There is a concept in criminology known as broken windows theory. It says that crime in a community can be significantly reduced by reducing signs of disorder (like broken windows) and policing minor but visible crimes like vandalism. The theory rests on the assumption that an area’s environment has a big influence on the behavior […]
Estimating the time for software projects is notoriously difficult. This is because the majority of the work in most software projects is “discovered” work. Work that was not obvious while planning that is discovered when implementing. If you’ve done any serious programming work, you’ll know what I’m talking about. “Turns out this 3rd party API […]
As SharpestMinds matures as a company, good design is becoming increasingly important. For most of the company’s lifetime, we embraced a design-on-the-fly, just-make-it-work attitude. Without much more than a text or verbal description, we would simultaneously plan, implement, and design new features for our web-app. This approach worked well enough while we iterated towards product/market […]
This is one of those decisions that is so context specific that almost all advice on it is worthless. Nevertheless, I thought I’d share the story of when I had to make this decision as a beginner programmer. There may be a lesson or two. In the summer of 2018, SharpestMinds was a platform for […]
An important lesson I’ve learned in the last year is how important environment is for forming productive habits. Good habits don’t arise from exerting more will power. Instead, they come from engineering an environment that makes good habits easier, and bad habits harder. For example, If you want to play more guitar and less video […]
Meetings are an inevitable part of business but they are costly. Everyone involved has to take time away from their work day to participate. Having no process in place for conducting meetings practically guarantees wasted time. Meetings are a medium of work. People’s time is highly valuable so all meetings should be purposeful and well […]
AI and machine learning algorithms are becoming increasingly relevant in the technology we use and it’s important for everyone to understand the implications. There is a key difference in how machine learning algorithms are programmed compared to traditional algorithms. Instead of being logic-based, they are data-based. We’re going from software that is explicitly programmed (if […]
Keeping a daily journal is probably the most useful habit I’ve developed. It has increased awareness of how I spend my time and been a catalyst for other productive habits. It took me almost a year of experimenting with habit strategies to develop one that stuck. Here’s what I learned. Where to journal? It should […]
One lesson I find myself learning over and over again is how important implementation intentions are for forming habits. It’s a simple premise. If you schedule a time and place for a habit, you’re more likely actually do it. The general formula is: At [time/place] I will [behaviour] I first came across this concept in […]
My girlfriend and I often find ourselves on different sides of political issues. This has led to many a debate. Though we do our best to stay civil (we have a safe word just for debates), these debates can often end with both of us frustrated and grumpy. One potential solution is to stop debating. […]
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