zakum1

Having worked in corporate IT, with all its human and technical challenges, i agree that the "sociotech" elements are critical for engineering, but I also think that corporates massively misunderstand the value of the hacker culture and underestimate the extent to which the "sociotech" challenges are a direct result of having a weak "hacker" culture... we should challenge the "band aid" approach to fixing corporate bullshit

The reason that software projects deliver so poorly in the corporate world is that senior executives and investors understand them so poorly that a large amount of recognition and attention goes to those who can "bullshit" rather than fix the problem.

This is particularly toxic, because often the senior executives and investors also have an interest in hiding the failure (avoiding personal accountability and avoiding write-downs on investment).

It is very hard to see how a culture of true reflection and learning can emerge in this environment.

A sample of lottery players is hardly a representative sample. I think people who don’t enter lotteries, besides understanding statistics better, are more likely to believe money is not the source of their success and fulfilment.

It is a good story and has made impact in Africa, but there isn’t really a true need for global ride hailing services. These should be locally run, with all economic benefits going to local communities and investors.

One scary side of this is that it appears to have led ordinary people who see the system as rigged to elect an “anti establishment” president who is even more zealously rigging the system. American politics needs profound change and brave new leaders with a new vision.

A significant problem of the self esteem and positive thinking movements is the way in which it removes focus from the structural political, social and economic reasons that so strongly influence “success” and therefore “happiness” in the world. I think we will see the pendulum swing back as narcissistic populist politicians unwittingly remind us of this.

Actually, East Africa has a vibrant startup and investment scene for both local and global investors. See, for example, http://ventureburn.com/2017/11/everything-you-need-to-know-a.... It is worth looking into for talent and opportunities.

Managing people is hard, so it is always important to recognise this and help your manager by being proactive with ideas that help her/him manage the team, understanding what is important to her/him and the organisation, and contribute greatly to showing results as a team. Too often we unnecessarily feel that we are on different sides - and overblow this in our minds.

Doing work rocks

Which one do you feel the most passionate about? can you create a network of people that will help you design, test and build the proposition?

We need to never stop learning and we need to keep deepening our human relationships. These both take on new dynamics in our 40s, especially as we realise we are an older person in most contexts and how quickly that reflects in how we are treated (the Paris café is a wonderful example of so much of this experience)

This is one of the most human insightful pieces to ever be written and is timeless in its applicability. It is not just about languages and computer science, but about understanding adoption in a digital world. We can all apply it to our products as much as our technology