Author Archives: Mike Rodbell

About Mike Rodbell

I'm a technology leader, engaged in developing software for the telecom, online commerce, and business process/analysis markets. All of the teams I've worked with have had a great deal in common. They need to be good at what they do, listen, share, and collaborate towards a shared set of goals. This blog is dedicated to those activities. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Metrics, Lies, and Other Crazy Statistics (feeling the Rapture?)

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Mike Rodbell

OK. After now having spent some more time thinking about statistics, I’ve seen the light. Really. The light. This proves that, with enough energy, you can prove darned near anything, including the end of the world as we know it. I … Continue reading →

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People as Pack Animals

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Mike Rodbell

Here I go again. Thanks to my dad, I’ve now found even more of the abundant material supporting the premise that people are emotional beings who require social context for their behavior. In a recent op-ed piece in the New … Continue reading →

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Swarm Intelligence — any parallels to team dynamics?

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Mike Rodbell

Ran across some interesting stuff on something called “swarm intelligence” This caused me to wonder if the concepts that they’ve identified might also apply to things that hit closer to home (at least for me). Some of the theory behind … Continue reading →

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Emotions Rule — Regardless of Facts

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Mike Rodbell

Ran into an interesting post by Seth Godin that got me thinking (yeah, that can be dangerous). Regardless of the amount of data, many, if not most decisions people make have more to do with how they feel about things … Continue reading →

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Innovation — Mad Science or Revolution (or just plain old hard work?)

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Mike Rodbell

Where do the greatest inventions come from? Out of the blue? As a means to the end? Borrowing from other related (and sometimes unrelated) technologies Creative genius making the mundane seem innovative (lipstick on a pig?) Absent innovations, much of … Continue reading →

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Somewhere over the rainbow — distributed teams

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Mike Rodbell

If you’re working in this century, and managing people, odds are pretty good that they’re not sitting in the same building as you. The odds are even better that many of them are not even on the same continent, with … Continue reading →

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Tribal Knowledge – People as Pack Animals

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Mike Rodbell

People do what people do. Mostly, with those around them. I recall once getting coerced into running in a charity 5k race (being a good dad, I thought that was the thing to do with my then 14-year-old son). I trained … Continue reading →

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Do Measurements Matter? (does a watched pot boil?)

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Mike Rodbell

There’s long been a debate about the role of metrics in software development organizations. There was the old adage that went “If its important, then its important enough to measure.” More recently, one of the proponents of that mantra, Tom … Continue reading →

Posted in Change and Behavior, management, Metrics, software development | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Risky Business

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Mike Rodbell

Be warned…. More ramblings to follow. I’m finding this is a good outlet for thinking. If you find it interesting, or have some good thoughts to add of your own, please feel free to comment! Sometimes I wonder…. one of … Continue reading →

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Change, and not the stuff in your pocket….

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Mike Rodbell

I’ve been doing a good bit of reading (and thinking) about change. Recently musing include a review of the Heath Brother’s “Switch” and John Kotter’s “The heart of change.” The latter is where the now CEO of Nokia so graciously … Continue reading →

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