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Showing posts from May, 2013

Hackers, Backers, Handlers And The Future

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Every computer system, every data storage system , every IT platform, and every data transmission line or port can be hacked. It just takes expertise (in the form of an adrenaline-fueled, cerebrotonic young genius who sees the thrill of the challenge before applying any moral or other standards to the actions or to the potential use), excellent equipment (state-of-the-art) and a powerful, charismatic handler to point the hacker -for-hire in the desired direction required to meet the corporate or financial backer's directive. The term "hack" has become synonymous in modern tech-speak to any tool or method which makes things easier. It used to be a pejorative categorization - today it is something to be sought after in accessing utility or finding a workaround. Hacking , as a practical matter, is a reality, and as such should be dealt with. It can be prosecuted or promoted -- and in prosecuting it, the use of experts (i.e., hackers) will absolutely be required. In the &quo

Agile: Not A Complete Solution.

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I am one of many strategic planners and project managers who has seen some very disappointing results from over-dependencies on Agile. It would seem that many IT and professional programming participants use this admittedly time-saving organizational and communications tool as a substitute for continuous, responsive communication (i.e., in real time), and for an actual planning process which follows a sensible, step-by-step path. There are no automated substitutes for the native Human thought processes of goal-setting, envisioning success, real-time communication and feedback (especially for the purposes of truly measuring progress, reaffirming goals and for trajectory correction ), and step-by-step planning. These things require organized, educated thought and interpersonal action. All too often planners, managers and implementers foster unwarranted reliance upon automation where it is insufficient for problem-solving or objective achievement. The article which follows speaks of th

Are You Too Competent? 5 Suggestions.

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In the industrialized nations , most employed persons are either apathetic (i.e., willing to embrace mediocrity) or incompetent. They have either kept under the radar to avoid being tossed out, or they have spent far more time politicking than doing anything meaningful for the advancement of any project or directive within the organization . Smaller, entrepreneurial companies don't suffer from this malady as much as do their much larger counterparts, where the mere size of the staff and the vast amount of unproductive administration help to camouflage apathy and incompetence . If you seek acceptance, admiration and kudos (i.e., you might have low self-esteem , and your therapist is telling you -- every week for $150.00 per session -- that your mother is probably at fault), and if you are truly stunningly competent, you often volunteer to take on more responsibility than you can actually handle in order to impress others, who are trying to shed their workload and put it into your b