Behind the Scenes at Global-Roam

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In 2010, as a result of our Autopsy 2 process, we have identified that we need to make two key appointments in 2010:

GM of Design, Development & Delivery.

GM of Marketing & Sales

We need to do this for a number of reasons – not least of which is to ensure that the company can become sustainable over the longer term, and to allow me to spend more time focused on other aspects of continuing to grow the business.

These appointments will be key positions for us, moving forwards. Hence this book was very timely….

1)  Binary Review

… not to mention a great read!

The Book	What we thought
“Great People Decisions” by Claudio Fernandez Araoz	Very thought-provoking

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Had to chuckle one night last week when I saw (in one of the many books I am reading at present) the following passage:

When I was studying [about software] at [uni], it was common to talk to professors and students about new products.  We’d focus on what components these new software products used and how they compared against what could have been.  Value was … how much of the latest technologies they used.

Generally, we thought everything sucked.  Very few products survived our critiques.  We wondered why the marketplace was packed with mediocrity and disappointment.

We’d even invented geek conspiracy theories to explain the evil decisions, which we thought were made against engineering purity and thus made little or no sense to us.

Often, we’d focus blame on the marketing departments of these companies (not that many of us understood what marketers did).

Even in my first few years in the industry, the same kinds of conversations took place again and again.

Actually, it was more of a liberal dose of belly-laughter than just a chuckle, which brought a look of consternation from my wife.

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Stephen Hurn read this book last week and suggested all of us should read it.

It really is a 1-hour read, and I have made this post in an effort to ensure we all gain some value from the wisdom contained in the book.

1)  Binary Review

The Book	What we thought
“Communicating Clearly” by Harvard Business Press	Uncommon “common sense”

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Here’s another back-dated post, with a date chosen shortly after Joel’s post to which it refers.  I’ve done this to ensure that these comments are read in context.

My apologies to those for whom this practice offends – as noted before, I believe ICT is an enabler, not an ends in itself (or, to put it another way, I am not interested in form without substance).

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1)     Introduction to Joel’s Post

Back on November 1st, Joel Spolsky made a post for Inc magazine entitled “Does Slow Growth Equal Slow Death?”.

One of the guys in the office found this, and it stimulated a bit of discussion internally about where our bus is headed (on a restricted post).  This was good, as we had commenced our Autopsy 2 process. read more »

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One of our central focuses back in our Business Autopsy in July (which we’re now starting to think of as Autopsy 1 - as distinct from the current Autopsy 2), was the fact that our software development processes were not up-to-scratch. read more »

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Well, 17 hours ago I was awake for an IEEE-organised Webinar featuring Kent Beck (founder of Three Rivers Institute) titled “Software G Forces:  The Effects of Acceleration” – so I’m beat!  Just another long day in a software start-up.

However I wanted to get this blog post up before it slipped my mind (please excuse me for any lack of polish in this one!)

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