The Pragmatic Strategist

Lies, Damn Lies and SEO

One of the reasons that I have always loved being in the web business is because things constantly change.  When I first got online in 1993, we used bulletin board systems and monochrome monitors.  When I got my first tech job in 1996, everything was about corporate Windows networks and preparing for Y2K (remember that?).  [...]

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To Say Agile, Or Not to Say Agile… That is the Question

I had an interesting conversation yesterday after I gave a presentation. I was talking about the necessary functions — particularly when it comes to communications, documentation, change management and entry/exit criteria — of project management in an Agile development process. The “interesting” conversation I had afterward was because one of the attendees (in a private [...]

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Why Agile Isn't Just for Development

It’s been years since the evangelism for Agile development started truly gaining momentum. Super sexy buzzphrases phrases like “reduce time to market,” “improved ROI,” and “lower development costs” have all been invoked to support the case for adopting an Agile methodology over the old-school Waterfall approach. The fact is, most experienced professionals have lived through [...]

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Lessons from Conference Season Coverage

I’ve been very fortunate recently: in my role as Managing Editor of Social Computing Journal (formerly Social Computing Magazine), I’ve been able to attend a number of conferences that I would not have previously been able to find the time or money to attend. In quick succession, I have attended PubCon South, SXSWi and Web [...]

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Work-Life What?

I hate the phrase “work-life balance.” I truly can’t stand it. I think it’s a b.s. phrase that is one of those organizational design notions that sounds really, really good, but in truth is so vague that everyone has their own definition, leaving no consensus on any kind of standardized meaning. Implications of Being “Even” [...]

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A Christmas Card to My Bosses: Thanks to Three Very Wise Men

Last week I wrote that we are rarely good about telling the people in our lives how grateful we are, and, realizing that applied to me as well, I figured that this was as good an opportunity as any for me to correct that when it came to three important influences in my life. As [...]

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Buzzphrase: "Alignment with the business"

Of all the most ludicrous phrases in the world, this one may be my favorite. As someone who grew up in family-owned business, and whose career started out in start-up environments, I am used to very all-for-one/one-for-all type of environments. If something needs to be done, then do it. No one says, “It’s not my [...]

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