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Rules of Thumb

Making the Trains Run on Time: Software Release
Posted on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 - 21:15 by Sean Murphy from the site SKMurphy
I recently took part in a  small reunion of folks who worked on the “router  software release” team at Cisco in the early years and I took it as an opportunity to jot down some rules of thumb I learned, mostly the hard way, about managing software releases. There is always a strong reason to slip the schedule.
Sean Murphy
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Evaluating and Reacting to New Competitors
Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011 - 21:00 by Sean Murphy from the site SKMurphy
What is one to do when a previously unknown competitor pops out on the market? Perhaps they are better funded or staffed with famous entreprenreurs or they announce one or more significant customer deals. If your prospects are not bringing them up I would continue with Plan A. If you have selected an important problem to solve you will always have competition: no one ever has a market to themselves for very long.
Sean Murphy
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Uncertain Times 2
Posted on Sunday, January 16, 2011 - 10:14 by Sean Murphy from the site SKMurphy
I mentioned in “Uncertain Times“  that we are in the midst of economic and technology transitions that have vastly increased the turbulence of our environment.  I have found two rules of thumb useful guides: “It may looks like a crisis but it’s only the end of an illusion.” Gerald Weinberg in Secrets of Consulting “Innovation requires us to systematically identify changes that have already occurred but whose full effects have not yet been felt, and then to look at them as opportunities.
Sean Murphy
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To See Ourselves As Others See Us
Posted on Friday, January 14, 2011 - 19:41 by Sean Murphy from the site SKMurphy
And would some Power the small gift give us To see ourselves as others see us! It would from many a blunder free us, Robert Burns “To a Louse“ It can be very difficult to understand how we appear to others. When I was rehearsing the “2011 New Years Greeting” there as a monitor next to the camera that offered instant replay of a take. I was surprised at how serious, almost fierce, that I looked in some of the early takes. Those of you who have worked with me may be less surprised than I was.
Sean Murphy
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Drifting 2
Posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 - 09:08 by Sean Murphy from the site SKMurphy
“To do great work a man must be very idle as well as very industrious. ” Samuel Butler Jeroen Bakker of Remindo left a great comment on my Drifting post from last week that I wanted to highlight I sure know this feeling of sleepwalking through a day when there’s too much to do and too many ideas floating around but you just don’t seem to get real things done. Reading a book works great indeed, but sometimes you need a bit more to really distance yourself.
Sean Murphy
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Applying Akin’s Laws of Spacecraft Design To Startups
Posted on Monday, January 10, 2011 - 09:14 by Sean Murphy from the site SKMurphy
David L. Akin is the Director, SpaceSystems Laboratory at the University of Maryland. He is also the author of “Akin’s Laws of Spacecraft Design.” He lists more than 40 laws, here are ten that I thought were directly applicable to software entrepreneurship, but the whole list is very funny and worth reading. 1. Engineering is done with numbers. Analysis without numbers is only an opinion. Quantifying adjectives like small, mid-size, large, local, regional, slow, fast, etc..often helps you to focus your message and targeting efforts.
Sean Murphy
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Always
Posted on Thursday, January 6, 2011 - 09:53 by Sean Murphy from the site SKMurphy
“Always trust your client—and cut the cards.” Weinberg’s Sixth Rule of Trust Always be collecting data. Always be collecting multiple perspectives. “Always Be Collecting Data” The rule of ABCD “In God We Trust, All Others Bring Data” attributed to W. Edwards Deming Possibly a riff on “In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash” In closing… “‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘C.’ ‘A,’ always, ‘B,’ be, ‘C,’ closing. Always be closing.” from Blake’s speech in Glengarry Glen Ross (screenplay by David Mamet)
Sean Murphy
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Drifting
Posted on Monday, January 3, 2011 - 09:12 by Sean Murphy from the site SKMurphy
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” C. Northcote Parkinson “Parkinson’s Law“ I hate to do low quality work and I refuse to fail for lack of effort.
Sean Murphy
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Virtual and On-Line Are As Superfluous As Horseless and Electric
Posted on Thursday, December 30, 2010 - 20:17 by Sean Murphy from the site SKMurphy
I think “virtual team” is rapidly becoming redundant: just as “horseless carriage” became car I think “virtual team” will become just team. Most project teams will have a virtual component (e.g.
Sean Murphy
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Customer Development Requires a Willingness to Be Surprised
Posted on Wednesday, December 22, 2010 - 09:38 by Sean Murphy from the site SKMurphy
And by “surprised” I mean: able to admit that your assumptions are wrong open to new insights from prospects willing to change your plans for your product or your startup willing begin again with a better frame of reference Inspired by Bob Lewis’ “Holiday Card to the Industry, 2010” In business we expend tremendous effort to avoid surprises. It wouldn’t be wrong to define professional management as the discipline of surprise prevention.
Sean Murphy
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