Blogger Jon Jagger describes himself as a self employed software consultant-mentor-trainer-programmer etc specializing in agile software development (people and process), test driven development, deliberate practice, design, analysis, OO, UML, curly bracket languages (C#, C++, Java)
Jon recently published a list of 10 (+1) books he would like to have if marooned on a desert island. It's a fascinating list, and not only because it contains three of my books. You can read Jon's justification for each book at:
http://jonjagger.blogspot.com/2009/09/desert-island-books.html
But here they are. How many have you read?
* [1] Kevin Ashurst. (1977 Long out of print). World Class Match Fishing, Cassell, ISBN 0304-297291.
* [2] Phillip Pullman. (1995). The Northern Lights (The Golden Compass in USA, Knopf), Scholastic, ISBN 043995178X
* [3] Douglas Adams. (1979). The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, Pan, ISBN 0330258648
* [4] Gerald Weinberg. (1985). The Secrets of Consulting, Dorset House, ISBN 0932633013
* [5] Gerald Weinberg. (1998). The Psychology of Computer Programming: Silver Anniversary Edition, Dorset House, ISBN 0932633420
* [6] Monty Python. (2001). The Life of Brian (screenplay), Metheun, ISBN 0413741303
* [7] Jon Bentley, (1989). Programming Pearls, Addison Wesley, ISBN 0201103311
* [8] Fred Brooks (1985 2nd edition). The Mythical Man Month, Addison Wesley, ISBN 0201835959
* [9] Peter Senge (2006 2nd edition). The Fifth Discipline, Random House, ISBN 1905211201
* [10] Gerald Weinberg (2001). Introduction to General Systems Thinking Silver anniversary edition, Dorset House, ISBN 0932633498
* [11] John Gall (2002 3rd edition). The Systems Bible: The Beginner's Guide to Systems Large and Small , General Systemantics Press, ISBN 0961825170
So, that's Jon's list. What would be on yours? Are any of Jon's choices books that you wouldn't care to have on your desert island?
p.s. Jon's going to be at AYE Conference in November, and so will I, in case you would like to discuss choosing books and other topics with us.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
50 more ways to improve your business
Wolfram Arnold writes:
Here are the points I've transcribed from the meeting today. At some point I lost count as to which one was odd and which one was even and I just recorded them all (touch-typing helped :-):
---------------------
Jerry Weinberg 8/20, 50 things to improve business
2. back up everything
4. Rule: do nothing, revised with 3 caveats: a) don't do it if there's someone that can do it better; b) don't do it if there's someone that can do it adequately; c) if it makes me really happy, do it anyway; d) if someone can do it 85% as well as I do, let them do it; e) anything not worth doing is not worth doing right; f) if in doubt charge for sales trips
6. make them pay something, with their time, their money -- if they don't pay for it they don't value it
8. if it's not on paper, don't do it
9. listen to what other people are telling you
10. don't communicate to somebody, but communicate with somebody
11. always have an exit strategy
12. make them feel like your client has a part in the final outcome; make sure they have their fingerprints on it
13. listen for what they're not saying
14. listen to the "music", body language, intonation
15. always be ready to sell your product
16. if you find yourself reluctant to sell your product, there's something wrong with it
17. any successful services company has some fixed priced product to sell
18. given them entry points that they can buy
19. recurring revenue model, e.g. via contract maintenance plans, or follow-through
20. have a follow-through clause in contract so you can know how you're doing
21. charge more money if they don't want you to come back after some time, e.g. 3 months
22. if you just build it they probably won't come
23. manage expectations, book: Managing Expectations, by Naomi Karten
24. Time spent in reconnaissance is time well spent
25. You can observe a whole lot just by watching (Yogi Berra)
26. Go hard or go home; fully commit all resources needed, or kill it mercilessly
27. Commit enough to learn what you have to learn to find out whether it's worth pursuing or killing
28. People who work in an Agile/iterative way often fail to do the discovery
29. Ideas by themselves aren't as valuable as you think they are; don't guard them too closely
30. Nothing is as dangerous as an idea, esp. if it's the only idea you have
31. Never rest on your past successes; there is always something more you could be doing; if you're not learning, you're dead
