to develop it,” Charles says. “In fact, if a client does it right, they’ll eventually hire their own developers so that they can keep meeting customers’ needs.”

The best clients for us have a crystal-clear vision, and they also must have time to communicate that vision. Our iterative agile process necessitates a close working relationship with a client. We develop the best solution by building our clients into the process, which means approving stories in Pivotal Tracker, for example, and weekly kick-off meetings where next steps are hammered out.

A CTO who is receptive to suggestions

We care about craftsmanship, and strive to consistently create quality work. This commitment pushes us to work hard and to ask a lot of the chief technology officers who work with us.

We want to not only complete projects, but to better ourselves and our work in the process. We work best with clients who aren’t necessarily determined to stick to a single path. Sometimes better choices come up along the way, and the best CTOs for us welcome suggestions for improvement.

A CTO who can make decisions

When business decisions have to be made, we present the best options to the CTO, who then makes the call.

“We don’t make business decisions for CTOs,” says Chris Kelly, Highgroove methodologist and developer. “We present the best options and empower the CTO to make a sound decision.”

That system only moves forward when the client has the power as well as the inclination to move forward with a decision. Highgroove is always pleased to meet someone who is as fired up about craftsmanship as they are, but we’re biased toward action, and action starts with a decision.

Image credit: jurvetson

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What is Agile? https://bignerdranch.com/blog/what-is-agile/ https://bignerdranch.com/blog/what-is-agile/#respond Wed, 18 Jul 2012 12:00:00 +0000 https://nerdranchighq.wpengine.com/blog/what-is-agile/

no shave november

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no shave november

Picture it: A programmer in the eleventh hour of his months-long development cycle, desperately trying to complete his feature list. His palms sweaty, he slugs down another cup of coffee, trying not to think about the client meeting toward which he and his team inexorably march.

Software testing is out the window at this point. Sleep is a forgotten concept.

He’s in the grip of the “waterfall” programming method, where a development team makes a list of requirements with the customer, then retreats with that list into a deep, dark cavern. Eventually, the team emerges with software that will hopefully prove to be a good match for the requirements that the customer laid out all those months ago.

Even if the team follows the requirements list to the letter, the code they produced very likely will not meet the needs of the client they face today.

This doesn’t get anyone anywhere. Programmers want to do good work. They want to look forward to client interaction. And they want to not have heart attacks.

The Big Brains Get a-Thinkin’

In February 2001, some programmers got together in Utah to have a chat about “lightweight” software development, striving to shed to the weight of regimented, micro-managed methods.

“Hey guys,” one said, probably, “What if we take these crazy death marches we keep doing and break them into manageable sections that we can then iterate upon?”

There was a general murmur of agreement, and hopes rose a bit.

Another might have said, emboldened by the murmuring, “And what if we include the customer in the development team so that we never get way off track?”

The murmur now perhaps rose a bit more, and smiles began to appear on some faces. Feeling the rising hope and happiness in the room, a woman stood, then faltered.

“Go on!” her fellows encouraged.

“What if,” she began, then looked around the room again.

“Say it!” the other coders whooped.

“What if we embrace change, rather than fearing it?” she said.

A silence fell across the room. The programmers looked at one another. Then, one rose, spread his arms and bellowed with pure joy. The room erupted in shouts and cheers, and agile programming was born!

The Manifesto Emerges

Out of this surge of joy, which may or may not actually have occurred, came The Agile Manifesto:

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

With this method, agile programmers make the process of development easier and better, increasing customer happiness as a result. The customer becomes part of the development team and is a key part of development along the way.

At Highgroove, we embrace the agile method. We focus on constant communication with rapid feedback, so that software development can move at a rapid pace. We build and launch in phases, and do continual development, incrementally adding features to create exactly what clients envision.

Image credit: clango

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