Author Archives: Michael Schobert

New Toy

I just received a new toy I have ordered for our upcoming vacation: A GPS data logger to allow geo tagging of my photos. I basically had the choice between this one and the Sony GPS CS1KA. After reading this … Continue reading

Posted in gadgets, tech | 2 Comments

Review of "Behind Closed Doors – Secrets of Great Management"

I recently read the book “Behind Closed Doors – Secrets of Great Management” by Johanna Rothman and Ester Derby. This book gives a good introduction into the world of management (not leadership though). You will find a good set of … Continue reading

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The value of Face to Face

Yesterday has been the day of promoting face to face interaction. I read two independent blog entries. The first one by Esther Derby called Face to Face Still Matters. It compares the cost vs. the use of face to face … Continue reading

Posted in communication, management | 1 Comment

Can one learn Management and Leadership?

Esther Derby has a blog entry about natural born leaders and managers vs. learning the skills (she also has a link to a nice little article called “Do We Have to Choose Between Management and Leadership?“). I agree with Esther … Continue reading

Posted in leadership, management | Leave a comment

What is Common Sense after all?

So, what is Common Sense or as we Germans say “Gesunder Menschenverstand”? According to Wikipedia Common sense is what people would agree in common. What does that mean? I think Common Sense is what a group of people have learnt … Continue reading

Posted in management, project management | Leave a comment

Comparing Production to Software Development

I regularly come across people comparing the (mature and structured) production of industrial goods (mostly cars) to the (immature and chaotic) discipline of software development (or actually software engineering) . I have to admit that I am not a fan … Continue reading

Posted in management, software engineering | Leave a comment

InfoQ Interview on Lean

The guys over at InfoQ have an interview (video) with Mary and Tom Poppendieck on Lean online. The explain the heritage of Lean as well as the basic principals applied to software development in general and product management in particular. … Continue reading

Posted in management, product management, project management | Leave a comment

Information diversity

While commuting this morning I listened to the latest episode of TWiT. In there the guys had a discussion about news papers vs. online news (around the 1h mark). Wil Harris brought up a very interesting point: Are tailored/personalised information … Continue reading

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Done or not done: that is the question

“How far are you with this task?”. This question is quickly asked and chances that you get an answer like “we are 80% done” are very high. Does such an answer really makes sense? How do humans assess the progress … Continue reading

Posted in project management, reporting | 2 Comments

Weather as a metapher for the project status

Johanna Rothman brought up the interesting idea of using weather report icons as a metapher for the project status instead of the usual traffic lights in her latest blog post.  There is also a column in StickyMinds Online Magazine by … Continue reading

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