32. Sharing competitive advantages brings 10-fold rewards; give it away, it comes back
33. Being able to say 'no'
34. Research clients as if you were hiring them
35. Recognize that every client is unique.
36. You don't have to remember everything to succeed.
37. It's ok to let a client go if it's not the right fit; you should organize your business such that it's ok to let a client go, i.e. don't be over-dependent on any single client
38. The best way to build a business is to stay in business; stay around, build a reputation and credibility
39. Actively solicit feedback from clients; actively extract the feedback, e.g. watch the audience
40. Don't be alone in your work; have someone to talk to
41. Honor the people who are your sounding board and bring feedback, e.g. life partners, friends, ...
42. Anything that's annoying or repetitive should be automated or stopped
43. Track your budget & cost every month
44. Don't make mistakes over your budget or your cost.
45. Don't spend your money on office decoration, esp. if your clients don't come to your office
46. Always try someone out before you hire them
47. Don't fall for the big lies: "we're just about to get funding" "our data is clean" "your check is in the mail" "we're going to sign it next month, just keep working" "don't worry about the contract" ...
48. Preventing any one of these mistakes will pay for this conference
49. Double your reading speed
50. Choose not to read a lot; don't read stuff that's not worth reading
51. Stay off Facebook & Twitter
52. Sometimes you can save money by spending money; and sometimes the reverse. Learn to tell the difference
- Thanks for the great job, Wolfram
Here are the points I've transcribed from the meeting today. At some point I lost count as to which one was odd and which one was even and I just recorded them all (touch-typing helped :-):
---------------------
Jerry Weinberg 8/20, 50 things to improve business
2. back up everything
4. Rule: do nothing, revised with 3 caveats: a) don't do it if there's someone that can do it better; b) don't do it if there's someone that can do it adequately; c) if it makes me really happy, do it anyway; d) if someone can do it 85% as well as I do, let them do it; e) anything not worth doing is not worth doing right; f) if in doubt charge for sales trips
6. make them pay something, with their time, their money -- if they don't pay for it they don't value it
8. if it's not on paper, don't do it
9. listen to what other people are telling you
10. don't communicate to somebody, but communicate with somebody
11. always have an exit strategy
12. make them feel like your client has a part in the final outcome; make sure they have their fingerprints on it
13. listen for what they're not saying
14. listen to the "music", body language, intonation
15. always be ready to sell your product
16. if you find yourself reluctant to sell your product, there's something wrong with it
17. any successful services company has some fixed priced product to sell
18. given them entry points that they can buy
19. recurring revenue model, e.g. via contract maintenance plans, or follow-through
20. have a follow-through clause in contract so you can know how you're doing
21. charge more money if they don't want you to come back after some time, e.g. 3 months
22. if you just build it they probably won't come
23. manage expectations, book: Managing Expectations, by Naomi Karten
24. Time spent in reconnaissance is time well spent
25. You can observe a whole lot just by watching (Yogi Berra)
26. Go hard or go home; fully commit all resources needed, or kill it mercilessly
27. Commit enough to learn what you have to learn to find out whether it's worth pursuing or killing
28. People who work in an Agile/iterative way often fail to do the discovery
29. Ideas by themselves aren't as valuable as you think they are; don't guard them too closely
30. Nothing is as dangerous as an idea, esp. if it's the only idea you have
31. Never rest on your past successes; there is always something more you could be doing; if you're not learning, you're dead
32. Sharing competitive advantages brings 10-fold rewards; give it away, it comes back
33. Being able to say 'no'
34. Research clients as if you were hiring them
35. Recognize that every client is unique.
36. You don't have to remember everything to succeed.
37. It's ok to let a client go if it's not the right fit; you should organize your business such that it's ok to let a client go, i.e. don't be over-dependent on any single client
38. The best way to build a business is to stay in business; stay around, build a reputation and credibility
39. Actively solicit feedback from clients; actively extract the feedback, e.g. watch the audience
40. Don't be alone in your work; have someone to talk to
41. Honor the people who are your sounding board and bring feedback, e.g. life partners, friends, ...
42. Anything that's annoying or repetitive should be automated or stopped
43. Track your budget & cost every month
44. Don't make mistakes over your budget or your cost.
45. Don't spend your money on office decoration, esp. if your clients don't come to your office
46. Always try someone out before you hire them
47. Don't fall for the big lies: "we're just about to get funding" "our data is clean" "your check is in the mail" "we're going to sign it next month, just keep working" "don't worry about the contract" ...
48. Preventing any one of these mistakes will pay for this conference
49. Double your reading speed
50. Choose not to read a lot; don't read stuff that's not worth reading
51. Stay off Facebook & Twitter
52. Sometimes you can save money by spending money; and sometimes the reverse. Learn to tell the difference
- Thanks for the great job, Wolfram
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
